The WWE has not been short of epic moments over the years.
The Rock, as imposing as his nickname suggests, simply electrified audiences. Stone Cold Steve Austin could draw the biggest 'pop' from any crowd by saying 'what?' The Undertaker could source equal amounts of fear and excitement, and the list goes on and on.
Those three, along with many others, were a huge part of taking WWE from what it was in the early '90s to a true phenomenon with the Attitude Era. During that time, we were given many amazing moments: Stone Cold soaking the corporation in beer, Undertaker throwing Mankind off the Hell in a Cell, DX invading WCW, and Mick Foley winning his first world title to name just a few.
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Fast forward to the current day and all those feats from Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Mick Foley, Dwayne Johnson, Mark Calaway, Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Kane, and, of course, Mr McMahon, have paved the way for today's roster and the whole brand.
There's the WWE Network, which hosts many programmes from behind the scenes, as well as giving you access to endless amounts of WWE, WCW and ECW content.
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There's also the mass amount of games we've been given over the years. It started with WWF Wrestlemania on the likes of the Atari ST and Commodore 64, which was the beginning of a series of arcade-inspired releases. At the turn of the century, we then got WWF SmackDown! for PlayStation1, which gave birth to the format that would evolve through the SmackDown! and SmackDown! vs Raw games.
2K are responsible for the games and have also given us some portable fun to have, on the likes of the PSP, but, more importantly, our smart phones. WWE SuperCard (available on Amazon Appstore, fyi) is currently in its third season, having gone through some big changes. On the game, you can collect from thousands of cards featuring WWE's greatest Superstars and Legends of all time, in a sort of Pokémon on steroids type gig, battle in real time against live opponents from around the world, collect support cards granting all sorts of stat boosts, and then compete several game modes: 15-on-15 Royal Rumble, Wild Mode, Ranked Mode, Money in the Bank, Ring Domination, People's Champion Challenge, King of the Ring, and Road to Glory. For anyone old enough to remember the old WWF games on Game Boy, then SuperCard is a nostalgic nod to those hours of game time in the car on the way to see your gran.
And speaking of wrestling nostalgia, let's have a look back at some of the reasons why we love WWE.
Hell in a Cell
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Hell in a Cell matches obviously still occur, and there's even an annual event dedicated to the stipulation. However, if it wasn't for Shane McMahon jumping off the top of one during his match at WrestleMania 32, they'd be as boring as choosing to play a singles match on SmackDown! vs Raw 2006.
Back in the '90s, when the match was introduced, it was a revolution. The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels put on the first display inside the cell and it was a gruesome affair. Michaels fell from half way up the cage, crashing through the Spanish announcement table, and even a camera man left the arena injured. Kane, The Undertaker's estranged brother, made his debut appearance during that match and cost his big brother the victory.
However, it was the next Hell in a Cell match that leaves a stain of nostalgia across our brains. Again, The Undertaker entered the structure to take on Mankind, Mick Foley's alter ego.
Within the first five minutes, the two delivered what would go on to become one of the most famous moments in the history of the company, not to mention some brilliant JR commentary. After that, The Undertaker went on to make many people famous in cell matches.
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Let me remind you of the 11th commandment - thou shalt not mess with the Dudleyz
Bubba Ray and D-Von made their return to the WWE in 2015 and it was seriously exciting.
However, it's just not quite the same as the times they'd rampage through just about everyone on the roster and put them through a table.
There was an unbelievable feeling that was inexplicable as soon as you heard the words: "D-VON... GET THE TABLES."
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Whether it was in a tag match, a six-man tag match with Spike Dudley, or in one of their infamous TLC matches, a 3D through a table was brilliant.
TLC Matches
That makes for a good segway onto the next dose of nostalgia.
The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian and the aforementioned Dudley Boyz put on some unforgettable displays with the help some TLC in the WWE glory years. And for WWE SuperCard fans, the good news is that tables and ladders are support cards so you can replicate some of these epic matches of the past.
