After the boom of the 1980s, both WWF and WCW started to decline. WWF was hit with a steroid scandal that saw many of the major stars of the promotion involved. WWF physician Dr. George T. Zahorian was accused of distributing the drugs, and McMahon was also indicted due to his connection with him. The trial began in 1994 and Hulk Hogan admitted that many wrestlers used steroids, but denied that McMahon pressured them to do so. McMahon was acquitted of all charges, but with the bad press resulting from the scandal, WWF began to push smaller and more athletic wrestlers into the spotlight. New and younger wrestlers such as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, Diesel, and many others were dubbed by WWF as the “New Generation”.
The New Generation Era is generally considered a low point for WWF. Criticized for its excessively cartoonish presentation and bad storylines, many fans abandoned the promotion, or wrestling entirely. Despite this, there were some highlights, most notably the ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X in 1994, which is credited with revolutionizing the concept of ladder matches. In a ladder match, the wrestlers fight to retrieve an object, usually a championship belt, hanging above the ring using ladders.
Bret Hart as WWF Champion in 1994, he was one of the leading stars of the New Generation Era of WWF (Mandy Coombes, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Meanwhile, WCW had left the NWA in 1993, under the leadership of new Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff, who aggressively tried to sign WWF stars to massively lucrative contracts. Bischoff managed to sign some of the most popular WWF wrestlers, such as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage. After feuding with Savage and dropping the WWF Championship to Bret Hart, Flair returned to WCW in 1993. Later that same year, Hogan also left WWF after one more stint as WWF Champion, and briefly wrestled for NJPW before joining WCW in 1994. Savage instead mainly worked as a commentator for WWF in the early 1990s, and had a famous on-air wedding with his real-life wife Miss Elizabeth at SummerSlam 1991, before ultimately joining WCW in 1994.
On January 11, 1993, WWF launched their new weekly television program, Monday Night Raw, as a replacement for their previous show Prime Time Wrestling. To this day, Raw is one of the two flagship weekly WWE shows. WCW countered with their own weekly show, WCW Monday Nitro, which debuted on September 4, 1995, and aired at the same time as Raw. The first episode of Nitro saw the return to WCW of Lex Luger, who WWF had signed in 1993 and unsuccesfully tried to push as a successor of Hulk Hogan. The resulting rivalry between WWF Raw and WCW Nitro became known as the “Monday Night War”.
During the struggle between the two companies, WWF and WCW resorted to all sorts of tactics to hurt each other and win over the viewers, who had to choose between watching either Raw or Nitro. Bischoff took advantage of the fact that Raw was often taped, while Nitro was live, to reveal the results of Raw in advance. One of the earliest “acts of war” was when WCW signed reigning WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze (called Madusa in WCW), and had her throw the championship belt in a trash can during an episode of Nitro in December 1995.
Outside WWF and WCW, the independent North American wrestling scene was in a bad shape. After WCW left the NWA in 1993, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated, and the new champion was to be decided in a tournament. With most territories out of business, the strongest promotion under the NWA banner was Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW), based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Paul Heyman, a former manager in WCW, took over the promotion and convinced the NWA to give the world title to ECW star Shane Douglas. However, this was all a plan by Heyman to launch ECW on a national level. At the end of the tournament, Douglas threw down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship that he just won, proclaiming the NWA “dead”. ECW then withdrew from the NWA and was renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling.
As such, ECW rose to prominence as the third-largest wrestling promotion in the United States, especially because of its unconventional style and extreme violence (the more violent style of wrestling is known as “hardcore wrestling”), and the inclusion of elements of lucha libre and Japanese wrestling, which were almost new to an American audience. ECW gathered a cult following and influenced the evolution of wrestling storylines in WWF and WCW in the late 1990s, as the two largest promotions had to adapt to a more edgy style.
