Original: The Attitude Era was a period in World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) ( known now as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE ) and professional wrestling history that began as a direct result of the Monday Night Wars , a television ratings conflict between the WWF and long time promotion World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) , and culminated at the conclusion of the wars in 2001 .
Simplified: December 8 , 1997 -- During this episode of Raw , Stone Cold Steve Austin knocks WWF Chairman Vince McMahon off the ring , thus entering the Austin\/McMahon saga .