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It's been a while since I've been in the saddle making regular posts.
It's been even longer since I've made lists.
Time to make another one!
While I have done lists covering decades, I haven't made one that was dedicated to a particular era of the WWE.
That's about to change.
To celebrate the new WWE Home Video release of the Attitude Era, here we have a new list celebrating this storied time.
Just like how the Attitude Era shook up sports-entertainment, this seemingly normal countdown will have a twist. One of nearing Vince Russo-like proportions.
You see, this list isn't just about match quality, or what reviewers would say, “THAT'S A FIVE-STAR CLASSIC!”
In addition, the matches selected have to feel like they could have only been done in this period of time. The period where the crowds were consistently insane, the characters were across-the-board memorable, and the storylines had plot devices that left fans scratching their heads. Take that as both a positive and a negative. Most importantly, they are synonymous with how ‘business’ was done back in those times.
Also, the matches have to take place in the era. For the sake of all argument, this period will be defined as starting on March 10th, 1997, the date where the whole RAW show had a major overhaul following a particularly disastrous episode the week before, and ending on April 1st, 2001, which of course was when WrestleMania X-Seven occurred.
Let's not waste any more time. If you're not down with that, I have two words for ya...
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10. Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship: Sycho Sid © vs. Bret Hart, WWE RAW (3/17/97)
This first entry is like that song from the classic 1966 movie “Sound of Music”.
We will start from the very beginning. A very good place to start!
This is only the second episode of RAW since the major overhaul. Right away, the tone set for ‘Attitude’ was reached right here.
At the start of the show, it was noted this match may or may not be for the title. Gorilla Monsoon stated that since Hart didn’t receive his proper rematch for the title yet, it had to be done before Undertaker would get his shot.
Let me break it down: Shawn Michaels vacated his WWE Championship after he lost smile. I still call bullshit. The following pay-per-view event had a Final Four match, which was born out of the controversial finish from the Royal Rumble match the month before. Originally a #1 contender match for the title at WrestleMania, it was now a WWE Championship match. Bret Hart became WWE Champion after lasting against Steve Austin, Undertaker, and Vader. Sycho Sid, who originally was the #1 contender for the title, fought Hart for the title the night after the PPV. He won after Austin beat the crap out of Hart. So here we are on the 17th of March, and we got a conundrum. Two matches on the WrestleMania 13 card depend on the outcome of this match: will the title either go to the Bret Hart and Steve Austin submission battle, or will it go to the battle of the monsters Undertaker and Sid?
For match quality, this was not amongst Bret Hart’s best work. It was probably amongst Sid’s best, but that’s like saying your dog’s shit smelled less than your neighbor’s.
As for the finish, it was nuts. Undertaker and Austin were creating all sorts of hell ringside. ‘Taker had the last say when he slammed the cage door right into Hart’s face, and that allowed Sid, Undertaker’s opponent for ‘Mania, to retain the WWE Championship. Austin looked on DEJECTED at this result.
Bret was more than dejected, and therefore he took the microphone.
What followed was an expletive-filled promo that defies the entity of time. Because RAW was live at that point, it was completely uncensored. The emotion was certainly ‘raw’, and was full of ‘attitude’ Bret Hart never had the balls to show before.
To make this even more explosive, all four men fought with each other. Shawn Michaels even made an appearance with a steel chair! Jim Ross was getting so hoarse in his voice you thought it was the big night itself!
This character bitterness would lead to one of the greatest matches in history, where Hart would make a bloody Austin pass out in pain at WrestleMania. Undertaker would ultimately win the title from Sid that same event. Ironically, the man who slammed the door into Hart’s face would ultimately have the last laugh and the title.
DVD’s: WWE The Best of RAW 15th Anniversary (note: the link takes you to an Evan Bourne shirt, but trust me: it’s for the DVD)
9. No Disqualification Match for the WWE Championship: The Rock © vs. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, WrestleMania X-Seven
This is one of the only lists you’ll see where the beginning and the end are piled one right on top of the other.
This is also one of the only lists where you’ll see this matchup rank so low in the overall running.
If anything, this is probably the greatest title match in ‘Mania history!
The whole match felt like a goodbye kiss to the Attitude Era. It was non-stop in its brawling. It was non-stop in its brutality. The blood flowed early and often. To conclude, it even had a shocking ending Russo would have shit his pants over!
Even so, there were some reservations about the conclusion.
Directly after this match, for all intents and purposes, the inVasion happened. That will go down as one of the darker times in WWE history.
Also, no one wanted to see Austin turn heel. While it was Steve’s desire to do so, the television revolving around this wasn’t the best stuff of Austin’s career. I will say that the comedy stuff with Angle was deep-fried gold however.
To conclude, this match is like Billy Joel’s “Famous Last Words”. There may be words some other day, but for this time period, it’s time to say goodbye. Don’t go away yet, we still have eight spots to go on the countdown!
