Defining WWE/Wrestling "Eras"

[Death From Above]

WWE is clearly putting a lot of resources into developing non-wrestling content now for the Network, more than ever before. Maybe not in sheer dollars (I can't imagine stuff like Edge and Christian's show and Round Table will ever add up to costing what the XFL did), but in terms of focus and manpower, they've never had more going on. It's a very different kind of company now than it even was 5 years ago in that sense, they've got to have a ton going on with production staff.

[funkdoc]

i feel like NXT's point of no return was when they started touring and signing known names in the indie scene to headline those shows or do one-shots. e.g. joe, kana, liger

[kewf1988]

The "PG era" began in about 2009. The blood ban took hold in the ring, and out of it the language/content was sanitised due to things like Linda's Senate campaign and sponsors. I think everyone was saying "WWE Universe" by the end of 2009, which is another aspect: everyone talking in catchphrases and buzzwords instead of real words. The Homogeneous Era.

The PG era technically began on July 28, 2008 (the Raw where Adamle became GM), though it started earlier than that (Jericho smashing HBK's face in the Jeritron a month earlier didn't leave him bleeding for example, as well as Hornswoggle having his own storylines rather than being Finlay's sidekick). How I'd define the eras:

 

WWF/E

 

Golden Era- Hogan's debut until WM 9 (Hogan was main focus along with Savage and Warrior, gimmicky but the wrestlers had characters with the gimmicks)

New Generation- WM 9-Survivor Series 1997 (Bret, HBK, Taker, Diesel, Razor main focus, numerous occupational gimmicks rounding out the roster)

Attitude Era- Survivor Series 1997-WM 17 (Austin, Foley, Rock, and HHH main focus, Raw becomes a television show about wrestling rather than a wrestling show on television)

Invasion Era- WM 17-Brand Split (transitional era with Austin, Jericho, and Angle as the main focus)

Ruthless Aggression- First brand split Raw-Benoit Tragedy (HHH, Lesnar, Cena, and Batista main focus, similar to previous two eras except for creative becoming lazier)

PG/Universe Era- Benoit Tragedy-First regular three hour Raw (Cena and Orton main focus, same below average creative, but very cringeworthy segments on Raw almost weekly)

Reality Era- First three hour Raw-2nd brand split (Cena begins to get phased out as Reigns, Lesnar, and Rollins become main focus, creative gets lazier, in-ring style starts changing due to smarks becoming the majority of the fanbase)

The current era is still unnamed, but is a new era because of the brand split.

 

WCW

 

Herd Era- 1990-1991 (Sting, Luger, and Flair main focus, cartoonish gimmicks throughout the undercard)

Frey/Watts Era- 1992 (Vader, Simmons, Sting and Dangerous Alliance main focus, VERY wrestling oriented)

Hogan and Friends Era- 1993-BATB 1996 (Hogan main focus, Bischoff becomes president, numerous WWF wrestlers, managers, and announcers join the company, the return of cartoonish gimmicks)

NWO Era- BATB 1996-Spring Stampede 1999 (Hogan, Nash, Sting, and Goldberg main focus, midcard very strong with some of the best wrestlers in the world)

Final Era- Spring Stampede 1999-End (Jarrett, Steiner, and Booker main focus, new logo, wrestling quality declines dramatically, Nitro and Thunder become television shows about wrestling during the Russo booking periods)

 

TNA

 

Weekly PPV Era- Debut-First FSN episode (Jarrett and AJ main focus, mostly finding their identity)

FSN Era- Mid 2004-Mid 2005 (Jarrett main focus, still finding their identity, almost go under)

Spike Era- Mid 2005-BFG 2006 (Jarrett, Christian, AJ, Joe, and Daniels main focus, find their identity, the best wrestling and booking in the company ever)

Russo Era- BFG 2006-2009 (Angle, Sting, and Nash main focus, Impact becomes a television show about wrestling)

Hogan/Bischoff Era- 2010-2011 (RVD, Hardy, Sting, Angle main focus, quality of product declines more, in-ring product declines dramatically)

Prichard Era- 2012-July 2013 (Roode, Aries, Hardy, Bully Ray main focus, wrestling and booking quality dramatically improve)

Dark Era- July 2013-2016 (EC3, Lashley, Matt Hardy main focus, loss of nearly all their original talent, taken off two networks in two years)

Current era is still unnamed, but a new era due to new management.

 

The feel of the shows, the shows' set changes, logo changes, and talent departures/signings mean a lot in terms of defining eras.

