10 Things Next Series WWE Ruthless Aggression Should Focus On
Much like the era itself, the Ruthless Aggression docuseries could have been a bit better…
The first series of Ruthless Aggression has come to an end on WWE Network. At first, this series had bags of potential, as a lot of things occurred - many of which are considered major industry highlights - during this time.
While the series discussed the demise of WCW, the first-ever brand split and hinted towards methods of maintaining audience numbers, it missed the mark on several episodes. Rather than focusing on background information surrounding the era as a whole, it instead dedicated programmes to individual wrestlers and factions, and that didn’t seem necessary for a show on a specific period of wrestling.
Not only that, but WWE came across as too self-protective with their revisionist history. While they admitted to entering a time of stagnation and dwindling audience numbers, they also seemed to cover up a lot of the lowlights. However, it is these lowlights that make the Ruthless Aggression Era so interesting. It is the post-war period where things settle, and new foundations are laid. It wasn’t all bad, and some of the genuine positives from today’s product were first introduced during this era. It needs to be accepting, open, and honest.
If there's to be a second series, these are topics it should focus on.
10. The Change To PG
Around the latter half of the noughties, the ‘tweenage’ demographic was a massive emerging market. With the likes of High School Music and Hannah Montana garnering a fresh audience, WWE altered its programming to target a younger audience.
New sanctions were put in place which banned bloodshed - and in the occurrence of a hard-way, referees stopped bouts while wrestlers were treated (which led to a very clunky match between Shelton Benjamin and Christian at TLC 2009) - chair shots to the head, protected or otherwise, were now prohibited, and wrestlers with superhuman attributes (enter Superman Cena) were lauded, which created the dichotomy amongst older fans booing and younger fans cheering.
The introduction of the ‘PG’ era stifled a lot of creativity. Many wrestlers vocally opposed the change - one such wrestler was Batista who retired from full-time competition in 2010. To end series two of The Ruthless Aggression Era documentary discussing this shift would be a good way to explore the after-effects of the era.