WWF Ruthless Aggression (2002- 2008)

[BruiserBrody]

The rise of Cena.

Eddy is fired - rehired and moved up to the World title.

BROCK SMASH!

Bradshaw morphs into JBL in an ill advised headline comedy run.

ATM Eric debuts and hugs Vince,

HBK returns, still a dick, but now without the drugs to blame it on.

Kane is unmasked.

Evolution forms.

Edge becomes a main event player.

ECW returns.

Kevin Sullivan killed Benoit and his family and escaped prosecution.

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https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1712107069183058160

Dick Rick.....

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[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I said I wouldn’t create the thread but that doesn’t mean I won’t post it in it.


Cut off for Ruthless Aggression era though isn’t the Benoit Murders. It’s the switch to the TV PG era in late July 2008. Wikipedia agrees with me!

 

[BruiserBrody]

I said I wouldn’t create the thread but that doesn’t mean I won’t post it in it.


Cut off for Ruthless Aggression era though isn’t the Benoit Murders. It’s the switch to the TV PG era in late July 2008. Wikipedia agrees with me!

Wrestling died along with Beniot.

Cena is the AntiChrist.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

2008 was probably the best year of this era though. It’s too bad the whole familicide thing turned you off of the product.

 

[BruiserBrody]

More fun:

Snitzky the baby aborter.

MVP debuts and is buried by heel JBL at first before slowly winning him over.

Jimmy Wang Yang is apparently (allegedly) Vince's favorite wrestler

Trish goes from another pair of tits to top of the game.

Mr Kennedy goes from my local bars to MSG.

Khali gets a hell of a push for a hot minute killing Taker.

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I peeked at the 2008 Wrestlemania (Flair retires/Money Mayweather) and I'm almost certain I've never watched it. It was certainly the first WM since like 1997 that I did not watch live at a bar or a friend's house.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Outside of a disappointing Umaga-Batista match, 24 is one of my favorite 21st century WrestleManias.

Don’t miss out on JBL chucking a trash can at your friend Hornswoggle’s head, Brod. Oh and the Ric Flair retirement match most people acknowledge.

 

[Brocklock]

This carries into 2008, but Matt Hardy super TV worker from 2006 to when he turned heel in 2009 was a lot of fun. He was having good matches on Smackdown/ECW with everyone. Whether it was Finlay, Mark Henry, Chuck Palumbo, Kenny Dykstra, Ken Kennedy, Evan Bourne, etc. Jeff Hardy was also really good in that era.

 

[Valeyard]

The only problem I have ever had with this being a thread is that, between both incarnations of the board that exist, there are literally threads for everything that happened. Like I'm alone in this, I'm sure, but rereading old Hotbutter Spoontoaster ECW threads sounds funny.

Regardless. shoutout to Helms's year-long Cruiserweight title run where he had good matches with Matt Hardy for like three months straight and probably was closer to being an actual big deal since the end of WCW. It's just too bad his name is Gregory.

 

[Fall of Epic]

2008 in general is pretty underrated at least from a PPV perspective. Rumble, Mania, and Summerslam are all really good that year. The Survivor Series Elimination matches that year were also entertaining.

 

[alkeiper]

Outside of a disappointing Umaga-Batista match, 24 is one of my favorite 21st century WrestleManias.

Don’t miss out on JBL chucking a trash can at your friend Hornswoggle’s head, Brod. Oh and the Ric Flair retirement match most people acknowledge.

Don't forget WWE shooting fireworks directly into the crowd.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

The only problem I have ever had with this being a thread is that, between both incarnations of the board that exist, there are literally threads for everything that happened.

I am not opposed to retrospectives as I know I feel different about the product from ‘02-‘08 than I did in ‘02-‘08.

It might even be fun at some point to do “Now and then” comparisons. Maybe. Heck I’m gonna read something I wrote 15-20 years ago.

 

[Valeyard]

I was off the internet from the end of 2003 to the early summer of 2004. First thing I did when I got access again was go to the board, and reading the Great American Bash thread where JBL won the title was fucking hilarious.

 

[JN News]

There were some great matches and moments from this particular era. But for me, the Ruthless Aggression era was pretty much the Attitude Era turned to shit when it came to some of the storylines, mainly with HHH totally butchering RAW with shit like his feud with Kane in 2002.

