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 The Snowman is a genius Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you think it possible for WWE to have more than one top guy or are you adamant that there can be only one? The WWE Network’s Monday Night War documentary has been, thus far, fantastically produced and has been earning a tremendous response from fans. It was, of course, the Monday Night War between WWE and WCW that prompted Vince McMahon to loosen the grip on his basic ideals and allow his product to creatively push the envelope, sparking the Attitude Era that we still celebrate today. On LOP, two of our top columnists have an ongoing series that reviews that entire period, PPV by PPV. It, too, has been well-received by diehard wrestling enthusiasts. So, what was it that made “Attitude” such a special time to be a fan? All of us who experienced it have our answers, but mine differs from the usual. It was, for me, a time too rebellious to maintain a consistent place in the sport entertainment culture. I walked away from wrestling at Attitude’s peak, in large part because the style of booking that followed pushing Stone Cold Steve Austin as the #1 guy was not conducive to holding my attention and prompted the last cold turkey, all out viewing hiatus in my 30 year fandom to date. My experience has given me a unique perspective. I was a fan that got swept up in the era of Attitude and the Monday Night War like so many others, but I was also so put off by the weekly game of Russian roulette (crash TV) on both Raw and Nitro that I stopped watching wrestling during its most distinguished period. Nevertheless, even though I’ve always challenged the notion that Attitude is the untouchable king of WWE eras, I’ve never disagreed, in hindsight, that it was, indeed, WWE’s finest. Here’s why; to me, the enduring legacy of the Monday Night War and the Attitude Era was simple - it was the most competitive period in professional wrestling’s long and storied history. From the promoters to the main-eventers to the mid-carders, everyone vied for supremacy. The competition ensured that no one rested on their laurels. That is what sets Attitude apart. It began at the top with Ted Turner and Vince McMahon. The latter wanted to take a single wrestling company global and succeeded. The former sought to use his considerable resources to add a prosperous pro wrestling addition to his empire. While Vince thought he had turned WWE into the sports entertainment equivalent of the NBA or NFL, a monopoly for his genre’s highest ranks, Ted had tried to turn wrestling into a multi-horse race similar to the opposition amongst TV stations. When McMahon became complacent and neglected to recognize cultural shifting, Turner swooped in and capitalized, hiring an ambitious, ruthless competitor in his own right, Eric Bischoff, to take the fight to WWE. The Bischoff-Turner combo embraced the changing times, leaving Vince to reevaluate his business while eating their dust in a TV ratings pursuit. Fascinating as it is to reflect on the manner in which Vince turned the tide, the most competitive period in wrestling lore was merely stimulated by rival promoters. It wasn’t about Vince vs. Ted, man vs. man to me. They were merely the catalyst for a burning passion amongst WWE and WCW (and even ECW) locker rooms to reach pro wrestling’s zenith. The NBA celebrates the mid-1980s through the early 1990s as its most competitive stretch and I’d venture to say that such an argument is less about talent and more about mindset. Today’s top basketball players are as athletic and gifted (if not more so) than their contemporaries, but there was something more psychologically aggressive about the players from 20-30 years ago that cannot be matched today. The same is true of professional wrestlers, from the mid-1990s to the present. The palpable difference between stars of yesteryear vs. today’s grapplers is not talent, but desire and drive. Emerging from the Monday Night War was the “us vs. them” mentality that made Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio future WrestleMania headliners and World Champions. They tried so hard to outperform the old guard in WCW that they became borderline-legendary before they ever even made it to the promotion that best appreciated their abilities. Diamond Dallas Page matched their rabid determination to succeed and actually found the success that they all wanted in WCW. Someone asked years ago, “Is DDP Hall of Fame-worthy?” If the fact that he scratched and clawed his way to a main-event spot amidst a “Who’s Who” list of Hall of Famers with their fat guaranteed contracts doesn’t answer that question in the affirmative, then what does? Page pulled off the equivalent of a mere mortal joining the wrestling Gods on sports entertainment’s Mount Olympus. There is a frequent saying on Raw these days that “if you’re not in this business to win the World Championship, then you shouldn’t be in this business.” It’s a line of thinking that was actually born from the pre-Attitude ascension of smaller stars to peak positions, but it was cultivated and groomed by the Monday Night War’s competitive nature. THAT is what was great about the Monday Night War! No era better appreciated hard work and determination. The Attitude Era in WWE bred a fight for the brass ring by a generation of wrestlers that had grown up on Ric Flair’s mantra that “To be ‘The Man,’ you had to beat ‘The Man.’” Steve Austin wanted to be “The Man.” The Rock wanted to be “The Man.” Triple H wanted to be “The Man.” Mick Foley and Undertaker wanted to be “The Man.” The New Age Outlaws wanted a spot at the top, too. So did X-Pac. So did Kane. Nobody ever gave the impression that they were just “OK” with their positions. Not Val Venis, not Ron Simmons, not