10 Most Infamous WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Controversies

10. The Billy & Chuck 'Wedding'

WWE was so rotten and desperate, as the Attitude Era box office waned, that it was as if Vince McMahon created a dartboard on which every possible controversial subject matter was written down - necrophilia, sexual assault, blasphemy - and threw an arrow at it.

If one increasingly bleak crack at popping the teenage edgelords didn't work, why, just try another. For much of the early 'Ruthless Aggression' era, WWE's standard operating procedure was to be awful and expect the profits to roll in.

In one of many such developments, Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo were heavily insinuated to be a romantically entangled same-sex couple. This was never expressly stated, but it was all but clear - and WWE even reached out to GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to consult on the storyline and ensure positive press coverage. GLAAD revealed that WWE had promised to air an onscreen wedding, but this of course didn't happen. It was revealed to be a "publicity stunt" after Billy's character was scripted to say, in no uncertain terms - his tone was almost repulsed - "We're not gay".

This was abhorrent, but again, that was WWE's business plan at the time. The man who secretly "officiated" the ceremony, Eric Bischoff, is fond of remarking that "controversy creates cash".

In 2002, WWE revenues dropped 13.09%.