DVD’s: The History of the WWE Championship, Stone Cold Steve Austin - What?, The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time
8. Steel Cage Match: Vince McMahon vs. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1999)
The introduction to this match is as hilariously confusing as the contest itself.
Vince McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble. It took a lot of ‘Corporate’ help, mainly The Rock, but the boss was able to go coast to coast in getting the win.
The night after on RAW, Vince was going to relinquish his title shot to help further The Rock. Or so he thought.
Cut to Steve Austin via Titantron in San Antonio. He looks plastered off his ass, which quite frankly is pretty much barred today. He says he’s going to WrestleMania, which stifles the Corporate team.
Cue in Shawn Michaels, the ever-present WWE Commissioner. Even at home!
Michaels states in the WWE rulebook that because McMahon forfeits his title shot, Austin is able to take that shot because he came in second.
Austin is up for a challenge, self-imposed: At the next event, he wants Vince’s ass in a cage. If Austin wins, he gets the title shot. If Vince wins, then, well, uh, I think the title shot goes to the Corporation or something like that.
The first nine minute or so of this match occur outside the cage, before the match even starts! Of course, the big bump with McMahon going through the table occurs. Vince legitimately broke his tailbone on the fall, and whether that affected the rest of the match I didn’t notice.
Once inside the cage, Austin is like the proverbial shark in the water. He makes McMahon bleed, and beats the holy high hell out of him.
McMahon has a ruse though.
Popping up from a hole in the ring comes Paul Wight. You might remember this guy as a 7’ ignoramus from WCW just the week before! Wight throws Austin against the cage, but it accidentally opens and gives the Rattlesnake the win!
This match is primarily on here because of the shocking way Paul Wight debuted. Most people dropped their jaws to the floor when they saw this monster, mainly because of the fact that Wight was on WCW just a few days before as The Giant. The debut felt like a more physical version of when Lex Luger appeared in WCW after just appearing with the WWE the night before. Since the internet was not as prevalent then as it is now, debuts like that legitimately shocked people, and that’s why this match is on the list.
DVD’s: McMahon, The Greatest Cage Matches of All Time
7. Three Stages of Hell: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin vs. Triple H, No Way Out 2001
Triple H and Steve Austin had an on-again, off-again feud since about 1996. Whether it was singles, DX, or even had a corporate undertone, these two were at each other’s throats!
The latter-half of 1999 saw Austin chase Triple H for the WWE Championship. During the Survivor Series PPV, which was supposed to have seen the holiest of all Attitude matches (Austin/Rock/HHH), Austin was run down in the parking lot. It turned out Rikishi was the driver, but Triple H was the impetus behind it.
These two men are indestructible. Austin survives getting run over. Triple H survived a crash landing of twenty feet to the ground upside down in a car. The two were even at the brim of destruction inside of a six-man Hell in the Cell match!
For all the unforgiving acts of brutality displayed, it all had to come to an end.
Thus enter Vince and the 3 Stages of Hell.
The match itself is simple yet complex. It’s a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match, with each fall depicting a different stipulation. Fall one was a regular singles match. Fall two was a Street Fight. Finally, fall three (if necessary) was to be contested inside of a steel cage.
What followed is a match that, well, there is a reason why I thought it was 2001 Match of the Year. Keep in mind that year had some GREAT matches.
However, even in the aura of Attitude, this shines high.
The long-arching storyline, topped with a match for the ages is something you’ll rarely see today. Even more so, there are rarely any blood feuds that fully envelop a fan’s interest from start to finish.
That one was definitely it!
DVDs: Stone Cold Steve Austin - What?, The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H - That Damn Good (The original pay per view sadly is only available on VHS in the United States. Europeans are lucky enough to have it in their Tagged Classics series.)
6. Street Fight Match for the WWE Championship: Triple H © vs. Cactus Jack, Royal Rumble 2000
I have mentioned this match on frequently on this blog.
Hell, I even did an in-depth review on the contest itself.
So why mention it again?
Mainly this match reeks of ‘Attitude’.
Both men were in prime physical form for the match. Foley actually took time off from the road to exercise and rehab, to make his already mythical Cactus Jack character seem more of a monster. Triple H was probably at his very best here, using his vast technical/brawling skills to their absolute zenith.
As for the feel of the match, it is about as close to a Death Match from Japan as you’ll ever get to in the WWE. To say it’s brutal is an understatement, and emotional even more so. Both men put their heart and soul into it, and the story told in bloodshed is more convincing than any story in a Twilight novel.
This match couldn’t have been done a few years before this, and it can’t be done now. Sure Foley would have these type matches with Edge and Randy Orton during the middle portion of the decade, but they still have to bow down to this one.
