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THE END OF THE ATTITUDE ERA, COULD THERE BE FANS AT WRESTLEMANIA, WHY RAW ISN’T BOOKED LIKE NXT AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2020-12-21 10:00:00

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Question from back in the day: what exactly was the Million Dollar Belt made of and what was it worth?  I can’t believe that it was made of real gold and diamonds and worth a million bucks.  Seems like too big a risk to be stolen.  What do you know about this?

It was not worth a million dollars!  Not even close.

Initially, I know a lot of fans considered Wrestlemania 17 the end of the Attitude Era because of the Austin heel turn and the end of the Monday Night Wars, so they saw WM 17 as the culmination of that era. However, lately I see a lot of push back to this end date for the Attitude Era. Now, I see many fans suggesting that one of the 2002 transitional milestones, such as the birth of the brand extension, the "Get the F out" campaign, the official end of the Attitude Era marketing campaign, Austin walking out, or the McMahon Ruthless Aggression promo as the end of the Attitude Era. Actually, I agree with 2002 as the end point because Austin was still the top dog in '01, most of the WCW roster came in by early '02 and it was fitting that the nWo got defeated by the Rock and Austin - before they both faded away in mid '02. I believe eras are defined by the ascension and departures of said era's top stars. Finally, the tone and story lines for the period from WM 17 to WM 18 align way more with the AE than Ruthless Aggression. When do you think the Attitude Era ended?

I have always looked at it as being when Chris Kreski left in 2002.  So, I agree with you.

Let’s say Wrestlemania was moved to Tampa this year and Tampa announced they would begin to open back up a few after Wrestlemania, could you see WWE delaying Wrestlemania for a couple of weeks in order to get fans back in the arena?

I think doing it a few weeks before Mania would be tough logistically.  I think WWE will be watching how the vaccination process goes and will adjust from there.  Florida does allow people right now to games.  If that continues, WWE could have 25% of the seats filled in the stadium.  And if people can show they have been vaccinated, the number could be higher.  I think WWE will know the lay of the land a month before the show.  Tampa makes way more sense than Los Angeles next year given the problems California is having with the virus.

Do you think WWE realizes that many of their fans consider the Money in the Bank PPV as important as a "Big 4 PPV"? Can you see the Money in the Bank PPV eventually being elevated with an Access event, a special video package of past event highlights, or otherwise promotionally positioning the event on par with SummerSlam, Survivor Series, or the Royal Rumble? You can even start having a surprise legend, debuting superstar or returning superstar earmarked for one spot in the Money in the Bank Ladder match and generate the same excitement the Royal Rumble does with surprise entrants. It seems like WWE is not capitalizing on the potential windfall to elevate this PPV to one of its elite PPV's and cash in on its importance. What do you think?

I am the wrong person to ask about MITB.  I hate the concept and wish it would go away.  I don’t think it’s important at all.

Wow. In Canada, we are delayed with NXT, but WOW. Just watched last week’s NXT, and it was waaaayyyyyy better than Raw. People had something to fight for, we were intrigued by who the next #1 contender is, New feuds that are generically started. Why can’t they duplicate this???

First I need to say that what fans like in a show is subjective.  With that said, I totally agree with you.  NXT was so much better than Raw, it’s not even close.  They can’t duplicate it because Bruce Prichard and Vince McMahon don’t want an NXT style product.  They want whatever style product Raw is.

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