What started the attitude era decline?

[FunkDoc1112]

Ratings have never recovered from that. There was an episode where The Rock returned that got a 5.7, month later they went under 5's and never hit it again until the week before and night after WrestleMania 18.

Pretty much after the Invasion they relied on comebacks and WCW guys but eventually the well dried.

Hogan's title reign and honestly, the name change is what killed it for good. I remember everybody was just like when they switched to WWE. It took me a long time to get used to seeing it as "WWE" on the DirecTV guide and shyt. It just wasn't the same anymore. The F was grittier lmao.

 

[Nero Christ]

I'd point to two things with the first one being the McMahon-Helmsley Era and then Rock leaving after WM17. In 2000, while the product was still good/great, it lost the fun & creativity it had the past 2 years. Rock/HHH was good but it was just a rehash of Austin/McMahon and it seemed like when Rock won and HHH was supposed to go away, he never did and then he would eventually take over which we all know how that went.

And with Rock leaving after WM17, no face was able to matchup to Austin, which wasted a heel turn and the chance to bring some of the fire the product had lost at the time. If Vince would have put aside his ego and brought in Sting or Goldberg, they would have been more than set heading into the summer that year.

 

[JerseyBoy23]

I'd point to two things with the first one being the McMahon-Helmsley Era and then Rock leaving after WM17. In 2000, while the product was still good/great, it lost the fun & creativity it had the past 2 years. Rock/HHH was good but it was just a rehash of Austin/McMahon and it seemed like when Rock won and HHH was supposed to go away, he never did and then he would eventually take over which we all know how that went.

And with Rock leaving after WM17, no face was able to matchup to Austin, which wasted a heel turn and the chance to bring some of the fire the product had lost at the time. If Vince would have put aside his ego and brought in Sting or Goldberg, they would have been more than set heading into the summer that year.

The dumb thing about the night after wrestlemania is that the fans were clamoring for a Triple H vs Austin title feud.

Either Austin should've stunned Vince or Triple H should've made the save. Trying to make Undertaker the face of the company before the Invasion was a mistake.

Also you're right. Rock should've had a long reign after Backlash but they were so hellbent on getting a Triple H over, were him and Steph even dating in real life then.

If so, the answer to OP's question is Triple H and Stephanie on and offscreen killed the Attitude Era inadvertedly.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

The dumb thing about the night after wrestlemania is that the fans were clamoring for a Triple H vs Austin title feud.

Either Austin should've stunned Vince or Triple H should've made the save. Trying to make Undertaker the face of the company before the Invasion was a mistake.

Also you're right. Rock should've had a long reign after Backlash but they were so hellbent on getting a Triple H over, were him and Steph even dating in real life then.

If so, the answer to OP's question is Triple H and Stephanie on and offscreen killed the Attitude Era inadvertedly.

Yeah, Undertaker and Kane are not who you fukking build the company around. They were always popular but never centerpiece popular. All-Stars, but not franchise players, basically. And Benoit and Jericho were kept under the glass ceiling for so long that nobody bought into their pushes.

As great as 2000 was, all of the stuff that's been plagung the product for the last 15 years got their start that year. Particularly the second half of the year after King of the Ring.

One constant from 97-99 is that you saw the elite midcarders get elevated, even while the main eventers were doing their thing. In '97, it was all about Bret/HBK but then Austin got elevated to their level. In 98, while Austin/Undertaker/McMahon was the main thing going, Rock and Foley rose up too. And then in '99, HHH got the push and Rock reached a new level as an elite babyface too.

In 2000, that stopped. Yeah, Kurt Angle won the strap but he was treated like a complete joke, and then Benoit and Jericho just remained stangant in the mid-card. Like the other guy mentioned, even after Rock came out on top in KOTR 2000, HHH remained the centerpiece of the shows and that took the energy out of things.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Going from a Chris Kreski to Stephanie McMahon

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Going from a Chris Kreski to Stephanie McMahon

And then Stephanie started putting herself all over the shows even more. I watched all of the weekly shows and PPVs from 95-WM X7 on the Network and you can definitely see things start getting stupid in late '00. That whole Vince McMahon/Trish Stratus/Linda McMahon shyt was just stupid.

 

[JerseyBoy23]

And then Stephanie started putting herself all over the shows even more. I watched all of the weekly shows and PPVs from 95-WM X7 on the Network and you can definitely see things start getting stupid in late '00. That whole Vince McMahon/Trish Stratus/Linda McMahon shyt was just stupid.

WrestleMania 17 kind of fell in to her lap also. Austin/Rock was teased the moment Austin returned, TLC match happened back in SummerSlam so it was a no brainer, Benoit/Angle were two guys they had nothing for in Creative so they just sent them out there. Triple H and Undertaker was most likely whispered into her ear, he probably wanted the win at first too before Vince nixed it.

 

[richaveli83]

I was going to say when WCW went out of business in 2001 but looking back it probably started in mid to late 2000. By then WCW really wasn't any competition. They were still in business but Vince wasn't worried about them. Kind of like TNA in the mid 2000's. No real competition kills creativity.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

WrestleMania 17 kind of fell in to her lap also. Austin/Rock was teased the moment Austin returned, TLC match happened back in SummerSlam so it was a no brainer, Benoit/Angle were two guys they had nothing for in Creative so they just sent them out there. Triple H and Undertaker was most likely whispered into her ear, he probably wanted the win at first too before Vince nixed it.

HHH/Undertaker was supposed to be HHH/HBK originally, but Shawn showed up pilled up out of his mind and was sent home. That's why the feud was thrown together, the whole premise was basically:

HHH: I've beaten everybody! I'm the best!
Undertaker: You've never beaten me
HHH:

The WM17 build was sloppy as fukk, too. They basically had no direction or a card outside of Austin/Rock until about 2 weeks before the show. Some circumstances fukked it up, though. The aforementioned HBK stuff and Rikishi getting hurt left HHH and Undertaker without matches, respectively, the Jerry Lawler/Kat vs RTC storyline got derailed by the former's abrupt departure. They were building towards a Benoit/Eddie Guerrero match while Kurt Angle was in limbo, then they changed their plans out of nowhere and threw them together a week before the show. It was a mess, but it turned into the GOAT PPV.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Introducing of Smackdown. Stretching storyline and just overall saturation of the product. 97-00 was peak for pro wrestling.

Lol this isn't true at all

 

[Bigfish]

Stone Cold heel turn.

 

[niguez]

Lol this isn't true at all

Smackdown was just a rehash of Raw that week, didn't really bring anything new. Raw was and is always is the main show.

 

[John Reena]

Too much HHH, Rock became a part timer, Stone Cold started being injured a lot, they stopped giving tag teams n midcarders storylines.

 

[Ben Ovabich]

Vince Russo leaving WWE
Austin out almost for a year from neck surgery...
Triple H injury
The Rock goin Hollywood.

 

[R=G]

The ratings never recovered from when Rock left post WM 17.