5 Reasons why the Ruthless Aggression Era was better than the Attitude Era

EDITOR’S NOTE: This slide requires more points and does not contain enough substance to determine why the RA era was better than the Attitude Era. Please resubmit this piece.If a random person is quizzed about which was the best time to be a wrestling fan, the most probable answer that would come out of his mouth would be the Attitude Era.One of the main reasons for this would’ve been the amount of options that were available during that period as a fan who didn’t like one promotion’s show could’ve easily switched to another to see a better offering.However, if we look from a wider angle, the ruthless aggression era which followed the attitude Era deserves more credit than it requires.It is one of the periods in the timeline that is often overlooked by many but here is a look at the reasons why the Ruthless Aggression Era was far better than a heavily overrated Attitude Era.

#5 The Brand Split

After WCW went out of business, a plethora of talent flooded into the WWE forcing them to have a full scale brand split. There was Raw and SmackDown with talented names and both brands told entirely different stories.

Unlike the current product or the one in Attitude Era, it was just like two different promotions that were fighting it out to find which the better show was.

And to make matter more interesting the WWE even had Paul Heyman as the creative head of SmackDown. WWE used to have only a handful of common pay-per-views for the brands and it made the fans eagerly wait as well.

Superstars from each brand crossing paths were also another interesting prospect of this while this wait and satisfaction wasn’t there to be seen in the Attitude Era.

#4 Less controversial

Attitude Era might’ve been more mainstream considering how WCW and WWE were locking horns for survival in the rapid waves of change.

To take out the competition, both promotions often went to such low levels that the image of professional wrestling itself was projected badly to the people who rarely tuned into the programming.

A lot of eye candy, violence and foul mouthed language were promoted by Vince McMahon as he simply went by the rule that sex and violence always sells. At the same time, the only notable controversy that WWE had to face during the RA era was Benoit’s death.

This however changed the business for good while Attitude Era will always be known for the depths in which the promoters could go to take the competition out.

#3 Realistic angles

One of the things that are sure to draw crowds into an arena is realistic storylines. If the fans are able to connect easily with the kayfabe, it would in turn morph into a success story.

Back in the Attitude Era however, WWE relied mostly on cartoonish characters that were out there only for the purpose of short term entertainment. All McMahon wanted was to win the ratings at a particular night rather than plot the path for a longer run.

RA meanwhile was having more realistic gimmicks. The superstars had fewer decorations around their real life personas which made it easy to depict.

It looked more natural when all the flashiness and cartoonish traits were taken away making the fans feel that the wrestlers are humans after all.

#2 Star power in the roster

WCW folding meant that WWE was left with a lot superstar to choose from as most of them had no other place to find a job.

Apart from names like Steve Austin, Triple H, Rock and some more, the Attitude Era suffered from a depleted roster as many big names had a place in WCW. Most of the midcarders during this time failed to make it big while it was a different story with RA era.

Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, John Cena along with some mainstays from WCW and Attitude Era made the roster spilling over with star power.

WWE hasn’t been able to replicate that magic till now making RA an era which had the most exciting roster.

#1 It was more about wrestling

When there is a competitive surrounding, the basics of the business are often forgotten by the WWE. This was the situation with Attitude Era. They had vocal angles and controversial storylines which stole the show while in ring action failed to provide epic encounters.

It was more like running an action film in a wrestling set instead of making the superstars wrestler. For the fans who loved the drama, this might’ve been a treat but for the ones who enjoyed the action in between the ropes, RA was an easy pick.

The lack of competition that WWE had let them invest in the in ring action and tone down the candy coating.

All the talent they had at their disposal was allowed to pull off some classic matches which made WWE look more like a wrestling promotion than a controversy train.