The Secret History Of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Era | Wrestling Timelines
June 27, 2002 - John Cena’s Main Roster Debut
John Cena, the fourth member of the vaunted OVW Class of 2002, makes his debut on SmackDown. Kurt Angle offers an open challenge. Cena answers it; Angle, incredulous at this rookie, asks what makes him think he’s worthy of taking Angle on. A gurning Cena, with what is a terrible and cocky mean mug for a supposed babyface, says “Ruthless Aggression!”
The match is not particularly great, but it has two things going for it: the incredible Angle is involved, and watching an established main event guy giving a debuting talent as much as he does is a super-rare novelty. Angle wins. You’re meant to think it’s as close as could be, and you’re meant to think Cena did good out there, kid, because the Undertaker endorses him after the fact with a handshake. In truth, given his level of experience, Cena does do well. It’s a bright enough start, but the sheer desperation for something new and WWE’s promotional machine each contribute to the moment.
In various retrospectives, this is framed as the origin point of John Cena’s illustrious WWE career - but what is it the origin of, really? A failed push?
Because that is precisely what this is.
August 27, 2002 - John Cena Relegation
John Cena’s big push is not, in fact, a big push.
After losing to Kurt Angle in what was meant to be a spirited effort, casting him as one to watch, Cena even goes over Chris Jericho on pay-per-view at Vengeance on July 21, 2002. There’s very little to it. In his defence, Cena is half-pushed when he’s still aloe vera-green - and when his stuff looks about as painful as it.
On August 27, 2002, the demotion is complete. In what scans now as one of the strangest results in company history, on SmackDown, Reverend D-Von defeats John Cena in four minutes and 45 seconds. Cena loses to a past-it tag team wrestler doing a worst of the New Generation gimmick.
Cena is so clunky and uncoordinated that he at one point trips over his own feet when executing a routine atomic drop, doing well not to headbutt D-Von’s testicles. Cena rushes through everything. He’s completely hyperactive - again, this is understandable - and when you can process what he’s doing, it looks awful. Practically curling himself into a ball, he gets no arc on his dropkick whatsoever.
That Cena receives so much TV time is hardly the result of a well thought-out strategy. It underscores WWE’s desperation to build new stars. This isn’t “building”; WWE is trying to get away with simply telling you who the stars are, before losing interest as quickly as you do. But he showed Ruthless Aggression, right?
What actually is ‘Ruthless Aggression’? Could it just be a meaningless buzzword that Vince is suddenly and violently fixated with, like that time he marketed WrestleMania 38 as the most “Stupendous” in WWE history?
Even if it means something, it is impossible to demonstrate Ruthless Aggression in a creative system dominated by tight word-for-word scripting - a philosophy implemented by Stephanie McMahon when she took over the process in late 2000. The days of getting over on your own are over. WWE, having monopolised the industry, feels so powerful institutionally that they begin to resent wrestlers when they attempt to do show ambition. How dare they challenge the grand design? Who did they ever put out of business?
This will become the defining trend of the next decade.
By 2002, there is no major league competition. An independent contractor cannot be ruthless. There’s one place in which to make significant money: WWE. If you’re a wrestler who wants to show Ruthless Aggression, and wants to pitch an idea, what do you do? Risk being perceived as arrogant, or shut your mouth and attempt to secure your future?
It is systematically impossible to encourage ruthlessness.
Cena does get over, to a level in which he sculpts himself into WWE’s Mount Rushmore of drawing cards. He does this when WWE takes notice of his incredible freestyle rapping ability, which quickly informs his battle-rapper ‘Doctor of Thuganomics’ character. Cena plays a foul-mouthed heel initially, but his stuff is so distinctive and major league that the fans turn him face.
But it's not as if Cena barged into Vince McMahon’s office and berated him with a freestyle rap. That would have shown “Ruthless Aggression”. He did this on a bus to entertain the boys, and was overheard by Stephanie McMahon, setting everything in motion.
Steph, the pioneer of awful, scripted promos, was so mesmerised by Cena’s ability to come up with his stuff on the spot that it seemed impossible to her.