10 Ways WWE Could Revive The Attitude Era (Even With A PG Rating)
2. Be Different
"Every wrestler these days just has to get their sh*t in," is a common complaint not entirely without merit. So much of the current generation possess unprecedented physical gifts that, naturally, they want to show them off in an attempt to get themselves over. That's what getting over is: exploiting your talent to forge a connection with the crowd. But are too many performers over-doing it, risking both their health and their unique selling points?
Restraint isn't a word typically associated with the Attitude Era, admittedly, but a less-is-more approach may benefit those unable to escape its immense shadow. Kevin Owens excelled throughout the summer of 2017 as a sociopathic brawler. His quest to nigh-on murder Shane McMahon was immensely believable because he dispensed with the comedy and, in an absorbing Hell In A Cell match, reflected the renewed focus of his character with a brutal, stripped-back arsenal. Months later, and Owens has defaulted to the man of many moods and many moves. Much like WWE creative, much of the audience is at a loss: how are we to take a character like Kevin Owens?
Perhaps Owens isn't the only performer requiring discipline. In the Attitude Era, roles weren't limited as such, but they were better-defined. Austin and Rock brawled. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle put the sweetness into the science. The doubles division acts fused high-flying with weapons-based brutality. Each was marketed as unique, and wrestled uniquely, crafting individually eclectic and awesome - and disciplined - cards on the whole.
Everybody dives. Where's the agent intervention, or the wrestlers' own sense of ego, putting an end to the almost politeness of it all?