[Microstatistics]

 

The "PG era" began in about 2009. The blood ban took hold in the ring, and out of it the language/content was sanitised due to things like Linda's Senate campaign and sponsors. I think everyone was saying "WWE Universe" by the end of 2009, which is another aspect: everyone talking in catchphrases and buzzwords instead of real words. The Homogeneous Era.

The PG era technically began on July 28, 2008 (the Raw where Adamle became GM), though it started earlier than that (Jericho smashing HBK's face in the Jeritron a month earlier didn't leave him bleeding for example, as well as Hornswoggle having his own storylines rather than being Finlay's sidekick). How I'd define the eras:

 

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This seems right. From my memory watching live at the time, it was sometime between The Bash 2008 and Summerslam 2008 and I base this on the presence/absence of blood . The Shawn-Jericho match at the Bash actually had a ton of blood as Jericho worked over Shawn's Jeritron induced injury after Shawn did a huge bladejob. But then the next month the Edge-Taker HIAC magically got no blood which was unheard of for the HIAC gimmick at the time.

[TheDuke]

I feel like the 60's-70's and most of the eighties would be defined by the babyface champion of the time. So it would be 1st Sammartino Era, Pedro Morales Era, 2nd Sammartino Era, Backlund Era, and 1st Hogan. The Superstar Billy Graham reign is longer than the other transitional heel reigns, but I am assuming it could probably be rolled into either the 2nd Sammartino era or the Backlund Era. I would have to watch more from that period to be sure. Hogan lost the belt at the rematch with Andre the Giant on The Main Event televised in prime time on network television in February 1988, and I believe it had ridiculously high ratings at the time, so it can be seen as a kind of climax to the original Rock & Wrestling time frame and an obvious transition point to whatever came after. Another transition point to me that seems pretty obvious is the debut of Monday Night Raw in January of 1993, in which the product feels completely different to me from what came before, even though Hogan still came back, he was not the same Hogan in 93. And even though Bret was already champion, Bret seemed to me at the time to be more like a transitionary upper midcarder temporarily holding the belt, rather than the top guy he became in 94. So basically, The Main Event February 1988 up to the debut of Monday Night Raw January 1993 feels like a seperate "era" from the first Hogan title reign. I don't really have a good name for this era, although it seems to be similar to JvK's "cartoony" early 90's era even though mine starts a couple years earlier. I'd say rewatch some random Superstars from 88-89, and see if they feel more like the episodes from 90-91 to you or the episodes from 86-87.

[rzombie1988]

I would go:

**The Bruno to Backlund Territorial era**(5/17/1963-12/6/1983) - Starts to end when Bruno loses his belt for the last time, Backlund is the last real WWF territorial star and one of the first top faces to be booed. We see the end of the territorial way of promoting wrestling in the WWF.

**The Vince vs The World/Hogan Era**(1/23/1984-1992/1993) - Backlund gone, Vince expands and takes down the world, Everyone appears on WWF TV at some point, Hulkamania grows and WWF becomes the top promotion, WWF gets cartoony and it ends as Hogan wraps up in 1992/1993

**The New Generation Era**(1993-1996) - Post-Hogan and post-steroid era with people like Bret, everyone has a 2nd job while being a wrestler, HBK/Diesel/Sid are the top stars, WWF and wrestling in the US have some of the worst ratings and attendances ever

**The Attitude Era/Monday Night Wars**(1996-4/1/2001) - WWE copies from ECW and the shows become more vulgar, Bret gets screwed, Austin and Rock become stars, WWF has a boom period and gets in a war with WCW. The Attitude era ends as Austin joins Vince at Wrestlemania 17 and WWE business is never the same again.

**The Ruthless Aggression Era/Post-WCW Era**(4.2.2001-2005) - WWF becomes WWE, WCW and ECW invade, The first ever Brand Split, Triple H's reign of terror, Rock and Austin start to go away, Brock/Orton/Cena rise

**The Cena/PG Era**(2005-2/24/2014) - Cena as the corniest champ ever and top dog, tons of drug test failures, Benoit's double homicide, no blood, CM Punk's Pipe Bomb and the Rise of Daniel Bryan and the fans taking over shows, etc

**The WWE Network Era**(2/24/2014-present) - The WWE debuts the Network changing the way wrestling is promoted, NXT becomes a super indy promotion, WWE starts to sign international stars and people of various shapes and sizes, Women start to be featured and taken seriously, Vince forces Roman Reigns down everyone's throats