I dunno where this goes, but it's HISTORic so I guess here. Think of past eras right.

How do we define eras? I feel like it's accepted it goes hogan new generation attitude, but from there where?

Ruthless Aggression continues on from the attitude era for a few years until the Brand Split is in full swing. Enter the PG era and did this ever end? I can think of turning points for new eras. Timeline pg era was the cena show with supporting cast orton edge tista. Enter the reality era with Punk. Does the Shield's time on top count as it's own thing or does it get grouped with the reality era. There's always debates on the start and stop of when attitude era began. Some as early as late 95 with Diesel and others stall all the way to WM14. Like is there an official canon guide to eras?

Like did NXT/Covid start it's own era. Are we an era past the shield where Roman is the last boss. Is that how eras are defined? Clearing house to whoever the last "shield" was?

It's time to define it. Or does it go with the old wrestling cope of it's all cylical and it goes "dud to stud" no inbetween. How would you even define a boom period in current year.

Really where do you define a new era after Rock and Austin. Is Ruthless aggression the "last game that didn't sell well" release of the attitude era? Or does it count as the brand split? Is reality era just an expansion pack for the pg era.

I'm trying to will someone to return because I know they have an answer here. Manifesting.

But yeah when Roman loses he's a Taker Brock attraction and the next gen of stars need to rise up or god help this business. Is WM the end of the shield era? Or did a new era start with covid/cancel era?

I swear this feels like a good thread but it prob don't read like one.

It's a case by case basis and there's a level of revisionism that goes into it.

Let's use the Attitude Era for example. Nobody can ever agree on when it started. Did it start with The Cure For The Common Show Promo? Austin winning the title? Did Goldust kick-start the Attitude era? There's all these different versions. For me, the era officially starts in 1997 when the WWF started shooting out of abandoned warehouses with fire and lightening everywhere and the show became two hours long.

However to me you need a through line, that one angle that gets you from Point A to Point B. So for me, I'd actually start with the beginning of the Bret Hart-Steve Austin feud as that really was the changing of the guard. Bret trying to be a hero and being rejected for this beer-swilling redneck who will break any rule in the book to make himself the star and that's the bottom line.

That's why everyone views Wrestlemania X-7 as the end of an era because Vince ultimately won and got Austin under his thumb.

Over the years, I've come to realise the Invasion Era is still the Attitude Era. It's just not as good but it's the same format, same tone, same booking principals, it's just not as good because the Austin-Vince dynamic is gone.

So that's my hot take, there never was an Invasion Era, it was just a disappointing Attitude Era storyline.

In truth, the WWE stopped worrying about eras after Ruthless Aggression. Sure they hinted at a Reality Era but they never properly committed and the show kind of remains flavourless.

Still there's points in time that stick out so without further ado, this is my attempt at splitting all the eras (since I've been a fan).

WWF Attitude Era (1997-2002)
- USA vs. Canada (1997)
- Austin vs. McMahon (1997-99)
- McMahon-Helmsley (1999-01)
- The Invasion Era (2001)
- The What Era (2001-02)

Ruthless Aggression (2002-07)
RAW
Pilot Era (SCSA, Brock, Taker, Flair as GM, nWo) (2002)
The Evolution Era (2002-05)
The John Cena Era (2005-07)

SmackDown
Pilot Era (HHH, Hogan, UnAmericans, Reverend D'Von) (2002)
Here Comes The Pain (2002-04)
JBL (2004-05)
Batista (2005-07)

ECW
Paul Heyman Era (2006)
The Bobby Lashley Era (2006-07)
The CM Punk Era/Velocity Era (2007-08)

HD Era (2008-11)

Otherwise known as the PG era. The violence and adult themes are toned down, the show becomes more and more like the Muppets Tonight show with special guests. Generic PPVs are dropped for gimmick PPVs where the gimmicks take precedent over the opponents. All the legends are retiring one by one and the show really just feels like a Nickoldeon sit-com.

"The Reality Era" (2011-16)

The WWE has one of their own wrestlers rage against the machine and call into question the direction of the company. Guys resort to YouTube to get themselves over outside of the WWE machine. Fans start chanting Yes to support stars even when they're pushed and hijack matches to voice their disinterest (Cena/Orton). NXT is formed and highlights indie talent like Cesaro, Zayn, Balor, Itami etc. The WWE launches the Network changing their entire PPV model and placing less importance of building up-shows. The brand split is virtually non-existent and RAW goes to 3 hours. The era ends when Roman Reigns conquers HHH for the title and Shane McMahon returns to bring some balance to the Authority.

The Land Of Opportunity (2016-19)

Basically the era where the WWE were fishing for a massive TV rights deal so they went hard brand split with GMs and Brand-Exclusive PPVs. The era is defined by the growth of the women's division as they begin to get featured as strongly as the men, especially when Ronda comes on board. The WWE begins to do their international Super-Shows in both Saudi Arabia and Australia, showing the WWE has no moral compass especially with the latter. WWE debuts a Cruiserweight show, Wrestlemania becomes far too extravagant and the WWE keep turning to talent like Brock, Goldberg, Taker, HBK etc.

