10 Worst WWE Gimmicks Of The Ruthless Aggression Era
Back when you could see WWE creative brainstorm live on TV...
As the glorious days of the Attitude Era started to wane and the company rebranded, WWE found themselves in a unique position. Not only did they need to find a new direction with which to present themselves as a whole, but they also needed to come up with a way to shine the spotlight on more superstars than ever after acquiring talents from both ECW and WCW.
What ensued shortly after the Invasion and nWo angles was the RAW and SmackDown brand extension, which ideally, was the answer to an overcrowded locker room. Although both rosters housed a number of young talents who would go on to have legendary careers and many great matches followed as a result, the new character inventions of the Ruthless Aggression Era left much to be desired.
Some new wrestlers were introduced under questionable gimmicks that left fans scratching their heads, most notably Deacon Batista. His leader, Reverend D’Von, proved established acts were not excluded from having to play out half-cocked concepts.
Even John Cena’s Marky Mark shtick was a bit ludicrous, but it was far from the worst offender…
10. Mr America
Hulk Hogan may have returned to WWE well beyond his prime, but as illustrated during his WrestleMania X8 match with The Rock, as well as the crowd reactions during his following run as a face, fans still appreciated the veteran for all of his accomplishments in the professional wrestling business.
His name alone helped put butts in seats. But what was WWE to do with another globally recognized face?
Put a mask on it.
Following a short hiatus, Hogan became involved in storyline with Mr. McMahon that culminated in a fight “20 years in the making” at WrestleMania XIX. After the big bout of egos, the storyline took a twist and McMahon punished ‘The Hulkster’ by forcing him to sit out the remainder of his contract.
As a work-around, Mr America was born. Basically, it was Hulk Hogan under a blue mask. That was the entire idea. Somehow it was supposed to be entertaining to see him outwit the chairman every week in cartoonish skits. Once he was exposed, ‘The Hulkster’ was fired. Without any sort of redemption for the hero, the entire gimmick came off as pointless.
In real life, Hogan already quit WWE due to creative and financial frustrations by the time he was terminated on TV.