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I've been thinking about this lately as I watch RAW/SD/NXT and the shows definitely have a different feel to them than say what we used to call the "PG Era". It seems a little more shooty, playing off pop culture, social media and they did way completely with pretending other promotions don't exist.
I know a lot of brehs been watching shyt on the network help me define the eras of WWE. The first couple there's probably not much argument to be made. I'd say anything pre-1984 is just pretty much the pre-expansion, New York MSG era. Your Sammartino and Backlund eras.
The Hogan Era [aka Rock N' Wrestling] 1984-1993. This is where Hogan takes off Hulkamania runs wild, you see celebrities and rock being incorporated into the product. You see a lot of the occupation gimmicks and the beginning of the cartoon gimmicks. Hogan is the primary face. Ultimate Warrior is the co-star.
The New Generation 1993-1997. This is the post-steroid trial era and post-Hogan era. Bret Hart, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Roman are the main stars, a new wave of talent with some others mixed in at times. WWE tries to push a lot of wrestlers who aren't as obviously juicing.
The Attitude Era 1997-2001. This is where it gets tricky. The focus is now on Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind, still Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Kane, Bret Hart as a heel in the beginning, D-X, etc. Vulgarity, hoes, outlandish story lines, just more of an adult oriented product. I'm not sure when this started exactly. I'd have 1997 as the starting point but some say it was 1996. I know Goldust was controversial. When did it feel like everything was changing?
Ruthless Aggression Era [aka Brand Extension] 2002-2008. Another tricky one. For most of 2001 we have the WCW/ECW Invasion angle going on. Then Austin and Rock are slowly phased out as the top stars as they begin to do other things and/or deal with injuries. Brock Lesnar, Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton are among the new stars and are joined by Angle, Undertaker, Edge, Booker T, Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. We still have the vulgarity, blood, guts and hoes going strong. RAW and SD are separated through the WWE Draft. Also a lot of nostalgia angles. But I'm unsure where exactly the feeling changes to PG. ECW is revived.
The PG Era 2008-? . This is where I start falling off completely. I'm still watching the shows but it's background noise. PG angles, kids oriented product. Cena is the star of the shows. At some point CM Punk and Daniel Bryan start to break out but it's a couple years down the road. We also have the "It's all about the MONEY" shyt. The NXT competitions. Can't forget the RAW guest hosts. The official change to PG was in July of 2008 but I can't remember if shyt changed overnight.
The Reality Era [aka The Network Era]. This is the era we are in now. I want to say you can almost pinpoint it to the start of the network but it goes back a bit further than that. The big changes are the influx of new talent like The Shield and Wyatt Family and now AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal, New Day, Braun Stroman etc. This definitely feels different than the PG era. It's gotten more adult friendly, it's more shooty definitely, it uses social media, the women have broken out and a lot of guys from other promotions are signed and then it's referenced on TV. I guess this started with HHH changing NXT and creating the performance center. The Network began in I think February of 2014 but this dates before that.
I know a lot of brehs been watching shyt on the network help me define the eras of WWE. The first couple there's probably not much argument to be made. I'd say anything pre-1984 is just pretty much the pre-expansion, New York MSG era. Your Sammartino and Backlund eras.
The Hogan Era [aka Rock N' Wrestling] 1984-1993. This is where Hogan takes off Hulkamania runs wild, you see celebrities and rock being incorporated into the product. You see a lot of the occupation gimmicks and the beginning of the cartoon gimmicks. Hogan is the primary face. Ultimate Warrior is the co-star.
The New Generation 1993-1997. This is the post-steroid trial era and post-Hogan era. Bret Hart, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Roman are the main stars, a new wave of talent with some others mixed in at times. WWE tries to push a lot of wrestlers who aren't as obviously juicing.
The Attitude Era 1997-2001. This is where it gets tricky. The focus is now on Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind, still Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Kane, Bret Hart as a heel in the beginning, D-X, etc. Vulgarity, hoes, outlandish story lines, just more of an adult oriented product. I'm not sure when this started exactly. I'd have 1997 as the starting point but some say it was 1996. I know Goldust was controversial. When did it feel like everything was changing?
Ruthless Aggression Era [aka Brand Extension] 2002-2008. Another tricky one. For most of 2001 we have the WCW/ECW Invasion angle going on. Then Austin and Rock are slowly phased out as the top stars as they begin to do other things and/or deal with injuries. Brock Lesnar, Batista, John Cena and Randy Orton are among the new stars and are joined by Angle, Undertaker, Edge, Booker T, Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. We still have the vulgarity, blood, guts and hoes going strong. RAW and SD are separated through the WWE Draft. Also a lot of nostalgia angles. But I'm unsure where exactly the feeling changes to PG. ECW is revived.
The PG Era 2008-? . This is where I start falling off completely. I'm still watching the shows but it's background noise. PG angles, kids oriented product. Cena is the star of the shows. At some point CM Punk and Daniel Bryan start to break out but it's a couple years down the road. We also have the "It's all about the MONEY" shyt. The NXT competitions. Can't forget the RAW guest hosts. The official change to PG was in July of 2008 but I can't remember if shyt changed overnight.
The Reality Era [aka The Network Era]. This is the era we are in now. I want to say you can almost pinpoint it to the start of the network but it goes back a bit further than that. The big changes are the influx of new talent like The Shield and Wyatt Family and now AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Jinder Mahal, New Day, Braun Stroman etc. This definitely feels different than the PG era. It's gotten more adult friendly, it's more shooty definitely, it uses social media, the women have broken out and a lot of guys from other promotions are signed and then it's referenced on TV. I guess this started with HHH changing NXT and creating the performance center. The Network began in I think February of 2014 but this dates before that.
