>>13599621There are 2 reasons why 1997 is constantly underrated as a great year in WWE:
First off, the company still had 'New Generation era' stench on it during that year despite great efforts with changing the product from that period. Bret, Shawn and Taker were still top guys, with NG era midcarders like Owen and Bulldog still hanging around. Vince was still doing questionable commentary. And there were still some NG era midcarders and jobbers present who didn't fully abandon their cartoon gimmicks yet (Billy Gunn wasn't Mr. Ass yet, Bradshaw was a cowboy and wasn't a Ministry Acolyte yet, Hardcore Holly was still more known for race car driving than for being hardcore, Rikishi was still a sultan instead of a thong-wearing dancing fatty). So some people see all of that and assume that 1997 is as bad as 1995 was
And secondly....because most of the Attitude Era's top players hadn't fully established themselves to normies/casuals yet by the end of 1997. Kane debuted in late 1997. Foley didn't fall off the cell until 1998. The Mr. McMahon heel character didn't start to fully form until after the November 1997 screwjob. Rock was a rising star in 1997 but was still saddled with the Nation storyline and midcard IC title feuds. Same thing with Austin, who was clearly the next top star by 1997 but was still doing IC title feuds with Rock and Owen, and he had only just started beating Vince's ass and driving huge vehicles in the arena to break shit up by the end of that year
