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WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has always shown an ability to adapt. It's what has made him a success in sports entertainment and business. It's one of the reasons he is so brash. His hunches tend to pay off and his risk is often met with rewards.
On December 15, 1997, Vince McMahon took another daredevil chance. And in doing so, he changed the course of history for himself, WWE, and the entire professional wrestling industry as a whole. Little did he know at the time, but this risk would be one that eventually elevated his company to stratospheric heights and won the Monday Night Wars against rival WCW.
On this night, the 'Attitude Era' was unofficially launched
Despite not using the word 'attitude' at the time, the shift in tone for the promotion was about to be massive. McMahon called it on this very night, airing a pre-recorded interview where he addressed the fans directly and told them that WWE was going to have a modernized and more mature product.
It is often called, quite simply, the 'Attitude Era' speech:
“It has been said that anything can happen here in the World Wrestling Federation, but now more than ever, truer words have never been spoken. This is a conscious effort on our part to 'Open the Creative Envelope', so to speak, in order to entertain you in a more contemporary manner. Even though we call ourselves Sports Entertainment because of the athleticism involved, the keyword in that phrase is 'Entertainment'."
McMahon hinted at the new direction of WWE by then comparing it to other forms of entertainment, not just pro wrestling or sports.
"The WWF extends far beyond the strict confines of sports presentation into the wide-open environment of broad-based entertainment. We borrow from such program niches like soap operas like 'The Days Of Our Lives' or music videos such as those on MTV, daytime talk shows like Jerry Springer and others, cartoons like 'The King Of The Hill on Fox', sitcoms like 'Seinfeld' and other widely accepted forms of television entertainment."
At that point, Vince McMahon completely dropped kayfabe and let the wrestling fans know they were in for something they had never seen before.
"We, in the WWF, think that you, the audience, are quite frankly, tired of having your 'intelligence insulted'. We also think that you’re tired of the same old simplistic theory of 'Good Guys VS Bad Guys'. Surely the era of 'The super-hero urge you to say your prayers and take your vitamins' is definitely, passe. Therefore, we’ve embarked on a far more innovative and contemporary creative campaign, that is far more invigorating and extemporaneous than ever before."
This is not the first time that Vince McMahon has 'broken the fourth wall' when it comes to the audience. Just prior to this, he had delivered his 'Bret Screwed Bret' interview with Jim Ross, in which he basically said that it was Bret Hart's duty to lose the WWE Championship on his way out the door. At that point, even the truest of believers were now in on the fix.
This moment was a precursor to WWE's Attitude Era
While it can be argued that this segment really got the ball rolling, it wasn't until the following month that Vince revealed his plans to the fans. And it certainly wasn't the first time WWE had broken kayfabe; they'd already admitted to New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman that wrestling was pre-determined in order to get de-regulated (and tax breaks) in the Garden State.
But it was that night in December of 1997 that really sealed the deal. Vince McMahon was going all the way with the likes of DX and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Soon McMahon would emerge as the evil boss figure and become the biggest heel in all sports entertainment. Explicit scenes, as well as hardcore violence, would become just as much a part of the action as suplexes and slams.
The old days were over. The era of crash TV was on its way to WWE.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Would you like to see Vince McMahon make another set of drastic changes to WWE programming? What should they be? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.
