8 Amazing Wrestlers That Flopped In WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era

There was plenty of greatness to be found in WWE's 'Ruthless Aggression' era. It was rammed with unforgettable rivalries and superstars who will be remembered for generations. However, as is the case with much of Vince McMahon's 21st Century output, there was just as much in the way of bad creative and overlooked, mismanaged superstars.

From some of the biggest names in wrestling tanking their stock at McMahon's behest, to even some of Vince's best creations having the worst runs of their careers, the 'Ruthless Aggression' days had plenty of superstars with abilities that frankly deserved better. Not everything can be laid at the doorstep of WWE creative, naturally. Some of these wrestlers were simply unable to stand out next to the meteoric rise of future greats like John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton and Batista.

Whichever way you slice it, these superstars flopped during the RA era. Most of the ones included here had immense careers away from 'Ruthless Aggression', be that in a different time period or when performing for other companies that found a way to make the most of their talents.

These are just some of the performers who suffered in WWE during the 2000s post-'Attitude'.

Even though WCW had done significant damage to the aura of Goldberg in its final 2 years, the signing of one of the company's biggest ever homemade stars in the 'Ruthless Aggression' era was cause for excitement. His in-ring work was limited, but having a murderer’s row of villains to do battle with in WWE should have led to Goldberg having a run in WWE that was fun at the very least.

As it was, Goldberg was thrown headfirst into a feud with The Rock.

The gulf in class between their respective microphone abilities, plus Rocky’s enormous popularity, was an awful way of drumming up support for Bill in his new home. Instead of working against different opponents like Kane or Batista that may have been able to help him build momentum, he was fed to The Rock and Triple H in quick succession and things went as badly as you'd imagine. 

Despite holding the old World Title and being booked strongly, it was too much to ask of Bill to go from his turgid final months in WCW to conquering some of the most charismatic names in WWE. Ending with another middling feud opposite Brock Lesnar in a historically bad match at WrestleMania XX, Goldberg fell drastically below par during his year-long run during the post-'Attitude' days.