There aren't many entertainment or sporting institutions that have had the longevity and history of WWE, with Vince McMahon's juggernaut becoming synonymous with wrestling. WWE has such a long and rich history that the company's lineage can be divided into different eras. These eras span decades, changing social climates and different generations of wrestling fans, whilst also demonstrating how the industry has developed over time.
There are several eras in total, each of which is vastly important when discussing the storied history of WWE.
The WWWF And Golden Era
WWE's origins can be traced back to its days as a territory in North-Eastern America, particularly in New York City when the company was known as the Worldwide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Throughout the '60s and '70s, the WWWF grew into one of the country's top promotions under the leadership of Vincent J. McMahon, with stars like Buddy Rodgers, 'Superstar' Billy Graham, and 'Classy' Freddie Blassie rising to prominence. Throughout this period, the company was famed for producing long babyface championship reigns for its stars like Pedro Morales, Bob Backlund, and Bruno Sammartino.
Vincent K. McMahon would assume control of his father's company in 1982, dropping a letter from the name as it became the WWF. This would begin the company's 'Golden Era', where Vince McMahon would endeavor to make wrestling a mainstream concern. He proceeded to aggressively expand the WWF's area of control by buying out their competitors and signing the top stars from around the country. The advent of WrestleMania, as well as the rise of larger-than-life characters such as Hulk Hogan, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, and Andre The Giant, allowed McMahon to achieve unparalleled success by the late '80s when the WWF became the destination for a huge amount of casual wrestling fans.
The New Generation And Attitude Era
The WWF's 'Golden Era' would come to an end in the early '90s when a swathe of issues hit the company. Vince McMahon was taken to court in the infamous steroid trials in 1994, which would drastically change the public perception of the WWF. Furthermore, WCW was providing much stiffer competition for the WWF when they began luring over huge stars like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage from Vince McMahon's company.
In response, the WWF would begin promoting younger wrestlers like Diesel, Razor Ramon, The Undertaker, and Yokozuna in an attempt to alter the company's image. This transformational period for the company would be known as the 'New Generation Era' and it was heralded by fans and critics alike for the increased in-ring quality which was largely due to the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels being atop the card.
Despite the changes to the company, the WWF was struggling to compete with WCW, which had adopted an edgier presentation along with the introduction of the NWO. The 'Montreal Screwjob' facilitated a character shift for Vince McMahon that would prove to be very serendipitous, as he became the antagonistic ego-maniacal boss to counteract 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's rise to prominence.
Alongside Mr. McMahon and Steve Austin, stars like The Rock, Mick Foley, and Degeneration X ushered in the company's most revered period during the 'Attitude Era', helping them to defeat WCW in the 'Monday Night Wars.' The late '90s and early '00s proved to be the highest point for the WWF, as wrestling became a genuine mainstream concern for the first, and perhaps last time.
The Ruthless Aggression And PG Era
Following the highs of the 'Attitude Era' and the buyout of WCW, the WWF transitioned once more with Vince McMahon truly gaining a monopoly of the wrestling industry. The promotion would "get the f out," becoming World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), whilst their two biggest stars, Steve Austin and The Rock left the business for different reasons.
WWE needed new stars to compensate for their losses, which inspired Vince McMahon to challenge his roster to find their "ruthless aggression," which inspired a new era for the company. The 'Ruthless Aggression Era' would see young stars like Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista be immediately pushed as top prospects, alongside perennial champions like Triple H and Kurt Angle. Raw and SmackDown were also given separate rosters in the brand split, which allowed another world title to come into the company along with much of WCW's performers.
To this point, much of WWE's product remained edgy in an attempt to recapture the success of the 'Attitude Era,' but the returns were certainly diminished. WWE would undergo one of its biggest changes in 2008, when the promotion began producing PG television, much to the chagrin of many older wrestling fans. Furthermore, Raw began running as a 3-hour show, which led to a huge decline in ratings.
The 'PG Era' is not fondly looked back upon, but there were positive points including the Shawn Michales, Undertaker, Triple H WrestleMania trilogy. However, for every 'Summer of Punk,' there was another John Cena title reign, which isolated a lot of wrestling fans.
The Reality and New Era
The modern version of WWE has not changed much since the dawn of the 'PG Era,' but there have been some distinct periods that the company has gone through over the past decade. The 'Reality Era' was one of the shorter transformational periods for the company, but was still hugely significant.
In this era, the company went all-in on promoting the WWE brand over its superstars, creating reality shows like Total Divas and Total Bellas to tune into the popular reality television market. Despite these shows being largely not about wrestling, they generated awareness and profiled more women in the company. This would lead to what fans now know as the 'Women's Revolution,' in which female talent was finally treated with far more respect than they'd historically received in WWE.
There were also many structural changes within the company, such as the introduction of the WWE Network and the revamp of the NXT brand, which was met with a great deal of critical acclaim. In-ring, the biggest developments were the rise of The Shield, which created three future world champions for WWE, and the rise of Daniel Bryan through the 'Yes' movement.
When the brand split was reintroduced in 2016, WWE rather forcefully pushed for a 'New Era' to begin for the company, which started off relatively well. The 'Women's Revolution' continued through the likes of the Four Horsewomen and the debut of Ronda Rousey, whilst new talents like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Finn Balor freshened up the main event scene on the main roster. NXT maintained its critical acclaim for some time before eventually succumbing to the WWE machine, all whilst AEW was being created to give Vince McMahon's company its first real competition for almost two decades.
Whatever comes next for WWE, it must be transformational on the scale of the 'Attitude Era' or even it's Golden Era' as their product continues to decline, despite the fact they have AEW rapidly growing behind them.
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