 

[Valeyard]

Fuck yeah.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Ruthless Aggression started with a confused mess of a company that couldn't figure out what in the motherfuck it was supposed to be and then gradually morphed into something really worthwhile after Genoa before divebombing back into the shitter again for the first ~7 years of the PG era.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

@BruiserBrody starts to make noise but is unable to breathe cause of all of the weight he is under.

 

[JN News]

There was also the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and the Benoit Family.

 

[Valeyard]

They faked their deaths. Benoit and Eddie are now living together in Newfoundland on a sheep farm.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Ruthless Aggression started with a confused mess of a company that couldn't figure out what in the motherfuck it was supposed to be and then gradually morphed into something really worthwhile after Genoa before divebombing back into the shitter again for the first ~7 years of the PG era.

They had a plan. It was make HUNT-OR the mighty into the next Harley Race/Flair/Bruno/Hogan at all costs.

After that it was to beat the DX horse until it was beyond dead.

WWE is probably dead ass lucky that pushing Cena forever actually kept the thing afloat before the son in law's ascension into Heaven.

 

[Valeyard]

They just panicked so hard. It's so weird. If they'd just stayed some course I think they'd have been better off than trying and failing to find an answer to get back to being at the level they were a year earlier. Once the name change happened I think they legit lost their minds at the idea of potentially rebuilding a whole brand on a lesser level.

HHH might've worked a lot better if they didn't put Hogan over. If they'd stayed the course, maybe it would've helped with finding some stability in an unstable era. Maybe long term it pays off better somehow, at least for one show. Or maybe HHH doesn't want to put Brock over or something and it's all a fucking disaster. Eh.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

It felt like creative had no idea what it wanted to do. Chalk it up to Vince panicking over declining interest following the Invasion flub, or Stephanie not quite "getting" how pro wrestlingsports entertainment works insofar as storytelling, or the politicking of HHH and the other old(er) guard...whatever. The point remains that the shows weren't just worse than the hottest period in company history up to that point, they were often actively terrible.

There was no way that the high of Attitude was going to last, but the audience didn't need to get halved like it did.

 

[Valeyard]

People also have kind of forgotten how shit Gerwirtz was and how he hurt things as a head writer. I appreciate that he seems like a funny and chill guy but he shat up Raw like no one else, almost intentionally being the opposite of Heyman.

What did Stephanie get right? Like for real, what is actually her best moment on a creative level? It has to be more than booking herself to be super sexy.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

People also have kind of forgotten how shit Gerwirtz was and how he hurt things as a head writer.

Tbh I genuinely think his reputation as a great creative mind are from his friends in the business and people confusing him with Chris Kreski.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

What did Stephanie get right? Like for real, what is actually her best moment on a creative level? It has to be more than booking herself to be super sexy.

... like this wasn't a good thing?

You're right though, over the last two decades it isn't as if I've ever heard of some masterstroke of booking or amazing storyline she spearheaded. There may have been one random thing here or there like "and Stephanie is the one advocating for this" but it escapes me currently.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I like Nash’s half hearted “He’s nice. I think it’s just a facade.” Holly has definitely threatened to kick his ass!

 

[Valeyard]

I'm trying to think about things Stephanie did that was actually a creative-defining moment and I think the best I can do is being smart enough to nix the incest angle.

Unrelated: Finlay's comeback is one of the best ever and I never thought I'd ever enjoy him so much until he came back and shot up the card.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

The Bear creative decision Stephanie ever made was putting herself in the position to be Evil MILF Steph during the Authority stuff in 2013ish.

 

[Sex Machine Gun]

I mean, you have a vague "she pushed for the 'Women's Revolution' to happen" but it isn't as if you heard or saw her as a major cog in that. Maybe it's sexism but HHH tends to get the final credits for that since NXT was already highlighting women's wrestling before the main TV shows were.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I know people ATT were mocking Stephanie for taking credit for the Women's Revolution. It was really Triple H and Dusty and most importantly, the actual women who deserved credit.

 

[Valeyard]

It's more the fact that, when she had the real power, the women were at the peak of the two minute bra and panties matches.