10 Things Next Series WWE Ruthless Aggression Should Focus On
4. The Style Needed To Change
The Attitude Era isn’t necessarily remembered for its quality wrestling, instead relying on huge spots to supplement its legendary characters. During the Ruthless Aggression Era, the emphasis was firmly put back on the wrestling. Wrestlers such as Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Kurt Angle were at the helm of an athletic style based more on realism. Where the Attitude Era failed, the Ruthless Aggression shined (and vice versa).
SmackDown circa 2002/3 was the ‘wrestling’ brand, as documented in series one. However, towards the PG era, the emphasis on quality wrestling had dwindled. There certainly was more good wrestling than in the Attitude Era, but the fast pace of the SmackDown Six days were long gone (as were many of the wrestlers themselves).
After the events of the Benoit tragedy, did WWE purposefully move to a safer style? In recent years, there has been much more available information on CTE and head trauma, which justifies WWE’s move away from unprotected headshots and such, but what brought about the change back then?