Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 5 Paid Members Posted March 5 One of the disappointments about Billy & Chuck was that the gay-baiting was literally the only thing they were a team for, barring a couple of weeks when they became Smackdown's answer to 3 Minute Warning. But they were a pretty good tag team to watch in general, and it's a shame they didn't get a longer run. I would argue that Kurt Angle in himself is not Attitude, but Kurt Angle being a heel is very Attitude. The positioning of his patriotic, wholesome, white-meat, moralising persona as someone to reject and detest is very 90s rebellious/cynical. Quote
Chili Posted March 5 Posted March 5 2001 post Mania to June 2002 where Ruthless Aggression becomes a 'thing' feels like 1997 to me, in that it's Attitude but a bridging embryo stage between two things. It's the Attitude Hangover, differences being 1997 evolved into their big business era, whereas 2001-02 saw an upturn in work rate but a longing for their previous years that suffered with a lack of competition, complacment and their audience growing out of it in the natural cycle. That and the previously mentioned Vince having no filter and all the disgusting shit. Quote
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Paid Members Posted March 5 1 hour ago, SoloJones said: For Attitude Era week, they posted that Desire video from the end of 2001 which just feels wrong. Everyone probably has their own definition, but for me Mania 17 is basically the end of the Attitude Era, with most of 2001 being its own thing with the Invasion. The WCW/ECW stuff doesn't seem to fit in with either the Attitude Era, or Ruthless Aggression (which has a more obvious start point of when Vince started saying it on tv, and is backed up by the first time they did a brand split, etc). I got back into wrestling in mid-2000, and was fully invested by 2001. The Attitude Era always felt like something that was already over - when I started watching, Stone Cold was out injured, Austin vs. McMahon was over, Mick Foley was retired, The Undertaker had just come back with a new gimmick, and the last vestiges of DX were X-Pac and Road Dogg still teaming together, about to break up, and being treated like relics of a previous era. The Radicalz were all over the show, Kurt Angle was well on his way to becoming a top guy, and I didn't associate any of them with the Attitude Era. Wrestlemania 2001 is as good a definite ending to the Era as you can get, and I think most people would agree on it as a definite cut-off point, but months before that I certainly never felt like I was watching "Attitude". Quote
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted March 5 Paid Members Posted March 5 My re-introduction to WWF after binning of in 95 was when Channel 4 got the rights. I think the Attitude era was still alive and well until Wrestlemania 2000. Post that you had things like the first TLC and the Armageddon HIAC match, but it did feel like Mania 2000 was the start and Mania 17 was the full stop. Quote
Cannibal Man Posted March 5 Posted March 5 In the same way 1996 feels like proto-Attitude i've always felt the time between Armageddon 1999 and Royal Rumble 2000 is where a massive change to the company aesthetic and overall 'feeling' of TV production and peoples performances changes completely and becomes a sort of introduction to what's about to come rather than the year feeling in line with the last two and a bit/three years of Attitude. It's insane how different 1999 and 2000 become in such a short period. Armageddon feels like it's from another era whenever I see RR 2000. Quote
BarryOVega Posted March 5 Posted March 5 I didn’t bother watching much Smackdown after the first brand split, not sure why, probably time restraints with being 18 and wanting to go the pub all the time so I missed a load of Vince’s stuff when he was solely on Smackers I watched the hideous match with Stephanie as I was at a party when someone put it on but the stand out was him saying he wanted Taker’s wife to be raped by a pack of bikers during their feud, never saw it at the time but couldn’t believe it when I saw it on YouTube later on, only surprise in hindsight was he didn’t want one of the bikers to shit on her head so basically Ruthless Aggression era was shit and so is Triple H except for the ladder match with Rock, his run from December’99 to about Fully Loaded’00 and when he had his photo took with Eugene and he said ‘Pedigree’ Quote
