In the wise words of Eric Bischoff, 'controversy creates cash'. For all the positive aspects of wrestling in the 90s, controversy was never far around the corner - yet this only fuelled interest in the industry! The decade kicked off with twin steroid and sex scandals in the WWF, which threatened to wreck Vince McMahon's business in the short term, but generated a lot of publicity in the process. In 1997, the infamous Montreal Screwjob - as unsavoury an incident as it was - captured mainstream attention, and helped birth the wildly successful 'Mr. McMahon' heel authority figure. Over in WCW, the rise of the internet was fully exploited, and saw multiple worked-shoot angles designed with a new, ultra-savvy generation of fans in mind. They also took several controversial shots at the competition, basing the entire nWo stable around the concept of 'outsiders', implicitly invading from the WWF. Eventually, this blurring of kayfabe and reality would be come far too muddy, and grow into a major factor for the promotion's eventual death - but in the 90s such nods to the fourth wall were fresh and exciting.
