12 Reasons WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Documentary Is An Absolute Mess

4. TRuthless Aggression

Ruthless Aggression
WWE.com

Not to undermine the entire point of the project, but "Ruthless Aggression" was a naked attempt at marketing a phrase as effectively as "Attitude" (and to a lesser extent, "The New Generation") that didn't even actually take outside of the odd Vince McMahon ra-ra speech and John Cena's launch promo.

The docuseries inadvertently highlights this! A clip is used of Cena entering the 2003 Royal Rumble in his relatively new rapper persona, mocking the term as a way to disassociate himself from his original incarnation. The era's biggest star doesn't even want anything to do with it!

It's also woefully out of time - in the clip from a 2002 Raw that's used over and over again McMahon hoots and hollers like a f*cking pillock for one of his browbeaten wrestlers to grab brass rings and show Ruthless Aggression but he's actually asking them to grab him a coffee and kiss his *ss. He bought his competition and made them job scared - how exactly can one subscribe to a philosophy when billionaire operating the controls has set them up to fail it?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett