WWE in the 1990s can be divided into two halves. The first followed the cartoonish characters of the '80s and a "New Generation" theme that hit a major slump in 1995. The second half was the "Attitude Era" and an edgy product that led the company to new heights of success. What remains true is that WWE had a lot in this controversial decade. From bad pushes to disasters like the Brawl For All, it was a decade mired in wild stuff long before Austin 3:16 came along.
In many cases, a match ended controversially because of unexpected circumstances. Other times, it was always the plan only for it to turn into a mess. It's one thing for the wrong guy to go over, but here are ten of the most controversial results in the 1990s WWE to show how they had Attitude long before that Era.
10 1999 Royal Rumble
There are two moments on this show so controversial. First, the Rock beat Mankind for the title in a match infamous for Mick Foley taking several brutal chair shots with his family watching. It also turned out he'd never said "I Quit", but his voice was spliced on the mic.
Then Vince McMahon won the Rumble itself after sitting out most of the match and needing the Rock's help to dump out Steve Austin. Fans weren't happy as WWE had to reverse both moves of letting the heels win quickly.
9 Shane Douglas's IC Title "Win"
1995 was a mess for WWE, and this was one of the messiest parts. Shawn Michaels was to defend the IC title against Shane Douglas at In Your House 4. Shawn was infamously beaten up by some guys at a club days before the match and forced to vacate the title to Douglas.
Douglas was then immediately put into a match with Razor Ramon and lost the belt in just 15 minutes. To this day, Douglas slams the Kliq for keeping him down and hard to argue this hot-shotting of the title wasn't bad.
8 The Good Housekeeping Match
It's more the circumstances of the match that makes it so controversial. In late 1999, Jeff Jarrett was the IC champion, and WWE thought it'd be fun to have him face Chyna for the title. Jarrett's contract was going to run out literally the night before their PPV encounter, and he had already signed with WCW.
So Jarrett basically blackmailed Vince for $300,000 to make sure he didn't leave for WCW with the title. It was a wild "Good Housekeeping" match with Chyna the first woman to hold a men's championship and would spark two decades of hate between Vince and Jarrett to make it an infamous battle.
7 Sgt Slaughter Champion
When WWE started the "Sgt Slaughter Iraqi sympathizer" angle, they really didn't believe it would lead to war. By the time it started, it was too late to back down as Slaughter was set to face the Ultimate Warrior at the 1991 Royal Rumble. Thanks to interference from Randy Savage, Slaughter won the title in a result fans hated.
The "heat" on Slaughter was the wrong kind, and it didn't help the Gulf War ended quickly. Rather than sell out the L.A. Coliseum, Mania was held at a smaller arena with Hogan beating Slaughter for the title in an angle even worse to watch today.
6 Hogan vs Sid, Wrestlemania VIII
The original plan for Wrestlemania VIII was the dream battle of Hogan vs Ric Flair. But various backstage issues caused it to be changed, so Hogan instead faced Sid. It was the typical Hogan battle where Sid dominated before Hogan made a comeback. The plan was for Papa Shango to enter and get Sid disqualified.
But Shango botched the timing so Sid kicked out of the Hogan legdrop, so it seemed he was "shooting" on Hogan. The Ultimate Warrior returned for the save, but it was a messy end to Hogan's first WWE run.
5 1994 Royal Rumble
For years, the Royal Rumble had been a straightforward affair of just one man winning. Then came 1994. With Yokozuna having beaten Undertaker in a messy casket match, it was logical a face would win the Rumble. It came down to Bret Hart and Lex Luger as they brawled it out and then went over the top rope at the same time.
After minutes of conferring, the officials announced them as co-winners. It seemed odd not just to restart the bout and the first of many gyp Rumble endings.
4 Shawn Michaels Wins European Title
A month before Montreal, Shawn Michaels was involved in another controversial title win. He and Davey Boy Smith faced off for the European title with Davey Boy's ill sister among the Londoners watching. Bulldog was the clear crowd favorite with Shawn cheating his way to a victory.
As it happened, Shawn had pulled strings to get this belt to spice up the Survivor Series match, and Smith was quite upset he had to job in his home nation. It's another reason even Shawn admits folks were right to hate him back then.
3 The Curtain Call
Few "minor" matches have changed the course of wrestling history. In April of 1996, Shawn Michaels defeated Diesel in a cage match at Madison Square Garden. That may not sound like a big deal, but this was Kevin Nash's farewell. In a massive breaking of kayfabe, the "Kliq" came to the ring for a large embrace before the crowds.
As Hall, Nash and Waltman were all leaving, and Shawn was the champ, HHH was the one punished. His planned King of the Ring win was taken away and given to Steve Austin. This means that without this event, Austin 3:16 and the rise of the Attitude Era might never have happened.
2 Wrestlemania IX
Back in 1993, the good guy always won the main event of Mania. In this case, Bret Hart was doing great as champion and expected he'd pull off the win over Yokozuna. Instead, thanks to some salt, Bret lost the belt. Hulk Hogan came out to check on Bret and was challenged by Mr. Fuji.
One missed salt throw and a legdrop later, and Hogan was the champion again. The plan was for Hogan to return the favor to Bret, but he never did, and so Bret was left out for Hogan to get another shot at the spotlight.
1 Montreal
What else could it be? To this day, the arguments rage on who was right and wrong in creating one of the most epic moments in wrestling history. Bret Hart was leaving for WCW and logically should have dropped the title first. But Bret refused to give it to Shawn Michaels and especially losing in his native country.
Bret went in thinking it'd be a double-DQ only for Vince to demand the bell be rung while Shawn had Bret in the Sharpshooter. It was the moment that changed everything for WWE to ignite the Attitude Era, create "Mr. McMahon," and begin years of conspiracy theories.