DVD’s: Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses, Triple H - The Game, Triple H - That Damn Good, Royal Rumble 2000, Royal Rumble, The Complete Anthology
5. Ladder Match to conclude the T.I.T Invitational: Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz, No Mercy 1999
Where this match ranks on the countdown might very well catch people off guard.
Literal five-star classics are ranked lower than this, and quite frankly this match feels tame in comparison to what was to come.
To quote The Hurricane, “WAZZ UP WIT DAT?”
As noted from the top of the article, this countdown isn’t just about match quality. It also has to be one with the era, and its impact has to be vast.
Therefore, this match earns its spot on the countdown right here.
While ladder matches had been done in the WWE prior to 1999, hell there were even a couple that year, this match was special.
There were no titles on the line, but it was for the managerial service of one busty Terri Runnels. $100,000 dollars doesn’t sound bad either, but it might very well be out of Goldust’s alimony checks. More importantly, there were four men in the ring whose careers were at that important “make it or break it” crossroads.
Like George Newman staring into a burning burger patty from UHF, the four men battling it out had imagination!
They put their bodies, their souls, their careers, and their lives on the line. Up to this point, double-team ladder maneuvers hadn’t been done in the United States professional wrestling mainstream. Daredevil moves that could have been individual high spots in other matches instead became glue to the overall flow.
These teams and their daredevil antics are one of the bountiful reasons why The Attitude Era became one of the greatest times in wrestling history. Every ladder match (including TLC’s) that followed owes some of their greatness to this match.
DVD’s: Hardy Boyz - Leap of Faith, The Ladder Match, Edge - A Decade of Decadence
4. WWE Championship: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin © vs. Dude Love. Over the Edge 1998
Talk about your jack of all trades matches.
This one is the epitome.
Stone Cold had been the target of Vince McMahon and The Corporation since probably mankind existed.
Well, not that Mick Foley ‘mankind’.
As a matter of fact, Mankind was tag team partners and champions with Austin the year before. Both men had been viewed as disposable by WCW. Boy wasn’t that a mistake!
When Austin and McMahon were due to have their big-time match in April of 1998 on RAW, one character stopped the madness with his quirky albeit lovable theme music.
Enter Dude Love.
It looked like he was going to attack McMahon, knowing that Love was always a babyface. Instead, he stuck his Mandible Claw inside AUSTIN! This aligned Love with the evil empire of McMahon, the Death Star of the WWE.
Love even got a corporate makeover. He had his teeth done, got himself a blue blazer (not Owen Hart as “The Blue Blazer”), and even shaved! This man was grooving big time, HAVE MERCY!
Pat Patterson, who had been doing ring introductions on this night in Milwaukee, intentionally didn’t do Austin’s opening. He felt Austin was a “beer-swilling fool, a loud-mouthed punk… and a BUM!” Glass shattered and that’s all what was needed.
To add even more intrigue, HERE COMES UNDERTAKER! He was legitimately sidelined with a broken foot, but he had an important role in the match anyway.
Oh, I forgot. I goofed. This was my 1998 Match of the Year!
Simply, this match had a great mix of technical wrestling, brawling, weapons, blood, and tomfoolery. Dude Love tried to win multiple times, but Undertaker sent McMahon’s minions straight to hell via some rough table chokeslam spots! Austin wins, and everyone is happy.
Attitude this was, and magic that may never be created again. The storyline on paper looked like the basic good guy and bad guy premise, but the characters portrayed mixed with an electric atmosphere made this match seemingly unforgettable.
DVD’s: Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses - A Life in Wrestling (Hardcore Edition), Mick Foley: Hard Knocks & Cheap Pops, Stone Cold Steve Austin: The Bottom Line on the Most Popular Superstar of All Time
3. WWE Championship: Bret Hart © vs. Shawn Michaels, Survivor Series 1997
“Whoa Bad Booking. You just made a Montreal Screwjob post, and now you’re making this #2 on a ATTITUDE ERA MATCH COUNTDOWN?!?!?!? You’re one stupid son-of-a-bitch!”
Actually sir, let me explain myself.
Yes, I just made that post not too long ago, and quite frankly the material is still fresh in my mind. Hell, I even popped in the Hart/Michaels Rivalry Blu-ray the night I posted that sucker, so the stuff remained even more relevant in my mind.
The ramifications associated with this match however make it practically one with the Attitude.
Let’s start with one thing perfectly clear: Shawn Michaels was fully able to get away with consecrating a Canadian flag, while Chris Jericho well over a decade later was almost arrested for making fun of a Brazilian flag.
To prove my point even further, let’s mark this as the night kayfabe was stabbed forty times in a Canadian Forum with “And you also Vince” as the last words uttered by in-prime Bret Hart.
While I explain it more in depth in the article, I will note this: the fact such a fourth-wall breaking moment occurred, in ANY ERA, makes it something memorable. It can’t be replicated with any hint of authenticity, and Cornette’s Seven Year Rule is obliterated.
