“Are You Ready?”: A Brief Economic Analysis of WWF’s Attitude Era

Caption: Stone Cold Steve Austin (right) faced off against Shawn Michaels (left) leading up to the peak of The Attitude Era as special referee Mike Tyson looked on during their championship match at Wrestlemania XIV. Image via http://www.thechairshot.com/WWE

In the mid-1990’s, the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment), was in the midst of an identity crisis. The company had enjoyed a long sustained period of success starting in the mid-1980’s thanks to the likes of Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, amongst others, but now those stars were either no longer with the company or long since retired. Now with a new slew of stars to promote to a changing audience, the company had to compete against a thriving organization in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). This period is known as “Monday Night Wars” and it is the story of how Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF and a variety of iconic stars saved their company from bankruptcy and established themselves as the dominant brand in wrestling. 

Today, the WWE is flourishing and has a vice grip on the world of professional wrestling, but it was not always that way. After the high point of the 1980’s, the company saw an exodus of its most famous stars to WCW. While the companies had long traded stars, the most famous initial departures were Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) and Diesel (Kevin Nash). This was then followed by the most famous dissension of all when Hulk Hogan opted to sign with WCW as a free agent. What ensued after was the creation of one of the most iconic factions in wrestling history, the New World Order or NWO. With the combined star power of the original NWO (the group would later include dozens of wrestlers), WCW started to establish a dominant lead in the ratings war with WWE which put the latter in the proverbial headlock. 

With WCW bearing down on him and his company, McMahon had to think of something soon or else he would have to sell his business, or worse, pull out of wrestling entirely. But, thanks to shrewd thinking from McMahon and his creative team, led by Vince Russo, the company transformed its image from family-friendly to more mature programming thanks to a slew of more abrasive wrestlers. McMahon took a gamble by allowing these athletes to express themselves in more of an honest and “real” way and no one did this better than “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. The poster child of the disaffected youth of the 1990’s, Austin fought with his boss, fought with authority, and basically fought with anyone who challenged his run to the world title all while guzzling a variety of light beers.

With Austin leading the charge, the WWE was then able to develop a multitude of other stars to compete with WCW’s roster. Chief among them was The Rock, a brash trash-talker with pro wrestling in his bloodlines, who later went on to become one of the biggest box office stars of the 2010’s. Other stars included the Undertaker (one of the biggest box office draws in company history), Triple H (the current COO for WWE and the heir to the company throne), D-Generation X, Mick Foley (the hardcore hero and best-selling author), Kurt Angle (the former Atlanta Olympics gold medalist), and these are just on the short list of iconic wrestlers still best known from their time on the WWE roster in the late 90’s. In fact, each of the aforementioned wrestlers all eventually spun off to their own ventures which generated millions of dollars for their own brands. 

While no one could have predicted this outcome, the amount of grit shown by WWE would make any company envious. Clawing tooth and nail, McMahon put his company in a position to buy WCW from Ted Turner in 2001, effectively ending the “Monday Night Wars” and establishing WWE’s monopoly on the world of pro wrestling. While the organization might not ever reach the collective starpower of the era, WWE now consistently sells out football stadiums for Wrestlemania, its marquee event each year, and also has ventured into its own programming network for its fans. The company continues to innovate and push boundaries in its space and while others have challenged since WCW’s demise, the WWE has deflected them all away or taken their best stars. In business, there is an omnipresent need to innovate and grow and the WWE showed that through this tumultuous period in company history, they rose to the challenge and emerged as the dominant brand in their industry. 

So for those reading this, send me a tweet @CDBoline and let me know your favorite wrestler of all-time.