The Wednesday Night War (2019-20)

This is a brief period where the WWE get on Fox and start booking matches like Brock-Cain Valesquez & Tyson Fury-Braun Strowman. Heyman is in charge of RAW and starts writing edgier storylines like Lashley cucking Rusev, Pregnant Dominatrix Maria etc. CM Punk is changing the culture on WWE Backstage. NXT is getting pushed strongly and even goes over at Survivor Series to make them look competitive against AEW. The era ends abruptly when COVID-19 hits.

The Thunderdome Era (2020-21)
The era is defined by crazy over the top matches like the Boneyard Match, The Firefly Funhouse match, Rey Mysterio losing his eye, RAW Underground, RETRIBUTION, The WWE HQ Money in the Bank match, Randy Orton burning Bray Wyatt alive, Randy Orton vs. Alexa Bliss etc. Somewhere in the middle of that is Sasha Banks-Bayley carrying the show and Roman Reigns becoming the Tribal Chief. Talent is also getting cut left right and centre.

Post-COVID (2021-Now)
You can split this into two eras with the Vince era comprising of NXT 2.0 with sexier scantily clad women and releases every three months or so. Then with Vince's firing, NXT returns to black and gold, all the mid-card belts receive prominence and the talent are given full-names again. There's also less goofiness and less corporate jargon on TV.

I'm still not convinced on anything post-Ruthless Aggression. :lol:

Maybe it might help if I can point to some wrestlers?

HD Era

Santino Marella, Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel Jackson, Jesse & Festus, Deuce, Domino, Cherry, LayCool, Jack Swagger, Ted Dibiase Jr, Maryse, Kelly Kelly, Kharma, John Morrison, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara, The Colons, Alberto Del Rio, Lucky Cannon, Evan Bourne, The Rally Towel Dude, JTG STILL WORKS HERE, Husky Harris, Mike 'I Don't Know' Knox, Tyler Reks, Eric Escobar, Vade Hansen, Kizarny, Harry Smith, Jeff Hardy (and that theme music you know the one), Michael McGillicutty, R-Truth WASSUP, The Miz, Tarryn Terrell (or whatever her WWE name was).

Reality Era

Curtis Axel, Ryback, Funkasaurus, Adam Rose, Damien Sandow, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, Paige, Emma, El Torito, Hunico, Tyson Kidd, Prime Time Players, Neville, Rusev, Lana, J&J Security, Corporate Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Lord Tensai, Eva Marie, Aksana, Summer Rae, Fahn-dahn-go, Zeb Colter, Stardust, The Acension, The Shield, Bo-Lieve, Eve Torres

Land of Opportunity

Mojo Rawley, Vaudevillains, Kalisto, Enzo Amore, Big Cass, Apollo Crews, EC3, Shinesuka Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, The Revival, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Asuka, Ember Moon, Nyla Rose, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, The No-Chin Creep, Baron Corbin, The Riott Squad, The Bar, The Bludgeon Brothers, Mandy Rose, Sonya DeVille, Kairi Sane, Sonberg, Lio Rush, Iiconics, Rusev Day, Walk With Elias, Strowman, Woken Matt Hardy

I would say that the PG era would transition to the Network era. That should cover it until WWE gets sold. WWE network really changed their business model and covers all the smaller stuff that tried to happen with Daniel Bryan, The Shield, etc.

Regional Era (1953-1983)
Golden Era (1984-1991)
New Generation Era (1992-1996)
Attitude Era (1997-2002)
Ruthless Aggression (2002-2006)
PG Era (2007-2014)
Network Era (2014- sold?)
Saudi/Disney/Tony Khan era (lol)

Was the first reference to the New Generation? Did the WWF actually use that phrase in '92 or did it only come later when they were doing the Billionaire Ted skits?

Same with the Attitude Era, it seems like those WWF Attitude shirts only started popping up in 98.

Feb 22, 2023 15:34:38 GMT Big Pete said:

Was the first reference to the New Generation? Did the WWF actually use that phrase in '92 or did it only come later when they were doing the Billionaire Ted skits?

An excellent question. It was long before the Billionaire Ted skits but I doubt they were using the phrase as early as 1992. A quick search turned up a New Generation commercial from what looks to be shortly after KOTR 94. Might do some more digging later.

Feb 22, 2023 19:37:11 GMT Baker said:

Feb 22, 2023 15:34:38 GMT Big Pete said:

Was the first reference to the New Generation? Did the WWF actually use that phrase in '92 or did it only come later when they were doing the Billionaire Ted skits?

