THE ARCHITECTS OF THE ATTITUDE ERA: A RETROSPECTIVE ON STEVE AUSTIN VS DUDE LOVE

The Attitude Era wasn't great because it was raunchy, sleazy, blood-soaked, extreme, and testosterone-fueled. In fact, all those segments, matches, and angles from The Attitude Era that weren't good were the ones that could be easily reduced to a set of trendy adjectives.

The assertion many modern professional wrestling fans make is that The Attitude Era was "so much better" than today's TV-PG Era, without offering a worthwhile explanation as to why. This noisy group of armchair critics likes to cite "Better promos", "getting color", "more interesting characters", "cooler stables", and "better angles" as adequate precedent. Working alongside that lack of an explanation is the unavoidably revisionist history that comes with nostalgia. Moments of time that were distinct, perhaps entirely unrelated, get lumped together and cataloged as the same event; Shawn Michaels chopping his crotch, Triple H sitting on a cannon, Chyna giving low blows, The Rock raising an eyebrow, Steve Austin stunning Vince McMahon, and Mick Foley falling off a cell.

WWE 2K16 COVER: STEVE AUSTIN IS THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

EDITORIALSTim KailJuly 6, 2015steve austin, stone cold steve austin, stone cold, stone cold podcast, wwe network, WWE 2K15, WWE 2K14, wwe 2k16, wwe 2k games

THE STEVE AUSTIN PODCAST REVIEW

The Steve Austin Show returned to the WWE Network following the June 1st episode of Monday Night Raw. While there weren’t many hard-hitting questions to be asked (as Austin stated in the open of the show), it was still a thoroughly entertaining exchange where Heyman and Austin spoke openly about some of the booking woes and performance issues that plague the WWE’s main roster. Austin seemed even less reserved this go-round, speaking candidly and critically about the misuse of the DDT and John Cena’s “wasted” Springboard Stunner. The intensity and the unapologetic way in which he spoke, eliciting a similar candidness from Paul Heyman, was a refreshing change of pace from Jericho’s friendly, occasionally meandering conversation with Stephanie McMahon a few weeks back.

The Writings