D’Lo Brown (until Droz), not The Godfather, and certainly not Jeff Jarrett. Think that the Dudley Boyz, Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle, or the Hardy Boyz wanted to be anything less than the most remembered performer from wrestling’s most glorious era? Think again. I can recall so many Attitude Era PPVs that featured a first match to last match game of one-upmanship. Take Summerslam ’98, for example. D’Lo and Val set the tone. Jarrett and Pac said, “Tonight’s standard has been reset.” Foley and the Outlaws did their best to top them under unique circumstances. Rock and Trips stole the show. Austin and Taker had a brawl to remember and arguably tried so hard to top Trips and Rock that the two consummate pros botched several spots. What a show! THAT competition, at that and so many other PPVs and Raws, was/still is beautiful to watch. There was never another era with quite that type of competition before Attitude and there has not been one since. Pro wrestlers live within a fragile bubble. I’ve noticed that they tend to work harder when there is less distance between the top of the mountain and the part of the mountain that is close to the top. Hulk Hogan never had any challengers during the first wrestling boom. He was “The Man” and that was it. The entire show was built around him. Major PPV matches outside the main-events were rarely given the chance to upstage Hulkamania running wild. John Cena is the modern era’s Hogan. There was a competition between he and his “OVW Class of 2002” graduates, Orton, Batista, and Lesnar, but Cena emerged as the icon of an era with little resistance after 2005 and has been going strong ever since. Greater opportunities exist to steal the show today than there was in Hogan’s time, but Attitude was not just about having the best match or segment – it was a race for top spots where no one was given a lengthy head start; if you were better and more over than your peer, you moved ahead. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were never given realistic chances to do anything more than be “the guy firmly planted as #2 to Cena” – and look at the lengths that they had to go to even get there. The competitive resurgence is the trait from Attitude that I want to see back in modern pro wrestling. Could we be heading in that direction? The WrestleMania Era can be distinctly divided into five generations. In only two has there been an undisputed #1 star that soared high above his peers – Hulkamania and Cenamania. The other three have featured fierce battles for being “The Man” that often forced fluctuations at the top of the card, best showcased by Attitude due to the transitional aura surrounding the New Generation and the Post-Attitude Era. We’re due for a more competitive generation and, despite the feeling that the WWE product has stepped backward this summer, in actuality, we’re knocking on the door of the next era in wrestling history. It took the stars aligning for guys like Hogan and Cena to be so dominant for so long. We’ve seen similar cycles in sport. Yet, if the “Reality Era” is truly upon us, it would make sense for a wide variety of talents to hold what Cena and Hogan have made feel like an “elusive” brass ring. The crop of talent that has emerged in recent years seems hungrier and seems to lack that sense of entitlement that arguably riddled Cena of his potential challengers. They’ve also seen thirty years of WrestleMania lore to act as their guide and let them know what is possible. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, and Daniel Bryan, to name a few, are poised to take off onto a multi-year struggle for WWE’s #1 spot. In “Reality,” there’s no reason why Reigns cannot fulfill the “ESPN guest host, multi-media circuit” role expected of “The Man.” Yet, in “Reality,” that “Man” does not need to be the same one that carries WWE on TV (see Rock and Triple H from Attitude 2000). Rollins could be that guy. Ambrose could emerge as the fan’s choice to be the #1 babyface, forcing the likes of Reigns and Rollins to be creatively pushed into different on-screen personas (see Austin and Rock from Attitude 1998). All the while, the former Shield members’ attempts to distance themselves from their peers might prove more difficult than they thought because a certain underdog’s following just won’t allow for anything less than the #Yes!Movement continuing for Bryan (see Mick Foley Attitude 1997-2000). Wyatt, in “Reality,” could wind up being such a compelling and unique character that he’s never far away from contention, either (see Undertaker throughout Attitude). I sense something different from the leaders of the upcoming generational shift and given that most of them have been fans for as long as I, I hope that they recognize that the trait to carry over from the Attitude Era is its competitive nature. If they do, wrestling fans are in for a real treat as we transition into the future. -------------------------------------------------- Wednesday at 5PM EST - The Doc Says...“Rollins vs. Reigns Makes WWE Night of Champions Worth Watching” This week, The Doc is back to his usual, analytical and light-hearted self with a 5-Star Preview of WWE Night of Champions. What five matches does Doc feel are most intriguing? As the title suggests, the two former Shield members clashing for the first time tops the list. What about John Cena attempting to regain the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar? Doc's been pretty vocal about his distaste for Cena in his current/decade-long role. Is an exception in order? Plus, are there any long-term implications from this PPV? Doc weighs in... Check Out Wrestling Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with LordsofPain on BlogTalkRadio
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