An excellent question. It was long before the Billionaire Ted skits but I doubt they were using the phrase as early as 1992. A quick search turned up a New Generation commercial from what looks to be shortly after KOTR 94. Might do some more digging later.

No, they weren't using that term in 1992 but the shift was on when Bret won the title and Shawn won the IC title within a month of each other. Also with Hogan, Warrior, Jake, Davey Boy and Sid gone by the end of the year also signaled a changing of the guard.

I agree with most, but I think the PG Era transitions into the " NXT Era " maybe beginning with KO's main roster debut. This was followed by the likes of Balor, Shinsuke, Sami, etc being called up. And this likely extended right up to the beginning of COVID-19.

Big Pete Looks like the New Generation tagline debuted at King of the Ring 94. Makes sense since Hogan was a month away from his WCW in ring debut.

Feb 23, 2023 2:37:47 GMT Baker said:

Big Pete Looks like the New Generation tagline debuted at King of the Ring 94. Makes sense since Hogan was a month away from his WCW in ring debut.

That lines up with the Bob Backlund turn as well and the contrast they were making with guys like Bret, Diesel etc.

Feb 23, 2023 2:37:47 GMT Baker said:

Big Pete Looks like the New Generation tagline debuted at King of the Ring 94. Makes sense since Hogan was a month away from his WCW in ring debut.

This is perfect because I absolutely do not think of the New Generation beginning in 1992. WrestleMania X seems like the perfect starting point, with it taking a few months for them to name it such. 

Feb 23, 2023 2:29:52 GMT NATH45 said:

I agree with most, but I think the PG Era transitions into the " NXT Era " maybe beginning with KO's main roster debut. This was followed by the likes of Balor, Shinsuke, Sami, etc being called up. And this likely extended right up to the beginning of COVID-19.

I see I've been out-voted on the PG era. :lol: I still prefer the HD era since it captures how glossy and superficial the product was during that time period but I'll take the L.

I'd move the NXT era forward to Survivor Series 2012. That's around the time FCW became NXT and acts like The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Big E, Paige etc. made their main roster debut. This eventually leads to The Shield becoming the focus and the Women's Revolution with the second wave of NXT graduates changing the perception of the women's division.

I'd cut it off with the return of Shane McMahon. That's around the time the company started to expand and we got the brand split and talent like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Alexa Bliss etc. started to be used more prominently. Then we started to get those Saudi shows that were like the old British PPVs but with a Wrestlemania style budget and acts like Goldberg, HBK etc. came out of retirement.

They also tried to bring Yokozuna back from the dead as well. :lol:

But that's just how I'd do it. I don't think the WWE has concerned itself about eras since Ruthless Aggression. At best you could lump talent in with OVW, DSW, FCW, NXT etc.

How many waves of NXT are we into now? Do you guys consider The Shield NXT grads or FCW grads? Who was the first talent who came through the performance centre and made something of themselves on the main roster?

Because I feel like we're into the third wave, The Shield are FCW grads and Kevin Owens may have been the first NXT grad (beating Charlotte by a couple of months).

Big Pete first mention of Attitude appears to be Survivor Series 97

Think there are prefaces and epilogues to eras. Because, to me the Hulkamania Era is 1984-1990 and The New Generation is 1994-1997. So what of the time in between that? These periods of transition and limbo. There are two post-Hulkamania periods within those four years (The aborted Warrior Era and the pulling the plug on the first attempt at a new generation at WrestleMania 9 and the aftermath of that). Is this just the Post-Hulkamania Era? Proto-New Gen? I don't know what you would call it, but I would absolutely insist it is neither the Hulkamania Era nor the The New Generation. It is WWF in bardo. 

The same goes for the period between WrestleMania 17 and Ruthless Aggression. Big Pete is correct in that the period after is basically still The Attitude Era, but we all agree, that it isn't really, either. Again, it's something in between. It's a post-Monday Night Wars transitional period that is neither Attitude nor Ruthless Aggression. Again, name it whatever you want, but will once again insist that it is its own period. 

Can't speak on anything after that. Didn't watch closely enough. 

For eras, HHH taking over creative def will mark a new era. Not gonna try to do between ruthless aggression and then though as I did not really watch most of it.

2015/6-20 for me is the Women’s Revolution era. A marked change in shift in how the product was presented, and legitimate female main event megastars created.

I feel like when Reigns beat Cena clean at No Mercy 2017 was a big change in who the top guy is that doesn’t get talked about often

Is it all based on the top guy? Or when one is crowned? New generation felt more like an ensemble rather than a mega star. So the hanger on eras from Attitude (ruthless and brand split until Cena and Batista were made) was the HHH show.

Feb 23, 2023 6:55:02 GMT Big Pete said:

Then we started to get those Saudi shows that were like the old British PPVs but with a Wrestlemania style budget and acts like Goldberg, HBK etc. came out of retirement.

This is the most accurate description of the SA events I’ve ever read!

