The Secret History Of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Era | Wrestling Timelines
June 27, 2004 - The Great American Bash 2004
In various retrospectives, WWE puts over the brand extension. As they would. The reality is very different.
Business wise, the 2000s is no boom period. During Triple H’s Reign of Terror, the average 18-49 demographic coverage rating tumbles to 2.21 in 2004 - the worst since 1997. This briefly rebounds to 2.41 in 2005, Batista’s breakout year, before dropping to 2.38 in 2006, the year of the D-Generation X reunion.
In terms of critical acclaim, WWE reaches a nadir not witnessed since 1995. The issue with presenting brand-exclusive pay-per-views is that this isn’t the Monday Night Wars. By 2004, many of the old headliners are either retired, or they are no longer stars.
Post-Attitude, Vince’s first idea, despite the ‘Ruthless Aggression’ rhetoric, is the short-term stopgap. Those that work only do so for a little while. Vince turns Hulk Hogan babyface after bringing back the nWo; this doesn’t work, but McMahon nonetheless has Kevin Nash headline three pay-per-views in 2003 (not including a further World title match against Triple H). Vince also brings in and robs what little exists of Goldberg’s motivation.
Vince has not replaced these stars; the Great American Bash is an über-bleak reflection of that.
The show is headlined, infamously, by a handicap match between the Undertaker and the Dudley Boyz. This would be a grim indictment of WWE’s failure even if the Dudleyz are at their peak. They aren’t, and the match is premised on Paul Bearer’s encroaching death via concrete suffocation.
The undercard is almost as rotten. Not everybody who walked into OVW emerged from it as a star; the terrible ‘Mordecai’, a religious zealot character, fails to get over in a dismal outing against Hardcore Holly. In a somehow even worse match, fellow new heel Kenzo Suzuki flounders against Billy Gunn.
This is one of the worst shows ever held under the WWE banner - and, incredibly, things are arguably worse over on Raw…