The Secret History Of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Era | Wrestling Timelines

April 20, 2006 - Palmer Canon Flies Home

It’s here that the term ‘Ruthless Aggression’, already virtually meaningless, becomes heavily ironic. A sick joke, even.

Again: the idea is to believe in yourself and demonstrate that you have what it takes to make it.

How is that remotely possible against such a toxic backdrop of locker room culture? The veterans on SmackDown play a dirty, sadistic game for their own twisted amusement. If a wrestler doesn’t adhere to the rules, they get tortured. The problem for the younger guys is that the rules change constantly. If a young greenhorn doesn’t seem to outwardly care, they get berated for not “respecting the business”; if they show ambition, they get punished for their arrogance, for not knowing their place.

On April 20, 2006, Brian ‘Palmer Canon’ Mailhot - who portrays a slimy sanctimonious TV exec, essentially an update on Right To Censor - flies himself home. The unofficial line is that Canon can no longer bear the torment he endures from the locker room. As is often the case, this is attributed to John Bradshaw Layfield (Chris Benoit is also blamed). The darkest version of the rumour is that Canon was duct-taped in the shower. Nothing was going to happen to him, but he had to live with the threat for several hours.

Palmer Canon was unlikely to become a star in wrestling, to be clear. If he had the drive - the ruthless aggression - he might have attempted to rebuild his career on the independent circuit. This isn’t a case of a promising career laid to waste - but nor is it an isolated incident.

The man who portrayed Muhammad Hassan, Marc Capani, was also the victim of this vile hazing culture. He was “ribbed” into telling Eddie Guerrero that he shouldn’t use the camel clutch, since Hassan was getting the big push. Since Eddie’s father, Gory, invented it, you can imagine how this went down. The Miz, who overcame it but shouldn’t have had to endure it, was once banished from the locker room for inadvertently spilling food crumbs on Chris Benoit’s bag.

WWE is a mess generally. The culture is toxic, high pressure. Weeks before the Canon incident, Orton was suspended for 60 days. His lackadaisical, sexist, and obnoxious attitude was cited. He hardly showed ‘ruthless aggression’; he felt entitled to success and was frequently awarded it in spite of his awful attitude.

Again: WWE pushed who they wanted irrespective of how much they actually wanted it.