Ok, I'll have a go. 

1982 - 1992
THE GOLDEN ERA 
Hulkamania, Wrestlemania, Ultimate Warrior, MTV, Rock N' Wrestling, etc.  

1993 - 1996
THE NEW GENERATION 
Monday Night Raw!! ( say it with me in Vince McMahon's voice ) Bret Hart, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, etc.

1997 - 2001
THE ATTITUDE ERA
Montreal, DX, Stone Cold, The Rock, Smackdown, etc. To me, The Attitude Era ends in 2001. There's certainly elements that carry over into 2002, but for me 2002 welcomes sort of an all star period in those initial months of 2002 - there's a lot of returning stars from WWF's days of old, ECW and WCW. While Wrestlemania is firmly re-established as a mega-event in 2001, and continues with X8 in 2002 - X8 itself features the likes of Hogan, Hall, Booker T, Flair and is headlined by Chris Jericho - a shift from the our regular scheduled programming, at least in a WWF sense. 

2002 - 2008
THE RUTHLESS AGGRESSION ERA
Brand split, international growth, ECW rebirth, John Cena, Evolution, MITB, Edge, etc. 

2008 - 2012
THE " DARK AGES " AKA THE PG ERA 
I trimmed this back from 2013, I remember this period being especially average. Whenever I see matches from this era, I cringe. The booking, the writing, the presentation. I often call this WWE's " Dark Ages " because after all the boom during the Attitude Era, and continued success during the first part of the 2000s ( in terms of international growth, expansion, etc ) it felt very flat. This is a period that saw Jeff Hardy, Mysterio, Swagger, Kane, Christian, Henry, and alike win The Big Gold Belt. To some degree all this mediocrity results in CM Punk becoming a big deal - talent wise, there's a weird mix of AE performers on their last legs, and a lot of under-performing new talent. CM Punk in contrast is a home-run, sure thing. WWE's developmental system during this period is working out of a tin-shed in Florida, and the way they introduce new talent is via a game-show. This isn't a particular strong era. 

2013 - 2016
THE REALITY ERA
I hate the name " reality " era, because it brings up connotations of reality trash TV. I'm sure eventually there will be a better name to define this era. This is the final stages of CM Punk's reign. The rise of Daniel Bryan. Dolph Ziggler's big title win. AJ Lee ushering in the first murmurs of a women's revolution. And of course, the debuts of The Shield and The Wyatt Family. 

2016 - 2020
THE NXT ERA
NXT signals a shift in 2016 with " The End " with it's final Takeover from Full Sail. Over the next 3-4 years, NXT becomes it's own brand. It sells out arenas for it's Takeover specials and it sees a large number of talent debut on the main roster, truly, and firmly establishing an influence over the entire product - this is perhaps NXT's most successful era also. There's a women's revolution. Survivor Series 2019 is dominated by NXT talent. And looking at the main roster today, there's few that have not been through NXT. This period also sees the emergence of Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose as individuals. There's also the debut of AJ Styles in WWE. If the word " NXT " can be replaced with anything or used to encompass more - it's an era of the independent workers.

2020 -  2022
THE COVID ERA
Enough said. A world-wide pandemic results in locking everyone down. Cue The Thunderdome. It's also the rebirth of Roman Reigns and the eventual Bloodline story. It see's Drew McIntyre's WWE Title win and the wrestlecrap Fiend and Alexa Bliss angles. And eventually, the return to our regular scheduled programming. It's also the era of " Oh shit, we have competition! LOL no we don't " 

LATE 2022 - PRESENT DAY
THE HELMSLEY ERA
Hunter's in charge now. The Bloodline see's the addition of Sami, taking the angle to new heights. Mid-card titles mean something and there's a return of a lot of former talent for better or worse, including AEW founder - Cody Rhodes. And thankfully, there isn't a McMahon anywhere near the book or the camera. 

The Bob Backlund Era (1978-1982)
The heir to Bruno. A very strange pick, but the OG Vince McMahon made his choice, and it worked! For a while. Backlund's no frills, wrestling machine, got over with the blue collar NYC audience. A lunch pale wrestler for a lunch pale audience.

The Succession Era (1983)
Behind the scenes and on camera, not just Vincent K. McMahon "buying" the WWWF from his father, but the WWWF hopelessly searching for Bob Backlund's successor. By the end of 1982, the audience is turning on him, MSG preferring Superstar Billy Graham. Even wrestlers like Jimmy Snuka and Sgt. Slaughter are making a pretty good case to be the next ace. VKM has his eye on someone else, though.

Hulkamania/Rock & Wrestling (1984-1990)
Hogan returns at the end of 1983 and is champion by January 1984. Unstoppable momentum for the WWF after that. A deal with USA, MTV, even NBC a few years later. WrestleMania is launched, the WWF PPV model is launched, home video distribution is launched, house show attendance is so huge there are three different crews happening at the same time. Business probably peaks in 1987, but things are so big WWF coasts to 1990's WrestleMania 6 on the same wave.