A decisive step toward this evolution happened in 1996. That year, WCW signed popular WWF stars Razor Ramon and Diesel. Prior to their departure from WWF, the two broke character and hugged their real-life friends Shawn Michaels and Triple H during an event at Madison Square Garden. The incident became known as the “Curtain Call”, and was one of the first times that major wrestlers had broken kayfabe so explicitly. Fans who recorded the scene spread the videos on the Internet, forcing WWF and WCW to basically acknowledge that their events were scripted, and to blur the line between reality and kayfabe to create more engaging stories.
Razor Ramon and Diesel debuted in WCW with their real names Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, and were presented as WWF invaders under the name The Outsiders. The two teased the presence of a third member of the group, and at Bash at the Beach on July 7, 1996, Hall and Nash’s ally was revealed to be Hulk Hogan, who shockingly turned heel after over fifteen years as a fan favorite. This led to the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a new faction with Hogan, Hall, and Nash as founding members.
Scott Hall as Razor Ramon in WWF in 1995 (MandyJC72, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0) and Kevin Nash as Diesel in WWF in 1994 (MandyJC72, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Thanks to the nWo story, WCW experienced a huge surge in popularity and started dominating the ratings, with Nitro beating Raw every time the shows aired at the same time between June 1996 and April 1998. The nWo, that soon grew to include many other members, including Eric Bischoff, was seen by fans as the “cool heels”, and WWF had to adapt to the shifting taste of the audience, who wanted more realistic characters and storylines, and a product that pushed the boundaries between acceptable and offensive, as also demonstrated by the rise of ECW.
The first major storyline in WWF that included these elements was the feud between former friends Stone Cold Steve Austin and Brian Pillman. On the November 4, 1996, episode of Raw, WWF aired vignettes showing Austin breaking into Pillman’s home, and Pillman pointing a gun at Austin, with the segment ending on a cliffhanger. Another vignette later showed Austin being dragged away shouting uncensored profanities. The story angered broadcaster USA Network, who threatened to cancel Raw, but captured the attention of fans.
Logo of WWF Monday Night Raw between 1997 and 2001, when it was branded as Raw Is War, and logo of WCW Monday Nitro between 1995 and 1999 (Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).
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WWF thus started airing more adult-oriented storylines, and even partnered with ECW in early 1997. Now renamed Raw Is War, the show became more and more controversial. Austin often drank beer and showed middle fingers on air, while female performers were presented as sex symbols and booked to participate in explicit and provocatory segments. Profanities were also common, despite being often censored by broadcasters, and matches became more violent and bloody. This new direction was officially dubbed by the promotion as “WWF Attitude”, and the period that spanned the following years is now known as the Attitude Era.
The term “WWF Attitude” debuted on November 9, 1997, at the Survivor Series event in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. However, this show became known for a much more infamous incident. At the time, Bret Hart was WWF Champion, and had just signed a 20-year contract with the promotion the previous year, but McMahon informed him that he could no longer afford to pay him as stated in the contract, so he invited Hart to accept an offer from WCW.
The series of events that followed is still a matter of controversy and debate. McMahon didn’t want Hart to leave the company as champion, but Hart was unwilling to drop the title to Shawn Michaels, with whom he had a real-life feud, especially in his home country of Canada. The match was thus planned to end in a disqualification, with Hart dropping the title at a later date. However, when Michaels put Hart in the Sharpshooter submission hold (Hart’s signature move) during the match, McMahon instructed referee Earl Hebner to end the bout, declaring Michaels champion even though Hart had not submitted. A legitimate altercation between Hart and McMahon followed, and the situation caused an outrage both in the WWF locker room and among fans. The controversial events of that evening became known as the Montreal Screwjob.
