It was dope. I was a teenager during that time. Fast paced, good storylines, lots of T&A. From 1997 on, Raw was must watch tv. Nitro was dope until after Starcade 97. Sting vs NWO was $$$ and they dropped the ball on the conclusion. I used to tape Raw and watch Nitro live due to Nitro coming on a hour earlier. PPVs were cheaper so me and my friends would pool our money together to order certain PPVs. ECW PPVs were must watch stratus when they finally became available in my area. The best part about the Attitude era was the fact that wrestling was so mainstream, you didn't have to hide your fandom. Wrestling was the cool thing to watch. Everyone knew the NWO, Sting, Austin, Rock etc. Alot of people were wearing Wrestling Shirts back then.
What was it like watching the attitude era as it was it happening?
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I got into wrestling at this time in the most random way. Buying weed off a friend who made me wait for a Sting vs. Nash Nitro main event (I was on the West Coast) before he'd serve. Wound up watching it and the hype in the arena was infectious. Then find out all my friends had already been meeting on Monday nights, smoking and watching (Raw and switch to Nitro on the commercials). I started going.
Some of the most fun times I had as a teenager. The room would pop with the crowds.
Some of the most fun times I had as a teenager. The room would pop with the crowds.
Breh the HitMang
Thank You Kobe
no better energy than the Attitude era crowd, the fukkery was on 1000%, even my mother was enjoying it
my young fat ass had to treat every monday night like superbowl, and stock up on snacks for the fukkery
my young fat ass had to treat every monday night like superbowl, and stock up on snacks for the fukkery
It was pretty fun.
I was pretty young (I was 12 in 98), so it was all brehs wanted to talk about on Tuesday. It was especially good in the summer when I would flip between Raw and Nitro, probably miss some portions of Nitro, and just say fukk it, and watch the replay that started at 11. Being up at 1am with a Slurpee and some Doritos while trying to see what was popping in them chatrooms
I think what goes unsaid is that being in the middle of experiencing it, I don't think any of us realized that we were in the middle of witnessing something special. It wasn't at its best every week (because let's be real, some of those episodes of Raw have aged TERRIBLY), but when it hit, it was the perfect balance between actual wrestling and fukkery.
The main thing that they had back then that was missing form current day WWE when I watched (stopped watching when they peaced up with Hogan) was actual characters with explained motivations. Damn near everyone, including the random midcarders had something that made them who they were. What frustrated me about WWE was that it could easily have been better if there was just some effort and thought put into it.
I was pretty young (I was 12 in 98), so it was all brehs wanted to talk about on Tuesday. It was especially good in the summer when I would flip between Raw and Nitro, probably miss some portions of Nitro, and just say fukk it, and watch the replay that started at 11. Being up at 1am with a Slurpee and some Doritos while trying to see what was popping in them chatrooms
I think what goes unsaid is that being in the middle of experiencing it, I don't think any of us realized that we were in the middle of witnessing something special. It wasn't at its best every week (because let's be real, some of those episodes of Raw have aged TERRIBLY), but when it hit, it was the perfect balance between actual wrestling and fukkery.
The main thing that they had back then that was missing form current day WWE when I watched (stopped watching when they peaced up with Hogan) was actual characters with explained motivations. Damn near everyone, including the random midcarders had something that made them who they were. What frustrated me about WWE was that it could easily have been better if there was just some effort and thought put into it.
Was the goat esp as a young kid/teenager. Crowd was great, writing was superb. I could name every wrestler on the roster, never missed a raw, smackdown, even watched heat. Seemed like nothing was off the table anything could happen. Even jobbers had a big following. Was the best two hours and 3 minutes of television hands down
RAW IS WAR
RAW IS WAR
Playaz Eyez
Veteran
Another thing from AE that missing today
Not only crowd signs, but creative ones. Other than WM, I feel like crowd signs have gradually been micromanaged out of the WWE, and it may have started way after Attitude. May have been the start of PG or something. They practically give you the signs they want you to have
Not only crowd signs, but creative ones. Other than WM, I feel like crowd signs have gradually been micromanaged out of the WWE, and it may have started way after Attitude. May have been the start of PG or something. They practically give you the signs they want you to have
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Hard to describe. Wrestling as a whole was booming. Nothing in the industry has come close. Like, there were lower midcarders more over in that era than 99% of todays main eventers. Then you factor in the heavy hitters like Rock & Austin (and Sting & Goldberg in WCW) and it was pure nirvana as a fan, especially if you were a child.
Funny. I stopped watching during the ruthless aggression era.... shyt couldn't live up to the attitude era.
Were great stables as well
corporation
dx
brood
nation of domination
ministry of destruction
hart foundation
Right to Censor
Brood
even tag teams like kai en tai which were straight jobber status got more pop than 90% of wrestlers nowadays
Vic Damone. Jr
Don't support the phonies, support the real
As a young breh, 
NOSaintsFan02
Superstar
it's funny when i see dudes in their young to mid 20s hype up ruthless aggression era and eras after that as the gold standard of wrestling. makes me feel old as shyt
A LOT of the WWE's current base were legit not around for the Attitude era.
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It was a party every single Monday. That shyt was appointment television without question. Switching back and forth between Nitro and Raw, waiting for commercial breaks. Or recording one and watching the other? Incredible. There's no better opening in television than that Raw Is War opening followed by the sirens in the arena and the crowds on their feet like they were at a concert. As a middle school kid, it was hard to fathom what it all was because everyone was over, but as an adult? Breh, everyone was over. Not even on some retrospective shyt, but everyone was truly over. From the mid carders up, every match had someone the audience cared about. For a good three or four years, wrestling was the hottest thing in the world. The shyt used to easily beat Monday Night Football in ratings. Imagine that shyt
Amazing times. Like what was said before, it was actually a pop culture force. Was what we would talk about everyday at school after an event. Honestly I remember hearing more about WWF/WCW than NBA/NFL among people my age group. Everyone wearing wrestling shirts...if was must see tv. You couldn’t wait to see what would happen that night. Switching between both shows and then when someone jumped from one company to another 
NOSaintsFan02
Superstar
I remember about the Attitude Era that it was bigger than sports to me. I used to watch big matches with as much anxiety as I do now for a Saints playoff game. It was THAT big. It consumed all my attention. I was in middle school for the gist of the Attitude Era. I can't speak for others but wrestling was legit bigger than NBA and NFL in our circles. And mind you I was at an all black school.
It wasn't until the era started to fade away that my focus/energy shifted to NFL and NBA...but for those 5-7 years (I'm counting 96-03, even though I know the Attitude Era technically ended in 01...but to me 03 is when it REALLY ended with Rock and Austin leaving) WWE (and WCW for a bit) was EVERYTHING to me and others.
It wasn't until the era started to fade away that my focus/energy shifted to NFL and NBA...but for those 5-7 years (I'm counting 96-03, even though I know the Attitude Era technically ended in 01...but to me 03 is when it REALLY ended with Rock and Austin leaving) WWE (and WCW for a bit) was EVERYTHING to me and others.
Amazing times. Like what was said before, it was actually a pop culture force. Was what we would talk about everyday at school after an event. Honestly I remember hearing more about WWF/WCW than NBA/NFL among people my age group. Everyone wearing wrestling shirts...if was must see tv. You couldn’t wait to see what would happen that night. Switching between both shows and then when someone jumped from one company to another
They used to sell wrestling shirts at fukking Sam's Club. There were watch parties on college campuses. Not on some weird neck beard shyt either. Every Monday was like the super bowl