1991 – WWF’s Most Insane Year?

Hey Scott, I’ve been watching a ton of 1991 WWF myself lately and following along with all the content going up on the blog. Looking at the year as a whole, can 1991 be considered the most balls out insane in the company’s history? Tons of really dark stuff happened, even trumping the later attitude years, with the violence often portrayed as real and life threatening. So much of this stuff went beyond any angle ever done in the WWF before or really after.

Off the top of my head:


– Sgt Slaughter openly sides and supports Saddam Hussein, denouncing America
– Slaughter wins the title during the height of the Gulf War
– Slaughter burns Hogan’s face post Mania VII

– Undertaker traps the Warrior in a casket, with the implication being that the Warrior is really suffocating on syndicated TV
– Undertaker stuffs opponents in bodybags, which look far more gruesome than the future oversized caskets
– Early casket matches between Warrior and Undertaker feature real caskets, also gruesome
– Earthquake squashing Damian (horrifying for us kids watching Jake’s beloved pet get killed on Saturday morning TV!)
– Savage and Liz getting a snake in a wedding present
– Ric Flair showing up on TV with the actual NWA World title
– Piper accidentally hitting McMahon with a chair
– Hulk Hogan throws ashes from a damn urn in the Undertaker’s face
– The snake biting Savage’s arm
– Jake the Snake striking Elizabeth in the face (still hard to watch)
– Shawn Michaels throws Marty Jannetty through a glass window
– Even a lower level character like Skinner was nuts if you think about it. Pretty sure he threatened to skin the Dragon alive during their short-lived feud. And don’t forget about the Berzerker throwing Jamieson off the roof of a building while tied to a stake.

The majority of this stuff was presented with grave seriousness, in contrast with the attitude era stuff which was more cartoony and campy. There were definitely angles that went farther and violence that went farther in later years, but 1991 as a whole is just so balls out crazy.

​For me, 98-99 was the year of the most insanity. NWA showing up as an "invading" force on RAW while JR openly talks about other companies, the Brawl for All, Mick flying off the cell, ​all the nWo craziness, etc. However, 91 was definitely a year where they were trying to figure out what life would be like post-Hogan and going a little nuts in the process.