Shawn Michaels in 1997, he was one of the biggest stars in wrestling during the 1990s and 2000s, and was involved in the Montreal Screwjob with Bret Hart (MandyJC72, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Hart soon went to WCW, where he found himself involved in the nWo storyline. The group had dominated the promotion for a year and a half, and their main rival Sting transformed into a much darker character lurking in the shadows. This feud culminated at Starrcade in December 1997, when Sting faced Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The finish of the match referenced the Montreal Screwjob, as corrupt referee Nick Patrick was supposed to execute a fast pinfall count to give Hogan the win. This prompted Hart to come to the ring and restart the match, allowing Sting to win the championship. However, Patrick had actually counted the pin at a normal speed, causing more confusion and adding a level of unintentional controversy to the match. Because of this, a rematch was held on the next night on Nitro, but it ended in even more controversy. Sting was thus stripped of the title, only to win it back against Hogan a few weeks later.
1997 in WCW also saw the debut of Goldberg, who went on to defeat every opponent creating a lengthy undefeated streak that made him rise to the top of the promotion. Hugely acclaimed by fans thanks to his series of wins in short and largely one-sided matches, Goldberg became one of the most popular wrestlers in WCW, and beat Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on the July 6, 1998, episode of Nitro. Despite this, WCW was entering a period of creative decline and viewership loss, while WWF was on the rise.
Goldberg in 2005, in the late 1990s his undefeated streak made him one of the most popular wrestlers in WCW.
The new “WWF Attitude”, with more profanity, violence, and sexuality, brought the promotion back on top. Also, this shift in content both in WWF and WCW, brought wrestling back to a level of popularity similar to that of the height of 1980s boom, so much so that the late 1990s are considered one of the golden ages of wresting.
Various young wrestlers contributed to the rise of WWF during this time. In 1997, Shawn Michaels teamed up with Triple H and female wrestler Chyna to create D-Generation X (initially also accompanied by Rick Rude, who joined WCW after the Montreal Screwjob). They depicted a group of rebels who ignored the rules and used profanities and pranks to insult their opponents. Dubbed as the “most controversial” faction in WWF/WWE history, they were one of the driving forces of the promotion during the Attitude Era.
However, the biggest superstar in WWF around this time was Steve Austin. Austin, who previously wrestled for WCW, arrived in WWF in 1995 after a stint in ECW, and rose to superstardom starting in June 1996, after winning the King of the Ring tournament. Initially a heel, Austin’s antics as a beer-drinking, anti-establishment brawler soon made him the most popular wrestler in the promotion. Austin turned face after a loss to Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in 1997 when, with blood pouring down his face, he refused to sumbit to Hart’s Sharpshooter and instead passed out. Depicted as a hero who refused to give up, this critically acclaimed match contributed to his rise to superstardom.
After the controversial events of the Montreal Screwjob, McMahon created his on-screen character of the “evil boss”, a persona that often straddled the line between fiction and reality, and began a feud with Austin. Austin was feuding with WWF Champion Shawn Michaels at the time, and during the build-up to WrestleMania XIV, professional boxer Mike Tyson was brought in by McMahon to serve as “ring enforcer” for the match between the two. Tyson had a scuffle with Austin and later joined D-Generation X, but he ultimately turned on Michaels and helped Austin win the championship.
The years-long feud between Austin and McMahon really exploded after WrestleMania XIV. This story, that saw McMahon regularly stack the odds against Austin, just for Austin to overcome them, was pivotal in shifting the tide in the Monday Night War in favor of WWF. On April 13, 1998, Austin and McMahon were scheduled to face each other in a match on Raw. That night, Raw defeated Nitro in the ratings for the first time in almost two years.
Steve Austin with the WWF Championship in 1999 (Mandy Coombes, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Despite the heights of the Attitude Era, this period saw one of the most tragic events in wrestling history. At the WWF Over the Edge event on May 23, 1999, wrestler Owen Hart, brother of Bret Hart, fell to his death while being lowered with a harness line from the arena rafters toward the ring during his entrance. WWF was harshy criticized for their decision to continue the event after the accident, and was sued by Hart’s family, later settling out of court.
