10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About WWE's Attitude Era
1. It Needs To Come Back
No. No it doesn't.
Throwing aside all personal preferences, the idea that a returning to Attitude-style programming would cure all of WWE's modern ailments is preposterous. Doing so would appease certain sects of the fanbase, but alienate others and drive sponsors away, sending TV ratings and profit figures further into the mire.
The Attitude Era was a product of its time. It meshed perfectly with the audience's needs, wants, and expectations, making wrestling genuinely cool and edgy for the first time in decades, but society has changed. The things that made Attitude work aren't cool anymore: they're outdated at best, crude at worst, and entirely unsuited to a world that has moved on from them.
This isn't Generation X anymore. The zeitgeist is dead, the world has evolved, and so should the expectations of wrestling fans.
From a business standpoint, regurgitating these themes would present WWE as a gross, childish organisation that investors, advertisers, and other benefactors simply wouldn't want to be associated with. It just isn't worth it.
The PG Era's failings are numerous, and WWE could stand to benefit from easing off on some of their totalitarian restrictions, but they're operating in a new marketplace now. Attitude's time has come and gone, and short of leaping in a DeLorean and travelling back 20 years.