THIS Was WWE's Most Creative Year Ever

Though to the adolescent fans that stayed beyond the fad, the WWF was a form of entertainment shaped definitely by the do-gooding of Hulk Hogan, really, how much did morality matter so long after he'd left?

It was as if Vince was live surveying his remaining fans in a bid to attract more of them, but the events of Survivor Series doubled as exceptional professional wrestling stunning in its fusion of brawling and technicality and thoroughly convincing in its worked animosity. Every pro wrestling fan believes their era was best, or was booked for them, but the attitudinal shift shared by the WWF and the kids it hooked during the Hulkamania years really was a journey taken together.

Austin wasn't the only darker character tethered to a harsh reality Vince was always insistent on shielding his audience from. Mankind, unlike the crudely drawn monsters of the usual Undertaker formula, was a tortured soul achingly human in his lamentable state - sympathetic, almost, were it not for his brutality, the manifestation of which was tremendously artful and violent. Mick Foley, between the Boiler Room Brawl and the seminal main event of In Your House: Mind Games, literally and stylistically diversified the WWF's in-ring output. He innovated the crazed, arena-wide violence that would become the hallmark of the Attitude Era's bigger, broader - and dumber - fun.

Of course, the WWF took a further two years to get hot for a reason: much of its output was shockingly bad.

CONT'D...(4 of 5)