A rising star on the WWE roster has suggested that recapturing the Attitude Era isn’t the goal when it comes to recent actions.
The 946 are currently feuding with The Bloodline, with recent activities including attempted vehicular homicide, kidnapping, and arson.
While any of those occurrences wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Attitude Era, Royce Keys has suggested that it’s not something they’re trying to emulate:
The Attitude Era
Between November 1997 and May 2002, WWE was in its Attitude Era, a period punctuated by edgier, more adult and extreme storytelling that many fans consider to be a high point for professional wrestling.
A direct response to what was happening on WCW at the time, the Attitude Era abandoned much of the cartoonish characterisations of the then-WWF’s past, losing its family-friendly output.
Whether it was the Billion Dollar Princess turning her back on her father, the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H and many others, or WWE buying its competition, the Attitude Era is likely more remembered for those moments than Naked Mideon, Rikishi running over Austin, or Al Snow’s dog being cooked by the Big Boss Man.
It was a period that, at times, would be considered insensitive and exploitative, particularly when it comes to race and sexuality, whether it be D-Generation X mocking Nation of Domination, the string of titillating women’s matches, or Mae Young giving birth.
Royce Keys addresses Attitude Era comparisons
Coming off the back of the aforementioned actions by The 946, Royce Keys recently addressed comparisons to the Attitude Era in an interview with Bleacher Report, saying:
“There’s never gonna be another Attitude Era. It doesn’t make sense to recreate it.
“I just think that it’s a whole new audience now, and you gotta keep everybody on their toes.”
With the Attitude Era having ended over 24 years ago and WWE leaning toward a TV-PG for Raw, SmackDown and NXT, it should come as little surprise that there’s a new audience for the product.
Older fans may look upon the Attitude Era as a formative time for their wrestling fandom. For younger fans, plenty of content is available across a multitude of platforms, allowing them to experience, in part, what the older generation went through at the time.
As can be seen with The 946, and with past storylines, WWE creative does push the envelope within the confines of its rating, but it should come as little surprise that a return to the excess of the Attitude Era isn’t on the cards.
That’s what AEW is for, isn’t it?
Long-running discourse on social media has seen fans and critics weigh up whether AEW is for fans of the Attitude Era, or more serious fans in general.
While it’s a discussion that is likely to continue, Will Ospreay would comment on how far professional wrestling has come since that period in an interview with Shortlist, saying:
“If you’ve not watched since the Attitude Era days, we have far surpassed those days with just how our athleticism and our in-ring action take front and centre spotlight.
“It’s so important now to present wrestling in a sports environment, for myself anyway, to show people that there are different ways of telling different stories in wrestling.”
That evolution doesn’t take away from past eras, but focuses on what many no doubt consider important factors in this form of entertainment: athleticism, in-ring ability and storytelling.
Whether it’s WWE and its TV-PG offering or the more mature AEW output, creating something new while still respecting what has come before is surely the goal.
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