The WWE Championship during the Attitude Era was a mess. If you really cared about the importance of the title during that period, you were wasting your time because it was hotshotted among a slowly expanding group of talent during the late 90s into 2001.
WWE Championship Reigns in the Attitude Era Were Like the Most Extreme Game of Tag Ever
However, if you think of the Attitude Era canonically as a period where the rules were at their most lax, alliances were made and broken very quickly, and getting the title off of one person and keeping it off them meant bending the rules to the point of just throwing them out of the window—it made sense.
There was never going to be any stability in the WWE Championship during this period. Hell, it could end up on a new waist or shoulder the following day on Monday Night Raw. The title even moved house during Halftime HeAT in 1999—two days after The Rock won the title at Royal Rumble 1999.
Mind you, that second Mankind reign was aired on tape delay, that still would’ve made The Rock’s reign just a week long. With that said, it’s a match worth checking out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keNibn55S7c
In the four-month period between when The Rock won his first WWE Championship at Survivor Series 1998 and when Steve Austin claimed his third championship at WrestleMania XV, The Brahma Bull was a three-time champ and Mankind won it twice.
GMs, Ruthless Aggression, and the Championship
While the title picture was neat and tidy with a tight group of contenders and champions, the promotion was in constant turmoil from the factions, shenanigans, and lack of order. If there was ever a period where the GM role was necessary, it was during this time.
Sure, there was a commissioner but the commish has always been a pretty meh role compared to the general manager. The commissioner was always fun and mixed things up while the GM basically attempts to keep this boat sea-worthy and punish those who try to sink it for their own goals.
The Ruthless Aggression Era stabilized the title and there were some lengthier reigns with the brand split and GMs—on television—keeping things in order. By “lengthier” reigns, let’s say an extra month or two were added. Like, these champions actually seemed like they could hold on to their belt.
Sure, GMs abused their powers. Eric Bischoff had his tag team goons wreck sh** every Monday night and Teddy Long sicked his grumpy goon the Undertaker on people all the time, but there was something resembling order.
Plus, it’s hard to espouse the prestige and history of your title when a couple of wrestlers were running a train on it between 1997 and 2002.
Now fans complain about there being too many paths to a title shot with the Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, and Royal Rumble but back in the Attitude Era, if you couldn’t win the Rumble, just stick around and stay healthy on the roster.
Who knows, you might win the belt on an early-in-the-month episode of Raw.
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