Hulkamania Hangover (1991-1993)
Warrior gets the keys in 1990 and is not the heir to Hogan that Vince expects, so he brings back Hogan. Hogan is still the biggest star in wrestling, but his appeal is fading. Crowds popping for Flair over him in certain towns, a large chunk of the crowd even popping for Sid over Hogan at Royal Rumble 1992. Vince is trying to get away from Hogan, but he always has to go back to him, WrestleMania 9 being the most pathetic example. The business takes a huge hit with the steroid trial, publicly admit wrestling fake for the first time, a transition period in all regards. By the summer of 1993, Hogan and WWF finally go their separate ways, with Yokozuna killing Hulkamania. But even that is indecisive, it looking like they just want him to be the bridge to give the keys to Lex Luger two months later. Then they're indecisive with that, too. A company without an identity, WrestleMania's 8 and 9 looking neither Rock & Wrestling nor what would be coming next, just an organization that was Hogan Land for almost a decade, desperately trying to figure out what it could be without him.

The New Generation (1994-1996)
While we look at this period with rose colored glasses now, it was still a steady line down, business wise. But creatively, it had found a new identity, at least. New stars were built, new PPV expansion, it's kind of a transitional period of its own, but so well defined that its an era, too.

The Attitude Era (1997-2001)
Although things are changing in late 1995 and there are occasional signs of Attitude, I don't think it really starts to become overt until early 1997. The Royal Rumble 1997 fallout which had Bret cursing on the air, Stone Cold Steve Austin really getting over (it took longer than the night after KOTR 1996), Shawn Michaels losing his smile forcing Vince to consider maybe he fucked up picking him as the ace, WrestleMania 13 isn't truly an Attitude Era PPV yet, but we're getting awfully close. A lot of points between then and Vince's Cure for the Common Show speech in December can be the "first" day of the Attitude Era, but it's really just a slow cook to get there and by the end of the year there is no doubt WWF is in a new Era. From there 'til WrestleMania 17, WWF does the greatest business of its life.

Monday Night War Hangover/Get the 'F Out (2001/First half of 2002)
Attitude Era dies at WrestleMania 17. 2001 and from there sees the (awful) invasion for the rest of 2001 and the slow trickling of WCW guys Vince was too cheap to buyout previously, start to appear in 2002. There are many dream matches, but they feel a year or two too late. Business is on the slide almost immediately after Austin turns heel, but business is still great. WrestleMania has expanded to be almost exclusively Stadium Events now, arenas are no longer big enough.

Ruthless Aggression (2002-2008)
June 27, 2002, John Cena challenges Kurt Angle in the name of Ruthless Aggression and an era is born. An era that destroys wrestling business to this very day, but an era nonetheless. The now WWE is basically too big to fail. Minus a brief period in 2007, business continues to go down in every formerly important wrestling metric (ratings/attendance/PPV buyrate). But it doesn't matter. TV deals and being publicly traded means the WWE is making more money than ever. And even though it makes television worse, the brand split means two different live tours happening at the same time, so more money. WWE learns something horrifying to their audience: It doesn't have to be good, or even what the audience wants, to make record profits anymore.

PG Era (2008-Summer of 2011)
Didn't watch closely, but seems like a Disney version of Ruthless Aggression. That formerly important line (ratings/attendance/PPV buyrate) is on an uninterrupted journey down. WWE has almost no mainstream juice outside the shrinking wrestling audience until the June 27, 2011 Pipebomb.

Reality Era (June 28 2011-February 2014)
An era of broken promise. Although it was a very short window of time, Punk emerges as potentially the next big thing to end the now decade long WWE slide with the (micro) phenomenon that was The Summer of Punk 2011. That doesn't work out for many reasons. Inexplicably, by the Summer of 2013, another (micro) phenomenon happens in The Summer of YES. That doesn't work out for many reasons, too. The steady line down is still uninterrupted. 

The Network Era (February 2014-2018)
Everything changed. The PPV model became obsolete (helped by the fact it had been going down for over a decade, anyway). Programming had to be expanded to fill spots. NXT emerges as not just a developmental spot, but a brand of its own, whose impact builds the next group of stars, and alters workrate style on the main roster. Whether any of this was good or bad is up for debate. The steady line down is still uninterrupted. 

That's all I got.

Feb 27, 2023 1:09:18 GMT Kilgore said:

Hulkamania/Rock & Wrestling (1984-1990)
Hogan returns at the end of 1983 and is champion by January 1984. Unstoppable momentum for the WWF after that. A deal with USA, MTV, even NBC a few years later. WrestleMania is launched, the WWF PPV model is launched, home video distribution is launched, house show attendance is so huge there are three different crews happening at the same time. Business probably peaks in 1987, but things are so big WWF coasts to 1990's WrestleMania 6 on the same wave.

