12 Reasons WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Documentary Is An Absolute Mess

Garbage wrestling.

Ruthless Aggression
WWE

First, the good things.

It shouldn't be understated how welcome it is that WWE have finally started mining another period from their history beyond Steve Austin's beer truck and that D-Generation X "tank" invasion of WCW. Regardless of anybody's personal take on this supposed "era" (and there were plenty of those upon announcement of this series), the prospect of the company using its infinite resources for something beyond splicing together more Val Venis clips was fantastic.

And on fantastic splicing, that's exactly what Episodes 1 and 2 of this were. Despite evidence to the contrary every Monday and Friday, there are fields within wrestling WWE are still the runaway leaders in. Production on projects like this is one such example. The company dove deep into the archives for new backstage footage as well as on-screen moments that helped shape a narrative, even if that particular one was further away from the truth than Vince McMahon was from adhering to an agreement with the World Wildlife Fund in the late 1990s.

But more on that later.

Enough of the stuff to enjoy though. This was, at all other points, an absolute mess. This was not, by a wide f*cking margin, a journalistic endeavour. And that's an important distinction to understand, because this list isn't either.

12. What About The Attitude Era?

Ruthless Aggression
WWE

"RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" "RUTHLESS AGGRESSION!" was effectively how WWE trailed this new show, every talking head more excited than the last to finally be allowed to offer an opinion on something that wasn't tangentially linked to the Ministry Of Darkness.

The grand unveiling then spent the first 15 minutes talking about the f*cking Attitude Era again.

There was absolutely space for context here - a transitional time for the company doesn't come without prosperous periods to slide out and in of - but the show didn't need a third of its runtime dedicated to yet more self-fellating on the Monday Night War win. Not least when it was peppered with how quickly they dropped the ball in the aftermath.

But more on that later, we've got the f*cking ATTITUDE ERA to talk about...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett