10 WWE Moments That Prove Ruthless Aggression Era Was Best

4. ECW One Night Stand 2006

The concept of ECW One Night Stand was simple enough: Former ECW wrestlers would get the chance to reunite for their own Pay-Per-View once each year, with current WWE Superstars also being worked into the mix. And honestly, it initially sounded like a godawful idea. Remember, the wounds of the Invasion/Alliance angles were still a little raw, even in 2005. (That really was a horrendous storyline.) So the idea of potentially pitting one brand against another--even though they were all technically under the same umbrella--had a lot of fans worried that this would be another case of WWE Superstars dominating their lesser-branded competition. That worry, it turns out, couldn't have been more misguided. Because by the time the second event rolled around in 2006, the hype machine was going off the rails. And luckily, it was completely warranted. One Night Stand 2006 is about as close to a perfect Pay-Per-View the WWE achieved in the new Millenium, with only one stinker match (the mercifully brief Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka) in the whole bunch. The crowning moment of the event, however, was a main event match between Rob Van Dam and John Cena that put the WWE Championship on the line. The match itself was another solid display for RVD, naturally, but Cena held his own more than people might want to give him credit for. And what was even more shocking, is that they actually let RVD win the title from the golden boy, John Cena. It was a move that proved Vince was actually learning from his past mistakes.