One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY Month Of The WWE Attitude Era

39. February 1998 | Not A Sign Of The Times

WWF Raw Attitude Era Signs
WWE Network

When you read or hear the words “the Attitude Era’, your mind will conjure an image from a narrow range of options. Steve Austin drinking a beer. The Rock wiggling his tongue about. Perhaps a whopping pair of enhanced knockers. In every image, whatever’s in the foreground, the background is identical: a sea of cardboard signs so vast that you can barely see any actual fans behind them. 

WWF fans were massively enthusiastic about the product at the time. This visual was a great illustration of that - they’d spent their day hyped at the prospect of going to Raw - and over time, this sign craze became a competition to see who could come up with the most lewd or offensive slogan. It was not unusual to read something like ‘WCW Stands For ‘Wussy Cruddy Wrasslin’’’, ‘Stratusfaction Guarantees Me An Orgasm’ or ‘I Want To Bang My Head Against Sable’s Mosh’ every Monday night. Or signs that might read something like ‘Austin 3:16 says I Just Knocked One Out To Your Boobs’, ‘The Rock Says Know Your Role And Open Your Mouth’, or variations of ‘The Guy Next To Me’, which tended to be followed by ‘Has A Small Dick’, or ‘Stinks Of Ass’. 

(Other, actually real crowd signs won’t be written down here because so many of them were laced with homophobia. Every WWF fan had a gay friend in 1998, it would seem). 

The fan sign was as much a part of the Attitude Era as CTE, which renders a February 23, ‘98 Observer report utterly astonishing: initially, the WWF was wary of these lewd messages, and confiscated several before a recent TV taping. The Attitude Era almost looked, literally, completely different.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK 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 AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and 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!