10 Times WWE Immediately Broke Its Own Rules

5. The New Generation

Becky Lynch
WWE Network

The New Generation marketing drive was informed by economy and PR, and while ultimately unsuccessful in a commercial sense, the fabulous and forward-thinking in-ring retained enough of the core audience to later launch the Attitude Era.

Rocked by scandal, the WWF could no longer compete financially with Ted Turner's WCW; in an inspired marketing campaign, Vince McMahon built his company around the stars of tomorrow in a bid to age the old household names, Hulk Hogan specifically, that had made the jump. The (enforced) emphasis on smaller, technically advanced talent in turn created a new image of the WWF Superstar divorced (at least visually) from the juiced-up muscle men that plunged McMahon into federal court. It was a deeply cynical counter-strike exercise in hand-washing that nonetheless yielded pulsating action, but, in typical Vince fashion, it was born under rank, perversely hilarious hypocrisy.

King Of The Ring 1994 marked the formal launch of the campaign, and the pay-per-view was headlined by Roddy Piper (40) Vs. Jerry Lawler (44) in a deathly dull match that conspired to last forever at just 12:30. It wasn't a WWF Heavyweight Title match, and so it wasn't beholden to any tradition that never really meant anything, anyway.

Vince just couldn't help but expose himself.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!