10 Ways WWE Could Revive The Attitude Era (Even With A PG Rating)
We don't have to take our clothes off.
Scan virtually any Attitude Era footage on YouTube, and you will discover in the comments section a legion of wannabe time travellers. People desperately want to return to an improvised, lively product powered by invention, originality, and charismatic megastars. As a simple two minute test, the search terms "The Rock" and "Steve Austin" were entered. The following comments were found:
'there will never be another time like this, 2 mega stars who took WWE to the next level. I'm so glad I got to live and witness this era and not the wwe of past 6 years'; I don't think wrestlers today can even come close to filling those minutes...'.
You'll also stumble upon perverts. As a further simple two minute test, the search terms "WWE", "Sable" and "Debra" were entered into YouTube. The following comments were found:
'Damn Debra does have nice legs though lmao'; 'debra had a great body but a bad face'.
WWE cannot nor should not appease these people. That aspect of the Attitude Era is best left in the past; Asuka as a pro wrestler is infinitely more entertaining than any of the sex objects were. And the thing is, the WWE product had "attitude" and sex well into 2006 - Edge didn't celebrate his maiden World Title win with a cake, after all - but the returns diminished. Devoid of the invention and the star power, what was once risqué became tacky and desperate.
It's the spirit people miss - a spirit not impossible to recapture...
10. An Absolute Refusal To Look Back
WWE markets nostalgia brilliantly, and with some rationale; the stars of yesteryear shine brighter than the stars of today, and, with the Network in a troublesome transition period, the easy accessibility to the past must come with the glorification of it. WWE promotes nostalgia less successfully; RAW25 signalled the death knell of the love-in.
The Attitude Era, however, was a beast that only looked forward. Only at WrestleMania X-Seven, the curtain call, did the WWF affectionately lampoon its daft history. Elsewhere, attention was focused solely on the present and the past. If you wanted to relive the good old days, you had to switch over to Dubya See Dubya. There were no dinosaurs in the WWF: only the stars of the here and now, who didn't coast on their charismatic star appeal like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. Steve Austin and The Rock talked you into the building and tore its d*mn roof off. This reinforced to the audience that they were watching a roster in their unmissable athletic primes. Austin, Rock et al. were legends in their own time. There is a youth movement waiting to happen in WWE. The roster is broadly older, but the WWE character ages of Finn Bálor, AJ Styles et al. are relatively young. The glass ceiling in WWE is sentient. Only by shattering it will we see their like truly flourish, untethered by Dead Men and dead acts.
Fans want to luxuriate in the new. That, as much as the blood, the swearing, and the t*ts, was the entire crux of the Attitude Era.