By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Mr. McMahon’s documentary series episode four, “Attitude,” focuses on the explosion of the Attitude Era. Vince McMahon knew that to beat WCW, he needed to be aggressive and push the envelope.
McMahon played hardball when he got Mike Tyson to be part of WrestleMania 14. When McMahon got Tyson, it drew a lot of eyeballs to the company. At that time, no one wanted to touch Tyson because he was getting into trouble in various situations, and his previous act was when he bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear.
McMahon took a chance on Tyson, and he knew what he had been doing all along. Tyson became the special guest referee for the Shawn Michaels vs Stone Cold Steve Austin WrestleMania 14 match for the championship.
The match wasn’t great due to the fact that Michaels had a back injury. So he couldn’t perform at his best. Austin would end up winning the match to secure his first WWE title.
Stone Cold Steve Austin became the leader of the Attitude Era. The Austin vs. McMahon rivalry helped the company to beat WCW in the ratings. Before coming to the WWE, Austin was part of WCW.
Does Eric Bischoff regret not gambling on Austin when he had him? Probably not, because he didn’t think he would be marketable then.
The Austin vs McMahon rivalry changed everything. It’s arguably the most extraordinary and longest-tenured rivalry in the history of the business. Their storylines in 1998 and 1999 were some of the best stuff on TV, and they sparked tremendous attention and entertainment in the audience. Austin’s 3:16 shirts sold like hotcakes.
No one was stopping Austin in 1998. He was all over the place and established himself as one of the world’s biggest and most popular superstars.
Wrestlers like Austin, The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Mankind, and even Kane were responsible for taking the company to levels that we will never see again.
The most somber moment of the episode is about Owen Hart. His career changed in the business after Bret Hart left for WCW. Owen and Bret probably felt that Owen was paying the price for Bret and his departure. Unfortunately, Owen died in the ring after a tragic accident that took place in the Over the Edge pay-per-view event.
To this day, many people disagree or are angry with Vince for continuing the event after Owen’s accident. He definitely should’ve stopped it if the fans had seen the accident.
Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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