Vince Russo is one of the most controversial figures in the history of professional wrestling, as some people loved his crash TV style that brought great success to WWE in the late '90s, and others feel it harmed the reputation of the business ever since, despite the popularity the product had at the time.
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Throughout the years, Vince Russo has been revealed as the mastermind behind some storylines in the Attitude Era, some which were good, and some which were bad. The Attitude Era featured its fair share of outlandish storylines, with completely different reputations in today's wrestling world.
10 Best: The Three Faces Of Foley
Mick Foley is one of the greatest personalities in the history of WWE, as his unique talent just couldn't go unnoticed among wrestling and worldwide audiences. Foley built a great legacy for himself, especially with the creation of the three faces of Foley, Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack.
WWE audiences first got to know Mick Foley as Mankind, a deranged psycho who would love to inflict pain on his opponents and also on himself. However, in 1997, fans got to see a more human side of Mankind, and got to know why Mankind was the way he was. Foley introduced audiences to Dude Love, and the character got over quickly. Cactus Jack later made his WWE debut in September 1997, and Foley had 3 characters which fans would never get tired of cheering.
9 Worst: Val Venis Vs. Kaientai
The character of Val Venis is a controversial one, but it undoubtedly got over with audiences at the time. With an edgier approach to the product, the character of an adult movie star couldn't have had better timing. Val Venis' first major program was against Kaientai, as Val had an affair with the wife of Mr. Yamaguchi, the manager of the group.
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Val Venis and Mr. Yamaguchi's wife filmed a pornographic video of the incident, which further raised the intensity of the rivalry. The rivalry culminated with Venis having his penis chopped off, in what is one of the most controversial moments of the entire Attitude Era, but it was later revealed that the sword actually missed his penis.
8 Best: D-Generation X Vs. The Nation
Factions were a common theme during the Attitude Era, and more often than not, fans would see factions fighting it out to see which group truly ruled the WWE. In 1998, DX had just lost Shawn Michaels as its leader, but with the addition of X-Pac, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, the group was given a fresh start, as the group had a completely different dynamic than what fans were accustomed to in 1997.
DX began a long rivalry with the Nation, now led by The Rock, in what was a fun rivalry filled with twists and turns. The program featured a lot of memorable segments and matches, and it elevated guys like The Rock, Triple H, D'Lo Brown, X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws. The rivalry culminated with an excellent ladder match between Triple H and The Rock at SummerSlam 1998.
7 Worst: Brawl For All
The Brawl For All is widely regarded as one of the worst ideas in the history of wrestling, and rightfully so. Vince Russo doesn't shy away from the fact that the Brawl For All was his idea and it's one of Russo's worst ideas ever, if not the worst.
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As a shoot fighting contest, the Brawl For All injured a lot of WWE's roster members and brought a lot of booking problems, as WWE were confident Dr. Death Steve Williams would win the tournament and feud with Steve Austin, but that failed to transpire, as Bart Gunn shockingly won the tournament, leaving WWE with a lot to think about. Bart Gunn failed to get any significant push out of this, and the Brawl For All garnered an extremely negative reputation ever since.
6 Best: Highway To Hell
Steve Austin and The Undertaker's rivalry during the summer of 1998 truly defined what the Attitude Era was all about, and it was a hot program that culminated at SummerSlam 1998 in Madison Square Garden. The rivalry started with The Undertaker accidentally costing Austin the WWE Championship at King of the Ring 1998.
At the time, The Undertaker was still a babyface, so Austin figured it was just an accident that wouldn't happen again, but as time went by, Austin regained the WWE Championship and Taker expressed himself as a worthy contender for Austin's title. Tension started brewing between Austin and Taker, especially with the rumors that Taker and Kane have been working together to make Austin's life a living hell. At SummerSlam 1998, Austin defeated Taker to retain the title and afterwards, The Undertaker was no longer a fan favorite.
5 Worst: The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust
After his feud with Brian Pillman in 1997, Goldust shockingly split with his wife Marlena, turning him heel once again. Goldust adopted a new version of his character known as "The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust", with Luna Vachon as his manager.
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Goldust began portraying celebrities and fellow wrestlers and began wearing extremely outlandish attires. This gimmick change failed to work as audiences just didn't connect with it. The Goldust character was extremely controversial and Dustin Runnels managed to pull it off, but this new version was never going to work.
4 Best: The Rock & Mankind Form Rock 'N' Sock Connection
The Rock and Mankind had a notorious rivalry in late 1998-early 1999, but months later, both men were fan favorites. With WWE realizing that Rock and Mankind's personalities coming together would lead to great crowd reactions, the duo became a tag team.
The Rock 'N' Sock Connection became a great hit with audiences at the time, and the "This is Your Life" segment achieved one of the highest ratings in Monday Night Raw history, which proved how successful this tag team truly was.
3 Worst: Road Warrior Hawk's Alcohol Addiction
Having an alcohol addiction storyline in wrestling is always of poor taste, as millions of people worldwide suffer from that same problem, and it will make fans uncomfortable. In 1998, Droz became affiliated with the Legion of Doom, much to the dismay of Road Warrior Hawk.
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Hawk began showing up on television in no state to compete, as he would slur his words and even once fell down the ramp while making his entrance. Hawk became jealous of Droz taking his place in the Legion of Doom, which led to Hawk climbing to the top of the titantron and threatening to jump off. Droz climbed up to talk Hawk out of it, but accidentally pushed Hawk as he fell off the titantron. It was a tasteless angle that had no right on television.
2 Best: The Rock Becomes Corporate
Survivor Series 1998 was a unique show, as it featured a 16 man tournament to crown a new WWE champion. Throughout the night, there were multiple twists and turns which led up to the main event between The Rock and Mankind.
Going into the final match of the night, Mankind was a heel who had the McMahons in his corner, while The Rock was a babyface who was fighting through all adversity. Shockingly, the McMahons turned on Mankind and awarded the WWE Championship to The Rock, in what was one of the best double turns in wrestling history.
1 Worst: The Higher Power
As The Undertaker formed a dark satanic cult known as the Ministry of Darkness in 1999, it was revealed that a "Higher Power" was secretly running the strings on the group. For months, this Higher Power was not revealed, and WWE audiences were curious to find out who it was.
It was revealed that Mr. McMahon was the Higher Power, which didn't make any sense given the previous months of storytelling. This moment has become quite infamous in today's world, and it's one of the biggest storyline botches of the entire Attitude Era.
