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

March 18, 2002 - The Beast Debuts

Brock Lesnar debut hi-res
WWE.com

Brock Lesnar - a former two-time NCAA collegiate wrestling heavyweight champion, and one of the most absurdly impressive physical specimens ever - makes his debut on Raw. Lesnar looks mutated. He’s different to the typical ‘80s body guy, in that there’s an athletic dimension to his look. He’s properly proportioned; he’s just a behemoth. He is intense, massively so, and while there’s a hokey quality to his body language, he instantly casts himself as the very last person in the building you would want to mess with. He looks so obviously like the next big thing that this is precisely how WWE markets him.

Under the guidance of Paul Heyman, Lesnar destroys Al Snow by denting a trash can with his spinal cord. He sends Maven into the rafters and back with the first glimpse of his awesome F5 finisher. He drills Spike Dudley with a powerbomb trifecta.

Months later, Vince McMahon, in his famous address to the roster, demands that they show the willingness to sacrifice their body, mind, and soul to WWE. How much Ruthless Aggression does Brock show, really?

His push undermines both Vince’s messaging and the theme of the era. Brock gets the rocket strapped to him. He doesn’t have to show anything for this to happen. With his look, Vince is always going to build the show around him. Brock, as will be revealed just two years later, does not display ruthless aggression. He doesn’t want to make the sacrifice; the lifestyle of a full-time WWE talent isn’t for him, and he leaves, acrimoniously, after WrestleMania XX in 2004.

There’s a “for” and “against” here. WWE builds a brand new main event star, which is the goal of this and any other “era”. Lesnar brings a sickening physicality and, eventually, sports entertainment gold to a stale scene on top.

Lesnar doesn’t embody whatever the era is meant to symbolise. WWE wants it far more than he does. The other wrestlers stand, helplessly, in Vince’s ring. Lesnar dominates and gets bored of it.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!