WWE’s live show attendance has been down this year and television ratings are inconsistent at best, which is further proof that interest in the current product is not meeting expectations. To find solutions to the current problem, it might be wise to look at the most popular time in wrestling history, the Attitude Era.
Taking an occasional look back at the Attitude Era is something that wrestling fans do to remind themselves how much fun being a fan of WWE can be. Unfortunately in today’s current wrestling landscape the complaints of top babyfaces not getting over, heels being too boring, Raw being too long, and certain superstars not getting an opportunity dominate the internet.
First let’s eliminate the excuses made for the current product before delving into possible solutions. “The Attitude Era had Stone Cold, The Rock, The Undertaker, etc., and it would be impossible to duplicate that.”
Well, Stone Cold, The Rock, and The Undertaker did not start their careers as iconic, must-see superstars. They had to make gimmicks like “The Ringmaster”, Rocky Maivia, “Mean” Mark Callous work until eventually finding a character that better suited them.
So who is to say that there isn’t a current superstar stuck because of a terrible character direction? “Well yeah, but in the Attitude Era there was competition with WCW that forced WWE to bring it every week.”
That is not a good enough excuse for WWE’s lack of motivation to put on the best show possible, as well as their disorganization the day of a show. Not all of the Attitude Era were die-hard fans, there were some casual fans.
As we’ve seen over the past decade, those casual fans have gone away. To make WWE more popular they need more casual fans, and could maybe use the blueprint from the Attitude Era to help. Let’s look at a few components from the Attitude Era that would be beneficial to the current product.