What started the attitude era decline?

JerseyBoy23

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

Which they still do today. Can't think of the last good midcard or tag team feud that didn't have the belt on the line. That goes for the Women's belts as well.
 

reigun

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There was always going to be a decline. No industry maintains a boom period like the one wrestling had in the 90's.

As for what led to it, I think all the major contributors have been said. WCW's death led to a lot of fans just falling out of wrestling rather than switching over to WWF. Austin turning heel around the same time didn't help (though I'd argue the effects could have been mitigated if Rock didn't start his film career, basically leaving WWF with no one close on that level to fill the void). The Invasion being trash was a huge blow, since suddenly the roster was full of guys WWF had trained their audience to hate, and the storyline itself turned them into dorks thus justifying that hatred. The Invaison also signaled the decline in creative that would characterize much of the 00's, especially the backend of the decade.

There was also the fact that they didn't keep the product feeling fresh. The Ruthless Aggression era tried to recapture that Attitude era fukkery, but by that time, audiences weren't as interested in that kind of racy material. By the time the PG era rolled around and we were firmly in the era of Super Cena, much of the damage had already been done.
 

NYChase718

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Russo not staying in wwe under mcmahon

Also when russo left...kevin fukkin kelly was the one who made the idea of stephanie turning on her father and the mcmahon helmsley faction.

Had russo stayed and was under vince...history wouldve been totally different.
 
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Austin and Rock transcended wrestling. Just as much as Hogan did in the 80s. I think if Vince would have bought out Sting, Steiner, Goldberg and Flair and brought them in along with Booker and DDP 2001 would have been a huge huge year for them. Instead they go with the Invasion angle without many of the key players and it just sucked. I really enjoyed the first Invasion PPV but after that the weekly television and PPVs were ass.

That's when a younger me realized this wasn't the same anymore. shyt got stale and very boring during this time. I actually had a resurgence during the Ruthless Aggression era because it was at least different, younger guys getting the push and vets finally receiving their due.

It was too late for the casuals to get back into it. Austin and Rock don't grow on trees. It was them leaving combined with a terrible Invasion that killed the boom era.
 

SirMo

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Death of WCW and to a far lesser extent, ECW. The indies picked up around that time, but WWE didn't feel the same. Nor did the magazines.
 
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Introduction of John Cena. Fake hip hop hulk hogan wannabe. I think guys like the hardy' s, edge and Christian, Jericho, RVD, Booker T, JBL, Brock, Angle, Lashley, Batista, RKKKO should've been in those spots. They were trying to revamp that 80's era and merge it with the new era instead of creating something new and fresh.

Oh and WCW nor ECW guys shouldn't have been buried. They should've been right at the level of top tier WWE talent. Goldberg would've definitely joined in his prime, had Vince swallowed his pride and let these guys shine. He's probably turning in his senile grave regretting where it's at now.
 
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llt23

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When Vince Russo left for WCW.

After that the mid card died, Rock Austin carried the company for a few years with their mic work and then RIP especially when the invasion happened.
 
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Yea, I forgot that the bigots triple Kaitch and Steph killed the company. That overrated water spitting fakkit is killing raw today and what sucks is that they're still pulling him out of retirement to "push" guys over. He's always been a boring prejudice pos. I still remembered when he buried Booker. I swear Texas breeds the biggest yes massa ass nikkas. Him and Mark Henry were token champs.
 

JerseyBoy23

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There was always going to be a decline. No industry maintains a boom period like the one wrestling had in the 90's.

As for what led to it, I think all the major contributors have been said. WCW's death led to a lot of fans just falling out of wrestling rather than switching over to WWF. Austin turning heel around the same time didn't help (though I'd argue the effects could have been mitigated if Rock didn't start his film career, basically leaving WWF with no one close on that level to fill the void). The Invasion being trash was a huge blow, since suddenly the roster was full of guys WWF had trained their audience to hate, and the storyline itself turned them into dorks thus justifying that hatred. The Invaison also signaled the decline in creative that would characterize much of the 00's, especially the backend of the decade.

There was also the fact that they didn't keep the product feeling fresh. The Ruthless Aggression era tried to recapture that Attitude era fukkery, but by that time, audiences weren't as interested in that kind of racy material. By the time the PG era rolled around and we were firmly in the era of Super Cena, much of the damage had already been done.

Real talk, the part I bolded could be a thread in itself. I could see WCW fans who were kids just switching over to WWE but I bet Vince was surprised when WWE's ratings didn't rise up by 2 or 3 rating points.
 

ChuckTaylor84

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The move to TNN because it wasn't in a lot of areas like mines! :damn:

Poor execution of the invasion

WCW died
 

patscorpio

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this cat right here

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