TV DVD: The Attitude Era

“It was like a big party…and everyone was invited”. So begins the story of the most controversial and influential period in American professional wrestling.

The year is 1997 and WWE (then known as WWF) chairman Vince McMahon announces that the company’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, was about to become an edgier style of programme. This was an attempt to win the ratings war with rival company WCW.

The result was some fantastic tv. Gone were the typical hero vs. villain type storyline and in came an altogether different bunch of characters who blurred the lines between right and wrong.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin was arguably the most popular and his long-running feud with McMahon himself resulted in some fantastic, and often hilarious, moments. Other characters who came to prominence at the time were The Rock (now a movie star), Mick Foley and his various personas and the outrageous group known as Degeneration X. An iconic moment of the era was when DX “invaded” WCW.

The Attitude Era has been released as a 3 disc set:

Disc 1 contains the documentary with contributions from various participants including Road Dogg, Stephanie McMahon, Pat Paterson and Christian.

Discs 2 & 3 feature many matches and moments from the show including dangerous ladder matches, a brilliant hardcore title match and the car crash tv that was the Brawl For All. This was WWE’s ill-judged attempt at having “real” matches. It was a career-ender for many of the participants, either through injury or a complete failure in their marketability afterwards.

The Attitude Era is available on DVD & Blu-ray in the UK now and it’s a cool nostalgia trip for anyone who remembers the time. It also works as a showcase for WWE, proving to some that it wasn’t always the kid-friendly show it was in the 80’s and has somewhat become again now.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.