Expert: Dave Wolf - 11/3/2009

Question
How and When did Attitude came to an end?
I mean did it end by the culmination of some storyline or b'caz some superstars left or something like that.

Isn't Attitude Era the golden age of wrestling with the 2 best companies in business competing head to head? Also,during this Era,the 2 best wrestlers in the world-Stonecold and Rock-were also at the peak of their performance.

How do you see the future of wrestling? Do you see any more independent or small organizations like TNA coming up which may not be able to compete to the level of WWE,but they can be competitive and at the same time both wrestlers as well as wrestling fans can have options too.

Answer
Hi Vicky.  Thanks for the question.

1.  The Attitude Era pretty much came to an end after the WWF bought WCW, which ended the Monday night ratings war for good.

After the WWF bought WCW, a lot of the storylines went from being really controversial and sexualized, to more of a real life corporate situation.  The WWF made the real acquisition of WCW into an angle, with the Invasion angle, and former WCW wrestlers trying to fit in with the WWF.

So it wasn't really the end of any angle or wrestlers leaving that that ended the Attitude Era, it was more the acqusition of WCW, and how it's wrestlers would fit in with the WWF.

2.  When describing the Golden Age of wrestling, I think everybody is going to have a different opinion on that.  Some people will say it was several decades ago, while others will say it was during the Monday Night wars.  No one can deny that was one of the most memorable time periods in pro wrestling.

For me, the Golden Age was around the time I started watching wrestling, in the early to mid 1980's.  When I first started watching wrestling, the only wrestling I got on TV was the AWA, which was based out of Minnesota, which is where I live.  Then the WWF went national, and had a Saturday night show on my local NBC station.  When we finally got cable, I was able to watch the NWA (later WCW), and also World Class Championship Wrestling.

So I went from only being able to watch the AWA, to watching four different promotions.  I was able watch wrestlers that I only read about in wrestling magazines.  Yes, the AWA and World Class started to go downhill once the WWF went national and started signing all the big names, but I was still able to watch some future WWF and NWA stars.  This was my my favorite time period of wrestling.

3.  It's hard to say what's going to happen in the future.  With the economy the way it is right now, it's going to be hard for any promotion to really be successful.  Even independent promotions, which don't have the overhead costs of WWE or TNA, are struggling.  

For a promotion to be successful, they are most likely going to have to have a big time financial backer, especially considering how expensive it is to put a show on TV.  There's been rumors for years now that Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Ted Turner, and others were interested in starting their own promotion, but nothing ever comes of it.

It would be nice to have some more competition out there, but I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

Thanks again for the question.  Let me know if you have anything else.

Have a great night!

Dave