I'm not sure when to split, but this has never felt like one era to me. The Rock 'n' Wrestling stuff feels different to say Mania V. Maybe 1984-1987 is Rock 'n' Wrestling (although that name itself feels like a shorter period within) and 1988-1990 is "Hulkamania" for want of a better name right now. 1988 had a lot of change, new names who would become fixtures, people who had joined in 1987 moving into their new, more cartoony versions (DiBiase, Duggan, Rude with his airbrushed tights), first ever Rumble (as TV special), first ever SummerSlam, names who were a fixture of previous era leaving (likes of JYD, Muraco, Bulldogs). 1988-1990 WWF just feels a lot cleaner in general, higher production value, less of an edge, it feels like the era when some people's looks became standardised as well (Hogan in the red and yellow exclusively, DiBiase transitioning to black and gold suit). 

Feb 27, 2023 1:09:18 GMT Kilgore said:

Hulkamania Hangover (1991-1993)
Warrior gets the keys in 1990 and is not the heir to Hogan that Vince expects, so he brings back Hogan. Hogan is still the biggest star in wrestling, but his appeal is fading. Crowds popping for Flair over him in certain towns, a large chunk of the crowd even popping for Sid over Hogan at Royal Rumble 1992. Vince is trying to get away from Hogan, but he always has to go back to him, WrestleMania 9 being the most pathetic example. The business takes a huge hit with the steroid trial, publicly admit wrestling fake for the first time, a transition period in all regards. By the summer of 1993, Hogan and WWF finally go their separate ways, with Yokozuna killing Hulkamania. But even that is indecisive, it looking like they just want him to be the bridge to give the keys to Lex Luger two months later. Then they're indecisive with that, too. A company without an identity, WrestleMania's 8 and 9 looking neither Rock & Wrestling nor what would be coming next, just an organization that was Hogan Land for almost a decade, desperately trying to figure out what it could be without him.

Did Warrior ever truly get the keys? Hogan was given the massive Earthquake angle with Quake being the most pushed new heel in the company. Who was Warrior's first main house show opponent coming out of Mania? Mr. Perfect. A Perfect who Hogan had just beaten all over the country on house shows, who had just lost to Beefer at Mania and who lost to Hogan on SNME in late April (in the opening match as well, while Warrior defending his belt against Haku was 4th out of 5 matches; reminder that the main event of SNME was typically the first or second match). Then who was Warrior given as his SummerSlam challenger? Rick Rude, who he had already beaten last year, and they also ran the match at the SNME going in to SummerSlam. Hogan/Quake may have been in the middle of the card, but it was the real main event of SummerSlam 1990. It just makes it all the weirder that they'd have Warrior go over Hogan and not use a heel transitional champion like always happened when they actually weren't going all in on Warrior. Given the timing, Perfect was unlucky to not be that transitional champion and Mania VI has Warrior ending Perfect's perfect record to win the title. The story was 100% there to run Warrior/Quake out of Mania, Quake had debuted by attacking Warrior and was involved in the Warrior/Hogan build. Warrior/Taker outdrew Hogan/Slaughter in 1991 after all, showing that Warrior could have been viable with new, strong heel challengers.

This feels like it could be called the scandal era. The Iraqi sympathiser stuff is the beginning of losing the NBC partnership, then the next year you have Hogan lying on Arsenio to begin the steroid scandal. Then the ringboy scandal on top. Pretty much all the departures of big names and unusual booking (Bret being made champ out of nowhere, Yoko getting a long title run, aborted Lex Express) is due to these scandals mounting and business falling as a result. Vince is acquitted one month after KOTR, when they started pushing the New Gen as a concept.

Feb 27, 2023 8:12:51 GMT Strobe said:

I'm not sure when to split, but this has never felt like one era to me. The Rock 'n' Wrestling stuff feels different to say Mania V. Maybe 1984-1987 is Rock 'n' Wrestling (although that name itself feels like a shorter period within) and 1988-1990 is "Hulkamania" for want of a better name right now. 1988 had a lot of change, new names who would become fixtures, people who had joined in 1987 moving into their new, more cartoony versions (DiBiase, Duggan, Rude with his airbrushed tights), first ever Rumble (as TV special), first ever SummerSlam, names who were a fixture of previous era leaving (likes of JYD, Muraco, Bulldogs). 1988-1990 WWF just feels a lot cleaner in general, higher production value, less of an edge, it feels like the era when some people's looks became standardised as well (Hogan in the red and yellow exclusively, DiBiase transitioning to black and gold suit). 

I'm down to split it. Thinking of it this way; WrestleMania 1,2,3 feel like a different era than WrestleMania 4,5,6. For sure. Kinda feel like WM7 belongs in the 4-6 block (Warrior's last great moment, Savage's (short lived) retirement, and what should have been Hogan's last WrestleMania leaving as the champ), and WM8/WM9 are its own thing.

