10 Reasons WWE's Worst Era Is Secretly Its BEST Era

Those heady days of WWE's New Generation.

New Generation GOATED tbh
WWE

To some, WWE's New Generation Era stands as one of the worst periods in company history. Sure, there is plenty of low-hanging fruit from that period should you want to poke fun at it, but if you take a step back, the New Generation was absolutely phenomenal.

Was business as crazy as the Attitude Era or Rock 'n' Wrestling Era for the New Generation? Of course not, but that's not to say that this vibrant, neon time in WWE history wasn't a genuine bright spot that had so many positives to it.

There's no set date when the New Generation began, with WWE itself first starting to use the phrase in June '94, but the roots of the NG being seen as far back as WrestleMania VIII in '92. Likewise, there's forever a debate about the definitive endpoint to the New Generation. Was it the ushering in of the Austin Era at WrestleMania XIV? Was it Bret Hart being shafted at Survivor Series '97 on his way out of the company? Was it the Bret and Austin double-turn at WrestleMania 13? Was it maybe Brian Pillman pulling a gun on Stone Cold on a November '96 edition of Raw?

Regardless of the specifics in terms of dates, the New Generation truly is an underappreciated period which offered up so much for which wrestling fans should be grateful for.

10. Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of Hulkamania

New Generation GOATED tbh
WWE/VICE

For those watching in real time, the New Generation was a complete breath of fresh air when it came to the WWF Title picture and the wider main event scene.

Throughout the Rock 'n' Wrestling boom period of the '80s, the top of the card forever had one permanent fixture: Hulk Hogan.

Once Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik in January 1984 to win his first WWF Championship, the Hulkster remained the guy across the rest of the decade and into the '90s. Of the 2,169 days which separated that inaugural title win and the end of the '80s, Hulk was in possession of the company's top prize for 1,748 of them. Not just that, but Hogan was positioned as the top attraction even when he didn't have the WWF Title - such as when he and Sid Justice headlined WrestleMania VIII while Ric Flair defend the WWF Title against Randy Savage in the middle of the card.

Not even the biggest of Hogan detractors can say that Hulk wasn't a truly monumental draw, with the two-time WWE Hall of Famer undoubtedly one of the most pivotal people in WWE history. The thing is, by the start of the '90s, some had started to become tired with the formulaic schtick of taking vitamins, saying prayers, training hard, and Hogan Must Pose.

While the fan reaction was starting to cool for Hulk, Vince McMahon was hesitant to veer too far from what had worked so well for him in the '80s.

Granted, the steroid scandal of 1991 somewhat forced McMahon's hand from a PR standpoint, but October 1992 saw Vince take his first steps of stepping away from Hulkamania being the be-all, end-all, as the WWF caught everyone off-guard by having Bret Hart win the WWF Title from Ric Flair at a Saskatchewan house show.

It would take until the summer of '93 for WWF to completely move away from Hulkamania, with Hulk exiting the company at that point, but at least the promotion was finally exploring a brave new world.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.