10 WWE Attitude Era Stars Who Are Still Around

The Attitude Era ran roughly from Survivor Series 1997 to May 2002, yet despite its brief five-year stint, it has taken on legendary status in the wrestling annals. Fans of a certain age tend to look back on it with stubborn fondness, and definitively proclaim it as the wrestling industry’s undisputed peak. There is merit to this statement. The Attitude Era was wrestling at its most profitable and most mainstream; The Rock and Stone Cold were at the absolute peak of their powers, and the crowds were consistently red hot.

As Super Show-Down’s ‘last time ever’ encounter between HHH and The Undertaker drew to a close, Michael Cole boldly and emotionally stated, that ‘an era had ended’. Fast forward 48 hours and Raw were quick to assure the WWE Universe that it wasn’t in fact the last time ever… shock! Regardless of how you might feel about the continuation of this feud – this news, along with the return of HBK to in-ring action, begs the question of who is still left from this legendary period in the business?

To preface this list, some of the wrestling history buffs will notice that there are a few other current WWE Superstars who, technically speaking, wrestled right at the end of the Attitude Era. However, whilst the likes of Orton and Lesnar did appear as the Attitude Era was dying, they were far more harbingers of a new era than participants in the old.

 

10. Shawn Michaels

OK, naming HBK as a ‘current WWE Superstar’ is a little bit of a stretch. He hasn’t wrestled for eight years, and in all likelihood the tag match at Crown Jewel will be a one time deal where he’ll take a tasty wedge of that Saudi oil money, before retiring back to his ranch. Add to this, the fact that he was retired/injured for large portions of the Attitude Era and it appears that it’s off to a bad start.

But, his role in D-X embodied exactly what the Attitude Era was all about. It was edgy. It was inappropriate. It was crude. It was cringe-worthy at times. However, it was also completely awesome. If you were naming your Attitude Era Mount Rushmore, DX would be right alongside Rocky and Austin. The group were responsible for some of the most unforgettable moments throughout the entire era – from Mike Tyson in a DX shirt, to the attempted invasion of WCW. You simply cannot picture the Attitude Era without picturing green and black bandannas and Crotch Chops.

 

9. Triple H

Whereas HBK could be construed as a questionable inclusion, there can be zero debate surrounding HHH. “The Game”, “The Cerebral Assassin”, “The King of Kings”; whatever you want to call him, he was an undisputed pioneer of the Attitude Era, and is still churning out solid promos and matches 20 years later. Although it must be admitted that much of the intrigue surrounding recent HHH matches resides in what overly-extravagant entrance he’ll be using this time.

Trips spearheaded D-X (see part one) before stepping up to the main event scene where he was embroiled in numerous feuds with the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold, and Mankind/Cactus Jack/Dude Love. Say what you will about The Kliq and “The Game’s” supposed shovel, but from 2000-2002 he was a heat-machine and was barely out of the main event scene. To put that into context – he was contestably the third biggest star in the WWE during the company’s most successful period.

 

8. Kane

On 5 October, 1997 at Badd Blood, Kane debuted as the seven foot tall, masked, maniacal half brother of The Undertaker. This iconic debut alone is enough to make Kane an Attitude Era legend. Combine it with a handful of championships, a more hotly contested sibling rivalry than the Williams sisters and the Klitchkos put together, and his legacy is solidly cemented.

Since day one, Kane has been the ultimate company man; barely away from our screens and solidly dependable in every role he is given (YouTube his promo impersonating Hogan and The Rock). In recent times, Kane has been a smidge busy successfully running for Mayor of Knox County, but still has no qualms in completing an 18,000 mile round trip to Melbourne to don the renowned black and red mask for the WWE Universe – even if his mayoral duties seem to be cutting into his cardio.

 

7. The Undertaker

The Undertaker is one of a handful of professional wrestlers who transcends the business. People who don’t know wrestling still know The Undertaker. The guy is 53 years old and has been in the WWE for almost 30 of them. If Kane is a company man, Taker is a company legend. Is he a little out of shape now? Yes. Is he moving a lot slower? Yes. But, does he still have the greatest entrance in professional wrestling? Yes. Does the crowd still lap him up? Absolutely.

During the Attitude Era, as WCW was gaining in popularity, The Undertaker was Vince McMahon’s rock. While the actual Rock, Stone Cold, and D-X take most of the plaudits for this time, Taker was the perfect foil – helping to elevate and legitimise this new wave of stars.

Also, despite historically mixed reviews, the American Badass version of The Undertaker was actually pretty awesome. What’s not cool about shades on indoors, bandannas, and leather waistcoats?

 

6. Big Show

Billed at an eye-widening seven feet tall and 500 lbs, The Big Show was already a pretty big deal in WCW as The Giant (the cheesy pun was intentional) before signing with WWE in 1999. After a heartwarming debut at St Valentine’s Day Massacre: In Your House, the remainder of Show’s Attitude Era run played out just like any other classic romantic tale: with the protagonist winning championships and decimating fellow wrestlers at will.

