About This Group
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The WWF/WCW feud reached new heights in November 1, 1997, when WCW offered a contract to Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Hart was worth up to a reported nine million dollars over the course of three years. The WWF and Vince McMahon countered with an offer worth much less, but for a much longer period, with greater creative control. Bret Hart took the offer, but after several months of financial hardship and sharply falling profits, McMahon was uncertain if he could write Hart's paychecks. McMahon alerted Hart of the situation prior to Hart's match with Shawn Michaels in Montreal, and allowed him to re-open negotiations with WCW. Despite a great sense of loyalty to the WWF, Hart took WCW's offer and was set to appear on their programming by the end of 1997.
While Hart's departure was not a surprise, the WWF was concerned about the fact that the man about to leave was the WWF Champion. Earlier in the WWF/WCW feud, the WWF Women's Champion, Alundra Blayze, signed with WCW while in possession of the belt and threw it in a trashcan on WCW Nitro (imitating a heavily publicized act by heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe). Hart promised that no such thing would ever happen and put an agreement in place that the announcement of his departure would be delayed until the belt could be transitioned to a new champion. However, McMahon was concerned that the word would get out and he sought a way to get the belt off Hart before the deal
Hart used his contractual control over his booking during that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view at Centre Molson in Montreal, Canada. He let it be known to WWF management that he would drop the title on a couple of conditions; not losing to Shawn Michaels or in his home country of Canada. McMahon would deviate from the agreed finish of their match at Survivor Series to allow Shawn Michaels to win the title from Hart. During the match Shawn Michaels put Bret Hart in a Sharpshooter, which Hart was in the process of countering when the referee Earl Hebner, under instruction from Vince McMahon, told the timekeeper to ring the bell to end the match and announced Michaels the winner. Bret Hart was so infuriated at the fake victory he spit in McMahon's face before leaving the ring. Later, in a confrontation with McMahon that same night, Hart punched McMahon in the face, giving him a black eye.
This event set the stage for the turning point in the WWF/WCW feud. McMahon, who had previously acted only as a play-by-play announcer on television, used the backlash stemming from his real-life role as WWF owner in the Montreal Screwjob to cast himself as the evil company owner "Mr. McMahon" in WWF programming, a dictatorial ruler who favored heel wrestlers who were "good for business" over "misfits" like Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, which was the cornerstone of the next phase of development.
The Attitude Era is considered to have ended after WrestleMania X-Seven following a slow decline in ratings.Despite this, the WWF kept most of their audience in this transitional period, fueled with a combination of new factors leading to a fresh product. For one, Chris Kreski took over head writer duties after Vince Russo left for WCW. Kreski was admired by many for heading a creative process that had well-planned storylines. Some of the more remembered angles from this time were Triple H vs. Cactus Jack feuding over the WWF Title, the Triple H/Kurt Angle/Stephanie McMahon love triangle, and the TLC feud between the Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian, and the Dudley Boyz. At the same time, injuries to Steve Austin and the Undertaker allowed WWF to focus on new stars such as Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, Rikishi, and Edge and Christian.
In late 2000, WWF RAW is WAR moved from the USA Network to TNN. This coincided with the return of Steve Austin, after being out for close to a year due to injury. Despite having their biggest star back, the WWF's ratings started to slowly decline. Chris Kreski left the company, and Stephanie McMahon became the head writer. Despite this, the WWF presented what is considered by many to be one of their greatest single cards of all time, WrestleMania X-Seven, headlined by the Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF title. At the end of the show, Vince McMahon helped give Steve Austin the win, turning him heel in the process. Austin went on to form a union with Triple H called The Two-Man Power Trip, which carried WWF storylines for most of the Spring. But just as the next phase of the WWF began, the WWF lost two of their top stars, Triple H and Chris Benoit, to injuries. It was during this period that ratings took a serious blow, arguably due to the deaths of WCW and ECW, Steve Austin's heel turn and the absence of some big names.
Group Members
Favourite Wrestler from Attitude Era
Saturday, June 28, 2008, 01:11 PM GMT [General]
Posted By: One Man Dynasty
Attitude or Age of Orton?
Saturday, April 19, 2008, 12:08 AM GMT [General]
Posted By: One Man Dynasty
Comments
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That would be cool if there were a match like WWF vs. Allaince WWF vs.WWE! |
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The attitude era will never be matched as far as i concern. TNA pose no real threat to WWE and the main reason the attitude era was so great is because of the stiff competitons from WCW. If only them days could come back. Kane4life |
The should do something like that at Survivor Series. Team Attitude (Undertaker, Triple H, Kane, Big Show and Mick Foley) vs. Team New Era (Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk and Kofi Kingston)
Hellmonster04:29 PM GMT