The late 1990s also saw the introduction of various new match types, especially in WWF. The most notable of these is the Hell in a Cell match, in which the ring and the ringside area are surrounded by a large cage. The first Hell in a Cell match saw Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker at Badd Blood: In Your House on October 5, 1997. This match also featured the debut of Kane, who was seeking revenge against his kayfabe brother The Undertaker.
After the highly praised first match, the Hell in a Cell match became a feature of WWF/WWE programming. Arguably the most notable such match, and one of the most infamous matches of all time, happened when The Undertaker defeated Mankind (a character played by Mick Foley) on June 28, 1998 at the King of the Ring event. The match is known for its extremely dangerous stunts, as Foley was thrown from the top of the cage twice, with the second fall happening unintentionally. The match was nearly stopped, but Foley chose to continue despite suffering various legitimate injuries. The bout is now regarded as one of the most important matches not only of the Attitude Era, but the entire history of wrestling.
Meanwhile, another young wrestler saw a huge surge in popularity: The Rock. After debuting at Survivor Series 1996 as the babyface Rocky Maivia, the fans became increasingly hostile toward the bland character. This led to a heel turn and a character change, with which Maivia adopted the monicker “The Rock” and started insulting his opponents, often with several catchphrases that quickly became popular among fans. When, after a series of controversies, the WWF Championship was vacated, The Rock shockingly aligned with McMahon, who helped him win a tournament to determine the new champion at Survivor Series 1998.
The Rock as WWF Champion in 2000 (Nick Noid, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0).
This led to a feud with Mankind, the losing finalist of the tournament, and the two were set to face each other on the January 4, 1999, episode of Raw. Since the show was taped in advance, WCW announcer Tony Schiavone revealed on Nitro, which was airing live, that Foley was going to win the WWF Championship. Immediately, 600,000 people changed the channel to witness Mankind beat The Rock in a chaotic match, leading to Raw defeating Nitro in the ratings.
That episode of Nitro also saw another infamous incident. After Goldberg’s winning streak was controversially ended by Kevin Nash at Starrcade 1998, a rematch between the two was set. However, Goldberg was arrested (in kayfabe), and Nash faced Hulk Hogan instead. This was revealed to be an elaborate ploy, as Hogan just poked Nash, who fell to the ground and allowed Hogan to pin him to become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. This event became known as the “Fingerpoke of Doom”, and together with the other events of the same night, it is considered the start of the downfall of WCW.
Indeed, the last time WCW won in the ratings was on October 26, 1998, and during 1999 the gap between Raw and Nitro only grew larger. In 1999, WWF launched another weekly program called SmackDown!, to compete with WCW’s Thunder, while WCW hired former WWF head writer Vince Russo. Regarded as the brain behind the success of the Attitude Era, Russo tried to replicate the same style in WCW, but at an ever faster pace, with constant swerves and title changes, and more emphasis on characters rather that in-ring action.
Most of Russo’s ideas were poorly received, including the 2000 “reboot” of WCW that saw all championships vacated and all storylines dropped. Over the following months, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship was won by actor David Arquette (who was vehemently against winning the title) and Russo himself, severely hurting the already struggling reputation of the once-prestigious title.
Russo also had a public and legitimate falling out with Hogan at the Bash at the Beach event on July 9, 2000. This is another controversial incident that blurred the lines between fiction and reality, and saw WCW World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett lay down to allow Hogan to pin him, to which Hogan responded by breaking character, accusing Russo and his ideas for the downfall of WCW. Russo later came to the ring, effectively firing Hogan on air. This was the last appearance in WCW for Hogan.