TheScarlettChad Posted March 5 Posted March 5 2 minutes ago, BarryOVega said: I didn’t bother watching much Smackdown after the first brand split, not sure why, probably time restraints with being 18 and wanting to go the pub all the time so I missed a load of Vince’s stuff when he was solely on Smackers I watched the hideous match with Stephanie as I was at a party when someone put it on but the stand out was him saying he wanted Taker’s wife to be raped by a pack of bikers during their feud, never saw it at the time but couldn’t believe it when I saw it on YouTube later on, only surprise in hindsight was he didn’t want one of the bikers to shit on her head so basically Ruthless Aggression era was shit and so is Triple H except for the ladder match with Rock, his run from December’99 to about Fully Loaded’00 and when he had his photo took with Eugene and he said ‘Pedigree’ He also wanted terrorists to blow up his house. He kinda got his wish two years later when Hassan fake executed him. Quote
AshC Posted March 5 Posted March 5 9 hours ago, garynysmon said: I’ve always felt that the WWF got a little too up their own arses in 2000 and I detested the McMahon-Helmsley era stuff, while Austin was missing for pretty much the entire year. Very much the start of Ruthless Aggression for me, despite WM17 being seen as the last hurrah for Attitude. That disgrace of a Wrestlemania card without a single proper one-on-one match shows that complacency had crept in. I accept that the actual wrestling was better in 2000, but that’s very low down the list of priorities for me personally. The charm of the Attitude Era for me was throwing all kinds of stuff against the wall in late 97 and into 1998 and seeing what stuck. Angles being dropped and random appearances all over the place. It was all a little too polished for me after 1999. Russo goes in October 1999 and then Austin goes in November. There's *tons* of great stuff after that, on PPV and TV. But the vibe of what it was, week-to-week, wasn't quite the same. Quote
Paid Members garynysmon Posted March 5 Paid Members Posted March 5 I feel like I’ve done my bit for natural justice today by completely derailing a thread that’s meant to discuss Triple H… Quote
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Posted March 5 1 hour ago, garynysmon said: I feel like I’ve done my bit for natural justice today by completely derailing a thread that’s meant to discuss Triple H… That doesn't work for either of us brother. Quote
Paid Members herbie747 Posted March 6 Paid Members Posted March 6 On 3/4/2026 at 8:06 PM, wandshogun09 said: how do you leave Foley off that? Because they're children Quote
simonworden Posted March 7 Posted March 7 On 3/5/2026 at 7:03 PM, BomberPat said: I got back into wrestling in mid-2000, and was fully invested by 2001. The Attitude Era always felt like something that was already over - when I started watching, Stone Cold was out injured, Austin vs. McMahon was over, Mick Foley was retired, The Undertaker had just come back with a new gimmick, and the last vestiges of DX were X-Pac and Road Dogg still teaming together, about to break up, and being treated like relics of a previous era. The Radicalz were all over the show, Kurt Angle was well on his way to becoming a top guy, and I didn't associate any of them with the Attitude Era. Wrestlemania 2001 is as good a definite ending to the Era as you can get, and I think most people would agree on it as a definite cut-off point, but months before that I certainly never felt like I was watching "Attitude". I agree, WM17 was kind of the final curtain with 01 being the straight to DVD sequel that was cancelled when the big names dropped out. I got into wrestling in 2000 and although from Mania until post Summerslam was absolutely top notch in ring and really good booking/ storyline wise it wasn't "the" attitude era. Anyone who had sky and been watching since 98/99 made it sound historic and legendary even though it was less than 2 years prior. By 2000 they'd figured out what worked, sent the shitarses packing and found a balance that seemed to keep everyone happy. As good as it was, it really was the beginning of the same tried and tested formula we've had ever since only with minor tweaks. Celebrating 2000 WWF feels like celebrating you've been married to the same person for 25 years even though you've hated each other since the 2nd year of marriage and only stayed together for the kids. Quote
Paid Members hallicks Posted March 7 Paid Members Posted March 7 On 3/5/2026 at 10:20 PM, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: That doesn't work for either of us brother. Nice to see HHH getting a photo with a waxwork model of The Last True Phenom and the I-Con of Scottish Wrestling - "The Pryor" Conscience. Quote
AshC Posted March 7 Posted March 7 I remember announcing a show and he told me, "remember I'm the NWA Scottish Champion!". So I remembered with all my might... "the opponent, he is, the NWA, Scottish Champion!..." The longest three seconds of my life before remembering his name. 😂 Always let your Conscience be your guide. Quote
Paid Members Supremo Posted March 7 Paid Members Posted March 7 Thank heavens for Triple H, who we all know is the main reason Trick Williams is so hot right now. Where’s the video of you similarly coaching Danhausen through an entrance that completely shat the bed, Hunter? Hmmm? Quote
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