These days, the WWE Universe sees far less of The Big Show in every sense. The former 500 pounder has trimmed down to an impressive 380 and his appearances have become sporadic at best. However, Show remains that rare talent who can turn up once in a while and still command respect, posing a legitimate threat to whoever he’s thrown in the ring with. Just ask Randal Keith Orton.

 

5. Chris Jericho

You may remember all the way back to number nine on this list when HHH was described as ‘contestably’ the third biggest star during the Attitude Era. One of the reasons this is contested is the “Ayatollah of Rock-N-Rolla” himself. In more recent times, Jericho has been known as “The Alpha”, the curator of the ‘List of Jericho’, and the “Best in the World”. However, in the Attitude Era he was the cocky rockstar who could make the crowd love or loathe him with a flick of those canary-yellow locks.

Before the nitpicking fest commences – yes, Y2J has got his fingers in some other wrestling pies at present, be they Japanese or nautical. And yes, his Twitter action seems to suggest he is less than enamoured with the WWE right now. But, anyone who believes he won’t be back in a WWE ring at some point soon, is nothing but a STUPID IDIOT… or a gelatinous tapeworm – take your pick.

 

4. The Hardy Boyz

Alright, alright, before we start, this is undoubtedly a bit of a cheat pick. Matt and Jeff are currently wrestling apart, and both have highly respectable singles careers. They have also both won what is technically described as, bucketloads of titles, so neither has struggled with Marty Jannetty syndrome. However, the decision to list them as The Hardy Boyz was due to a couple of very important factors.

Firstly, ’10 Current WWE Superstars Who Were Around During the Attitude Era’, sounds much better than ’11 Current WWE Superstars Who Were Around During the Attitude Era’. Secondly, when you picture Matt or Jeff during this era, you instantly envisage those legendary TLC matches with the Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian. You picture them jumping off, through, and over, sickening structures. You picture Jeff eating that Spear. You don’t picture the “Charismatic Enigma” or “Broken” Matt gesticulating madly and shouting ‘delete!’ – you picture Team Extreme. In other words, you picture The Hardy Boyz as a tag team.

 

Note: Despite recent events, Matt Hardy is not definitively retired. He has denied this on The Ross Report and could potentially still wrestle in the future.

 

3. Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle swaggered into the WWE in 1998 as the classic goody-two-shoes, all-American hero, fresh off winning an Olympic gold medal (with a broken freakin’ neck, in case you hadn’t heard). Unfortunately, this was the Attitude Era and that wasn’t going to fly. However, Kurt was good enough to realise this and seamlessly transition into the condescending, holier-than-thou jackass with the wrestling skills to back up his words – and they were some serious skills. Do yourself a favour, get on the WWE Network and watch a couple of Angle matches from the early 2000s and be amazed.

Watching Kurt today, it’s obvious that his 8000 neck injuries have taken their toll. He isn’t the wrestling machine he once was, but he’s still capable of conjuring up glimpses of his former grandeur. These glimpses have come in diverse circumstances: from arguably stealing the show at WrestleMania 34, to performing a couple of questionable front flips as the Conquistador on a recent edition of Raw.

 

2. Rhyno

You often come across wrestlers whose names really don’t match their character or style. Case in point, ‘Neville’: the crazily talented, exciting, high-flyer whose name reminds you of a mathlete – no offence to any Nevilles reading this, or to any mathletes for that matter. This certainly was not the case with Rhyno however, who came to the WWE from ECW and proved to be every bit the powerful, dangerous animal of his namesake. Rhyno wasn’t built like your classic WWE Superstar, with the chiselled abs and veins popping out of veins. He was your old-school, brawny, lump of a man, and genuinely looked like he could remove limbs with his bare hands.

Despite suffering somewhat in recent times, especially since moving to Raw, it wasn’t all that long ago that Rhyno and Heath Slater were tag team champions. And although he may be a spent force in a lot of ways, the Gore still remains the most brutal and destructive version of the Spear in the business.

 

1. The Rock

Finally. Long before Dwayne Johnson conquered Hollywood, The Rock was electrifying the million (and millions) of fans who were tuning in to WWE every week. In retrospect, it seems bizarre to imagine The Rock struggling to connect with a crowd. Nevertheless, in his early days, just like Angle, he fell victim to a crowd that were hungry for edgy rebels, and had had their fill of whiter than white meat heroes. If Angle’s response to these crowds was seamless adaptation, “The Great One’s” was an explosive overhaul. Rocky Maivia metamorphosed from the blandest of caterpillars, to the most extravagant of butterflies, and thus The Rock was born.

During the Attitude Era, alongside Stone Cold, The Rock was the biggest wrestler on the planet by a considerable margin. The pair took the business to places it had never been before and has never seen since.

These days, The Rock isn’t exactly a current superstar, but there’s no way that a six second whooping of Erick Rowan at Mania 32 will be the last time Rocky wrestles in the WWE.