10 Wrestling Secrets Everyone Knows Except You
6. The Attitude Era's Dearth Of Stadium Shows
WrestleMania X-Seven taking place at the Houston Astrodome spoke to the monster, monster appeal of WWE and especially its top stars Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock in early 2001.
And yet, that it took until this show - now widely accepted as the period's season finale - for the Attitude Era to play to a crowd this massive says something about Vince McMahon's corporate ambitions still lying beyond the one thing he's ever successfully promoted.
As WWE reentered the mainstream conversation, floated on the New York Stock Exchange, rented space on Times Square and got the entire WrestleMania main event crew on Saturday Night Live, McMahon...launched a football league.
There were exceptions here and there - Raw drew 41,000+ for a show at Toronto's SkyDome in February 1999 and 45,000+ in a molten Georgia Dome no longer beholden to WCW alone later that year - but for the most part, the company's astronomical growth wasn't reflected with sweeping vistas and visuals. Raws, Smackdowns and pay-per-views were amongst the hottest in wrestling history, but a lack of beauty shots has forever cost the era that all-important billboard space in video packages and retrospectives.