The legacy this match left behind, with legitimate raw bitterness, makes it a lock at this podium position.
DVD’s: The Best of WWE Confidential, Vol. 1, Greatest Rivalries - Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray exclusive match)
2. WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs. The Rock, Backlash 2000
THIS should have main evented WrestleMania 2000!
The Rock and Triple H have practically grown up together in the WWE. Hell, Triple H was technically in Rock’s first WWE match as a Survivor Series team member!
Through their early singles runs they battled.
Through their faction wars they battled it out.
Rock was a Corporate entity, and Triple H had to overcome the odds.
Now Triple H is the Corporate entity, and Rock has to now overcome those same odds.
Only this time, the coveted WWE Championship is on the line.
Triple H has some LOADED backup. You could say its… FULLY LOADED. There’s his wife Stephanie. His father-in-law Vince. Brother-in-law Shane, who was also picked as the referee. Hell, even the Stooges Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco had a hand in on the action as well!
There is another wildcard in the mix, but more on him in a moment.
The grand majority of the match, Triple H is seemingly using the numbers game to his advantage. Even when not on the offense, Rock is always getting heckled by the referee and outside distraction. At one point, everyone and their mothers (well, maybe not the mother) come down to kick Rock’s head in.
Glass shatters!
What the fuck?
Yep, it’s Stone Cold!
A week after blowing up the DX Express, Austin is armed with a chair. FREE SHOTS FOR EVERYONE! Hell, he even got in a few headshots, which in today’s environment will net you a $2,000 fine per shot! After this goes down, Linda McMahon (see, the mother did something good) comes down with campaign advisor Senior Referee Earl Hebner to bring order back into the match. The Rock finally puts away The Game, and gets the title!
Austin greets Rock with a stare post-match, but ultimately toasts the title with a beer. #9 would happen nearly a year later.
For such a match, this feels right at home on the list. Mainly that ‘Corporate’ aspect where in an era where there were more shades of grey than softcore porn, everyone agreed these were selfish and greedy bad guys ready to get taken down. While the Attitude Era had lots of different original aspects of sports entertainment, the basics are always welcomed as well. It was just that this basic story was about as high as this era was going to go, all things considered.
DVD’s: The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment
1. Hell in the Cell: Undertaker vs. Mankind, King of the Ring 1998
When I compiled the list for this countdown, there were dozens of matches ready for action. Amongst the 30+ entries for this entry, only one spot was claimed off the bat.
#1 and this Hell in the Cell was that spot.
This is the only match on the list whose notoriety reached well beyond the realm of sports-entertainment. Hogan and Andre from WrestleMania III may very well be the only match whose mainstream popularity overrides this one.
Like some other matches on this list, Hell in the Cell has been covered multiple times in different fashions.
Also like the other matches mentioned, there is another angle that could be taken on this, so here we go.
It was right around this time period where Undertaker’s character seemingly started to change. His benevolence was quickly turning into grey matter. He beat up heels and faces all along with amazing crowd reactions. Hell, Undertaker cut a in-character shoot promo in SWEATPANTS! The only character that had this luxury in recent times was Kane earlier this year in those therapy segments.
Mick Foley had quite the build himself. He was fired by Vince McMahon for not getting the job done at Over the Edge, but was quickly hired back after causing hell at the behest of Austin and Undertaker. He regularly threw himself out there waiting for that next big bump.
As noted in the OTE entry, Undertaker was still suffering with a broken foot. Mainly, the in-ring segments non-PPV were limited to chokeslams coupled with man-on-the-street beatdowns (like beating up Paul Bearer at his house).
The big day ensues, and we all know what happens. The match is essentially one big “HOLY SHIT” moment, where one big bump happens right after an another. Broken bones and stitches along the way!
Really quickly, it is easy why this match is #1 on an Attitude Era countdown. It’s relentlessly brutal, had a great story, wonderful crowd involvement, and further more, both men garnered more respect after the match. Further more, it couldn’t have been done in eras past, and the era we are currently in now. It’s a product of its time that still holds up.
DVD’s: Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses - A Life in Wrestling (Hardcore Edition), Tombstone - The History of the Undertaker, Hell in a Cell - The Greatest Hell in a Cell Matches of All Time, The Best of King of the Ring
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CONCLUSION
This list took a lot of priming and debating.
The matches selected in this countdown had to feel like they could have only been done in this period of time. The period where the crowds were consistently insane, the characters were across-the-board memorable, and the storylines were full of wild twists and turns. Plus their lasting impact had to be measurable from the product that has followed since.
It was the era where the WWE came from damnation to vindication, securing a television audience that would override the challenge of the WCW juggernaut. While times may have changed, it’s never a bad thing to look back at the good times.
They will happen again…
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