These three iconic tag teams went through a period of meeting at big events and doing death-defying stunts to impress the crowd. Who could ever forget Edge spearing Jeff Hardy whilst he was dangling twenty feet above the ring? They were usually the biggest attraction at any event.
Good Ol' JR
The departure of Jim 'JR' Ross was a big factor in many people cutting their ties with wrestling.
Think of the WWE as a bowl of dry Cornflakes. JR was the milk and Jerry 'The King' Lawler was the spoon full of sugar on top.
Remove the milk from that equation, do you eat that bowl of Cornflakes?
Thankfully, after calling The Undertaker's last match at this year's WrestleMania, JR was offered a new two-year contract with the company. The contract will see him make sporadic appearances in various capacities, with the man himself implying that he could potentially be making a return to the announcer's table.
Good Ol' JR gave us some fantastic memories with his excellent commentary, and he managed to make some boring matches highly enjoyable.
"LOOK AT THE CARNAGE. LOOK AT THE BODIES. LOOK AT THE HUMAN RUBBLE!"
Austin Beer Bath
There's a lot to thank the Texas Rattlesnake for, but for now we'll focus solely on the time he drove a beer truck to the ring and gave The Rock and Vince and Shane McMahon a beer bath.
It was during a time when Stone Cold had catapulted the company into the dizzying heights because of his feud with the boss.He had become the face of the company and everything he did was excellent.
This still stands out as one of his best moments.
It was in the lead up to The Rock and Steve's first WrestleMania match up. The Rock was part of the Corporation at the time and was heavily hated by the WWE audience.
Asper, Stone Cold was embracing his popularity, which was only improved when he emptied an entire van full of beer into the ring. All of this considered, it should be no surprise that Austin is one of the most sought after WWE SuperCards.
Women of WWE
Now, this is probably something that is on everyone's list.
To be honest, now that we're grown up, it's easy to realise that the former Divas division was literally just Vince McMahon exploiting women.
That's changed in abundance and rather than bikini contests and bra & panties matches, the women in WWE are now rated on their wrestling talents - which is the way it should be.
However, anyone who says they didn't have a poster of Trish Stratus on their bedroom wall in the late '90s is a liar.
Trish and Lita epitomised the division throughout the Attitude Era and are now both hall of famers.
Games
Naff graphics, terrible controls, dodgy game modes - overall experience = mega. That was the story back in the early 2000s, when there was nothing better than sitting down with a mate and going one-on-one in Three Stages of Hell.
There was nothing quite like inserting a wrestling game into your PS1 or PS2 and losing yourself in WWE's world.
Yeah, the characters barely resembled the real wrestlers, they were always a bit glitchy and could often be frustrating - but there was nothing funnier than challenging your mates to a cage match.
Nowadays, the games are impeccable, getting you as close to the real thing as is humanly possible. 2K Games have really come into their own in terms of cut scenes, moves, graphics, creation modes, and of course, WWE SuperCard.
D-Generation X's antics
We're not talking about the reformation of DX come the turn of the decade; we're talking about peak DX of the '90s - flashing their arses, crotch chopping and invading WCW.
Shawn Michaels and Triple H created the faction and they helped to create the Attitude Era. The addition of Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and X-Pac did nothing but improve it.
Arguably, their most memorable moment was during 'The Monday Night Wars' between WWE Monday Night Raw and WCW Monday Nitro.
The group commandeered a tank and, as the DX Army, invaded the arena where WCW was taking place that night.
In full camo and army gear, they drove through the streets with megaphones organising an invasion of their rival show.
It was another pivotal point of the Attitude Era. Timelessly classic.
The be all and end all is that WWE of the late '90s and early 2000s gave us some brilliant memories.
They'll forever remain as memories as there's no chance of WWE revamping the Attitude Era, as they stick with the current roster who are making strides of their own.
What are your favourite wrestling memories? Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: WWE