At the same time, WWF was running highly praised storylines that involved major stars such as Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, Foley, and McMahon, and saw the debut of former WCW wrestler Big Show and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. In 2000, Triple H became the first heel wrestler to win the main event of WrestleMania, when he retained the WWF Championship against The Rock, Foley, and Big Show. Another acclaimed storyline was the feud between the young teams of The Dudley Boyz (who arrived in WWF from ECW in 1999), The Hardy Boyz, and Edge and Christian. The three teams faced each other in increasingly violent matches with several dangerous stunts. Their feud, that often included the use of weapons, led to the introduction of the tables, ladders, and chairs (TLC) match.
WWF also introduced the Hardcore Championship in 1998, with Mankind as the inaugural champion. Designed to be contested in hardcore matches filled with violence and weapons, in 2000 WWF added the “24/7 rule”, which meant that the title could be defended anywhere and at any time, as long as a referee was present. This led to several title changes in quick succession, often happening outside the ring or even the arena, creating numerous comical moments. The rule was discontinued in 2002, shortly before the title’s deactivation.
Mick Foley as Cactus Jack in 1995. In the late 1990s, he appeared in WWF with three different personas: Mankind, Cactus Jack, and Dude Love. As Mankind, he became WWF Champion and was the first-ever Hardcore Champion.
By early 2001, WCW was losing tens of millions of dollars, and with the merger between their parent company Time Warner and AOL, WCW programming was canceled to cut losses. Most WCW assets, including the contracts of some wrestlers, were purchased by WWF on March 23, 2001. However, many top stars such as Ric Flair, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, and Sting had contracts with AOL Time Warner, not with WCW, so WWF did not acquire them.
The last episode of Nitro aired on March 26, 2001, opening with McMahon announcing via satellite his purchase of WCW. In the closing segment of the show, simulcast on Nitro and Raw, Shane McMahon, son of Vince McMahon, appeared on Nitro saying that (in kayfabe), he had bought WCW, not his father, setting the stage for the “Invasion” storyline in WWF.
Television ratings of WWF Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro during the Monday Night War.
The highly praised WrestleMania X-Seven, held on April 1, 2001, is considered by some as the end of the Attitude Era, as well as one of the best wrestling events of all time. At the height of the main event, Austin shockingly aligned with his archnemesis Vince McMahon to defeat The Rock and win the WWF Championship, leading to an unexpected heel turn for the most popular wrestler of the previous years.
Meanwhile, after years of a shaky financial situation despite moderate success with some of their pay-per-view events, ECW was struggling, as many top wrestlers left for WWF or WCW. ECW was removed from television in late 2000, and failed to land a new deal to broadcast their shows. The promotion held its last event on January 13, 2001, and the company closed on April 4, 2001. Their assets were bought by WWE in 2003.
Moving to Japan, the 1990s saw AJPW and NJPW continue as the most popular and acclaimed promotions in the country, with a range of smaller companies also enjoying various degrees of success. NJPW often collaborated with WCW to produce shows with wrestlers from both promotions. Among these was an event called Super Warriors, which was held on January 4, 1992, and began the tradition of holding the main NJPW show of the year each January 4, which continues to this day with the events named Wrestle Kingdom.
Another collaboration between WCW and NJPW was Collision in Korea, a two-day event held in Pyongyang, North Korea, on April 28 and 29, 1995. Despite various controversies and tense relations with the local regime, the event saw a claimed audience of 190,000 on the first day and 165,000 on the second day, making this the largest ever attendance for a wrestling event. The most famous Japanese wrestlers from this time were Tatsumi Fujinami, Keiji Muto/The Great Muta, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Riki Choshu, while several foreigners also enjoyed success in Japan, most notably Stan Hansen.
In Mexico, the new promotion Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos (AAA, also known as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide) broke off from CMLL in 1992, sparking a rivalry between the two companies. AAA flourished with young exciting wrestlers, while CMLL initially struggled with an older roster. Thanks to a collaboration between AAA and WCW, many Mexican wrestlers later signed for WCW, popularizing lucha libre in the United States. WCW included these wrestlers in their “cruiserweight” division, and young performers such as Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit became really popular in the late 1990s, and all four later won world championships in WWE.