So for lack of better naming ideas:

Hulkamania (1984-1987)
Birth of WrestleMania, PPV, Home Video, Cable TV contracts, expansion into competitive territories, first wrestling boon of the VKM era. 

Ultimate Mega Powers (1988-1990/1991)
Phase 2 of WWF's domination, essentially (although to a diminishing degree). Hogan is still the man, but Macho and Warrior have a go at being on top, while new influx of talent fills out the rest of the roster.

Feb 27, 2023 8:12:51 GMT Strobe said:

Did Warrior ever truly get the keys? Hogan was given the massive Earthquake angle with Quake being the most pushed new heel in the company. Who was Warrior's first main house show opponent coming out of Mania? Mr. Perfect. A Perfect who Hogan had just beaten all over the country on house shows, who had just lost to Beefer at Mania and who lost to Hogan on SNME in late April (in the opening match as well, while Warrior defending his belt against Haku was 4th out of 5 matches; reminder that the main event of SNME was typically the first or second match). Then who was Warrior given as his SummerSlam challenger? Rick Rude, who he had already beaten last year, and they also ran the match at the SNME going in to SummerSlam. Hogan/Quake may have been in the middle of the card, but it was the real main event of SummerSlam 1990. It just makes it all the weirder that they'd have Warrior go over Hogan and not use a heel transitional champion like always happened when they actually weren't going all in on Warrior. Given the timing, Perfect was unlucky to not be that transitional champion and Mania VI has Warrior ending Perfect's perfect record to win the title. The story was 100% there to run Warrior/Quake out of Mania, Quake had debuted by attacking Warrior and was involved in the Warrior/Hogan build. Warrior/Taker outdrew Hogan/Slaughter in 1991 after all, showing that Warrior could have been viable with new, strong heel challengers.

Warrior goes over Hogan to be the heir. That was the sense the night of WM6 to everyone there. Bret talks about this in his book.* Whether that's being given the keys or not is semantics. But it is also true that Warrior is booked horrendously in the immediate aftermath. And that's probably Hogan doing Hogan things, pulling the rug out from underneath his heir, ensuring he reclaims his throne at WM7. The only non-nefarious reasoning for Rude/Perfect over Earthquake as Warrior opponents is Vince did not trust Earthquake to call matches against Warrior (speculation), and he didn't trust Warrior to call his own matches (fact), but he did trust Perfect/Rude to call matches against Warrior (seems plausible as they did call the best Warrior matches prior to Hogan surpassing them at WM6). That said, Hogan shenanigans seems the most likely explanation. 

*Bret Hart's Book

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}By Valentine’s Day that year, signs of strain between Emperor Vince and The Hulkster, those former soulmates, had begun to show. It looked like Hulk’s incomparable star power was starting to drive Vince crazy because it gave Hulk power over him. Vince, being Vince, prepared a first-strike policy, though the war was still in the head-game stage and Vince was fairly subtle about it. He let Hulk have control of his own bookings while he devoted all his time to Warrior; he had always been a mark for bodybuilders, and Warrior was a prime specimen. Vince would send little zingers Hulk’s way, joking that he was too old, too slow, always with a needle in it under the laughs. Since he had given Hulk control of his own schedule, it was hard for Hulk to complain.

Then Vince told Hulk to put Warrior over in their championship match right in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania VI. This was him practically daring Hogan into proving he could actually do a job straight up. Hogan agreed to do it but showed up in the dressing room with a long face and a distrustful look in his eye, clearly afraid that this was a sign that he was on the way down. It was the first time I saw Hulk Hogan second-guess himself. He was still the WWF’s biggest draw and worked whenever he felt like it. He still flew on a Lear jet and had his own limo, and a manservant named Brutus Beefcake who carried his bags. Basically he was in, out, and gone. Although Hogan was still deeply respected, to the boys he had become a guy we used to know.

On the other hand, most of us couldn’t stand Warrior, who had blossomed into a grunting prima donna. He flew first class with a paid valet, traveled to the arenas by limo and had his own private I’m-the-star dressing room. He never sat with us in the locker room bullshitting or playing cards. In the war Vince was launching, we were still rooting for Hulk.

Later that night Hogan went out and put over Warrior right in the middle of the ring, just as Vince had dared him to do, leading him through the whole match. The torch had been passed and only time would tell whether Warrior could carry the WWF as its new champion. After the match, Hogan said to me, “You watch. Warrior will fail. And Vince’ll be calling me, begging me to come back.” I liked Hogan, and I hoped he was right.

