Line #8 Wrestling/WWENewGenerationEra


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwf_logo.gif]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:The WWF logo from 1994 to 1997. Much like the WWF "scratch" logo from 1998 to 2002 represents the Wrestling/AttitudeEra, this one is usually used to represent the New Generation Era.]]
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4	In the early [[TheNineties '90s]], the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} World Wrestling Federation]]'s image had taken a beating. A steroid scandal had rocked the promotion, and even though Wrestling/VinceMcMahon was acquitted, the bad press had damaged his business. What's more, his main attraction, Wrestling/HulkHogan, had left the WWF, eventually signing with rival [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} World Championship Wrestling]]. With Hulkamania and [[Wrestling/WWEGoldenAgeEra the Golden Era]] now over, [=McMahon=] decided it was time for a new generation of wrestlers to take the stage. Thus began the WWF's New Generation Era.
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6	Younger talent like [[Wrestling/BretHart Bret "Hitman" Hart]], Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/TheUndertaker, [[Wrestling/ScottHall Razor Ramon]], [[Wrestling/KevinNash Diesel]], and Wrestling/LexLuger would be pushed into the spotlight. It was around this time that the WWF also launched what would become their flagship television series, ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Monday Night Raw]].'' It was also coinciding with the golden age of [[TheGimmick/ProfessionalWrestling the gimmick]]; a character each wrestler would try to get over. A great number of whom were silly, and sometimes arguably more cartoonish than the golden age characters back in TheEighties, but still featured a bunch of memorable names like [[Wrestling/CharlesWright Papa Shango]], Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}}, and Wrestling/DoinkTheClown.
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8	However, even with these changes, the WWF's recovery was slow: as a result of many of the old guard leaving the company and diluting the main event, it meant that the world title scene was often extremely shallow as the true workhorses (Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels) were often stuck with odd gimmick storylines from [[TheAce the aces]] of other companies, or guys Vince made poor bets on, like the failed Lex Luger or Diesel runs at the championship where the runs with the belt rarely lasted long or in some cases never even got off the ground because they'd been hot-shotted into the title picture and, once they were there, were stripped of whatever had made them popular in the first place so they could be rehashed as generic Hulk Hogan clones. Diesel would end up remembered as one of WWF's worst-drawing champions in this era, but it's important to remember that Kevin Nash ''was'' over as Diesel when he was Shawn Michaels's badass AntiHero bodyguard, but once he became champion and had to be a replacement Hogan, he lost the edge he had been booked with as a contender[[note]]The booking also wasn't doing him any favors as he wasn't given much to work with. His first title defense being a ''nearly 30 minute '''draw''''' against Bret Hart didn't exactly get things started off on the right foot (and following that with Shawn Michaels going into business for himself in their ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' XI match didn't help). Then he spent the spring and summer feuding with [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sycho Sid]] and King Mabel, the latter having a WWF Championship match against him at ''Wrestling/SummerSlam'' 1995. Not to mention that just about everything else the WWF was putting on TV absolutely stunk and wrestling as a whole was in the toilet in 1995[[/note]]. After he lost the title, he started a slow FaceHeelTurn turn where he was allowed to be himself and got over again before leaving for WCW. And yet more trouble was on the horizon, archrival WCW launched [[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro their own Monday night show]], triggering the Wrestling/MondayNightWars. Later, the WCW pulled the trigger on the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]], which would become one of the hottest angles of the time and would secure a ratings domination for WCW for the next two years. More and more WWF talent would defect to the WCW. And another promotion, [[Wrestling/{{ECW}} Extreme Championship Wrestling]], was making waves and snatching even more market share from the WWF. And even worse...Bret Hart, his well-beloved heart of the New-Generation, was becoming a financial drain thanks to his life-time contract.
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10	As such, this is generally considered the WWF/E's biggest AudienceAlienatingEra by both fans and WWE themselves, with episodes of ''Monday Night Raw'' literally being filmed in high school gyms and the company finishing in the red in both 1994 and 1995, the only two years that happened since the younger Vince took over.[[note]]Though 1994 would have turned a modest profit had it not been for all the legal fees, both for the steroid trail and a $10 million settlement that had to be paid out to job guy Charles Austin, who was paralyzed when he didn't protect himself taking a Rocker Dropper performed by Wrestling/MartyJannetty back in 1990[[/note]] The only time it's really mentioned on camera today is when someone wants to poke fun at the overuse of WrestlingDoesntPay, which was taken to absurd degrees (at one point these gimmicks comprised nearly half the roster.) The [[SmartMark smart fan community]] mainly remembers this time period for Wrestling/TheKliq's backstage politics, which would later spread to WCW (and arguably had a major hand in killing that company[[note]]And would even later spread to Wrestling/{{TNA}} and play a pretty big role in nearly killing ''that'' company too[[/note]]) and eventually lead to Wrestling/TripleH running WWE today. Though towards the end of this era the WWF did make two very important acquisitions in a couple guys that Wrestling/EricBischoff didn't think would ever draw money. One was Wrestling/MickFoley. The other was some guy named Wrestling/SteveAustin.
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12	If [=McMahon=] was to keep his company alive, he would need something big. It was after a [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob certain incident in Montreal]] that Vince [=McMahon=] knew exactly what it was that the WWF needed: a new [[Wrestling/AttitudeEra attitude.]]

Context Wrestling / WWENewGenerationEra