15 Exact Moments Failed WWE Ruthless Aggression Gimmicks Actually Got Over
The WWE Ruthless Aggression Era did not quite get started with that John Cena Vs. Kurt Angle match…
In retrospectives, WWE will tell you that the Ruthless Aggression Era was a bold new frontier of its storytelling and talent development model.
The Attitude Era was too risque to last forever. It was a fun time, but WWE had a lot of growing up to do - and, since the Rock and Steve Austin were gone or all but retired by 2003, there were new stars to be made. Luckily for WWE, they didn’t need a territory system for this; the promotion had created a star creation factory named Ohio Valley Wrestling. There, the stars of tomorrow were made.
There was Brock Lesnar, the Next Big Thing. There was Batista, who was turned into a massive star by the benevolent Triple H. There was Randy Orton, the youngest World champion in WWE history. Then there was John Cena, who became the Greatest Of All-Time in WWE canon.
This narrative is not exactly truthful. Tonally, Ruthless Aggression was almost identical to the cheap and nasty controversy bait of Attitude. Come to think of it, multiple storylines were far more offensive than a lot of WWE’s material in an actual year of the Attitude Era, 2000, which felt almost wholesome in comparison.
Also: the vaunted ‘OVW Class of 2002’ took a long time to actually get over. A long time. John Cena, infamously, was almost fired. He was the guy that the very phrase ‘Ruthless Aggression’ teed up, and he was so un-over, and such a massive clutz between the ropes, that he was only saved by serendipity. Stephanie McMahon overheard him freestyle tap on a tour bus, he was handed a homophobic life raft, and he got over in the end.
But when, exactly…?
15. Edge | July 11, 2005
You either die a hero, or live long enough to become Billy Gunn.
That was nearly the fate of Edge, a man who seemed destined to become a main eventer, and who had a great time burying Billy Gunn for doing nothing after winning the 1999 King Of The Ring. Three years after Edge took the crown in 2001, he was floundering. He was superb as a member of the SmackDown Six in 2002, but as an in-house project, lacked the fashionable aura of workrate demigods Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Upon returning from neck surgery in early 2004, he remained a bland babyface who struggled to connect with fans - so much so that he was shockingly booed by his hometown fans at SummerSlam 2004 on August 14.
Edge was a poor babyface because his disposition was cocky and his offence wasn’t credible. Tall isn’t the same thing as powerful. He was not the first and would not be the last WWE star that Vince McMahon waited an eternity to turn heel, but when it happened, Edge was forever made. Everything that fans almost subliminally resented about Edge was emphasised when Edge turned and was aligned with Lita: the woman with whom he had embarked on a very real extramarital affair.
The man who’d become known as the Rated-R Superstar was handsome and sneaky, articulating these new (or unearthed) character traits in the ring with a brilliant counter-heavy approach. This absolute winner of an act was crystallised on July 11, 2005 - the episode of WWE Raw on which the fired Matt Hardy was brought back to capitalise on the biggest news report of the year. Their crazed brawl was the greatest angle of 2005. Fans had rallied behind Matt and were frankly jealous of Edge. Edge “took” the alt girl they were drawn to and projected their own rejections onto. Edge mined an actual, toxic emotion, and rubbed their faces in it with a fantastic new array of facial expressions.
But somebody got over on August 14, at least…