Feb 27, 2023 8:12:51 GMT Strobe said:

This feels like it could be called the scandal era. The Iraqi sympathiser stuff is the beginning of losing the NBC partnership, then the next year you have Hogan lying on Arsenio to begin the steroid scandal. Then the ringboy scandal on top. Pretty much all the departures of big names and unusual booking (Bret being made champ out of nowhere, Yoko getting a long title run, aborted Lex Express) is due to these scandals mounting and business falling as a result. Vince is acquitted one month after KOTR, when they started pushing the New Gen as a concept.

Yeah, so we see 1991-1993 as essentially the same thing. Post-Hulkamania/Scandal Era, call it what you wheeeeeeeeeel (Dusty Rhodes voice).

What about WCW eras?

American Made Hulkamania Era (Clash of the Champions 1994 - Uncensored 1996)
An ultra cheesy period, this is usually considered the nadir of WCW with Hogan taking on the corniest collection of monsters un the Dungeon of Doom. While the period did little to breathe life into the Hulkster, it did see the premiere of Nitro and the influx of Cruiserweight Wrestling so it wasn't a total bust.

New World Order (Nitro May 26th 1996 - Superbrawl 1998)

"You people, you know who I am..." with those infamous words, WCW was about to take Pro Wrestling into a boom period that would be talked about for decades. Hollywood Hogan turned to the dark-side and in doing so shifted the balance of power and somebody had to step up and tackle Hulkamania once and for all. While Hogan/Sting was the main driving force behind the show, WCW became so immensly popular that other stars made the jump across and it led to one of the greatest eras in Pro Wrestling, period.

New World Order Civil War (Superbrawl 1998 - January 4th 1999)

When Macho Man Randy Savage laid out Hollywood Hogan at Superbrawl it sent shockwaves throughout the nWo. Once hellbent on radicalising the industry, the nWo split off into two dominant forces nWo Black & White and nWo Wolfpac. While these two were diametrically opposed it appeared the biggest battles were being waged backstage with members of both sides ducking one another as they played politics with one another. While this was all immortalised in the intro of the N64 classic WCW/nWo Revenge, it's an era that never found it's stride as Hogan turned his attention to old foes, basketball players and late night talk show hosts.

WCW President: Ric Flair (Post-Fingerpoke - Post Bash at the Beach 1999)

Eventually the nWo got on the same page but by that point it was too late. One of their key members Eric Bischoff lost his power in the company to one of WCW's biggest stars the Nature Boy Ric Flair. However absolute power corrupted Ric Flair and after the nWo got between him and his son David, Flair used his position not only to screw with the nWo but to make David into his prodigy. Old foes like Roddy Piper returned to help save the company but in the end, WCW once again turned to Sting who saved the day in the middle of a Nitro telecast. Meanwhile Hulk Hogan embraced being a good guy and finally beat Kevin Nash after Nash tried to position himself as champion.

American Made Hulkamania Era Part Deux (August - September 1999)

Hulkamania decided to go back to the vitamins and the prayers but not every member of the WCW lockeroom was convinced. In fact WCW President Sting still had a bone to pick with Hogan and with the help of his friend Lex Luger was able to exact some revenge for all those times Hogan cheated others of their victory. The tables were completely flipped cats were chasing dogs and eventually the brass at Turner had enough and fired Bischoff not long after Fall Brawl 1999.

The Powers That Be (October 1999-January 2000)

In October a mysterious man with a thick New York accent took charge in a desperate bid to shake up WCW. The brass at WCW decided to hold a 32-entrant tournament to crown a new WCW Champion and the promotion became noticeably off the walls. The era would end around Souled Out 2000 when the craziness resulted in Bret Hart and Bill Goldberg sitting on the sideline.

American Made Hulkamania Era Part Deux Redux (January 2000-March 2000)

With the Powers That Be stripped of their authority, stars like Hulk Hogan & Ric Flair returned to television. Slowly but surely, WCW returned to it's old ways with the same cast of characters back in the top spots. It's an era that divides fans, but like the original Part Deux it didn't last long.

New Blood vs. Millionaire's Club (April 2000-July 2000)

Vince Russo & Eric Bischoff shocked the world when they put their differences aside and used their stroke to push a talented but entitled group of superstars called the New Blood. What unfolded was a power struggle that would see the WCW Championship change hands dozens of times, even landing in the hands of Ready To Rumble star David Arquette. Eventually Bischoff & Russo learned they couldn't co-exist and when Russo tore into Hogan after Jarrett laid down for him at Bash at the Beach 2000, the company would enter another era.

Magnificent Seven (January 2001 - March 2001)

The final era would see Ric Flair return to a position of power but he wasn't alone. With the assistance of The Steiner Bros, Totally Buff, Jeff Jarrett & Road Warrior Animal - the Magnificent 7 rode roughshod over WCW taking out beloved superstars like Booker T, Bill Goldberg, Sid Vicious, Kevin Nash & Diamond Dallas Page one by one. Eventually Sting would once again rise up to put Ric Flair in his place, while Booker T would defeat Big Poppa Pump to become the last World Champion in WCW history.