WWE treated the Ruthless Aggression Era as a bridge between the past, present and future of wrestling. The era started in 2002 when a lot of huge changes were being made with the WWF to WWE name, multiple stars leaving and the brand split starting. New talents were given bigger chances than ever before to seize the moment and hold down a top spot.
Unfortunately, this experimental aspect of the time meant that WWE would learn by trial and error. Quite a few errors were made that disappointed both short and long term. WWE doesn’t have a spotless record by any means with their creative direction, but some moments stand out worse than others. The following decisions and ideas were the worst instances of WWE dropping the ball in the Ruthless Aggression Era.
10 Big Show Ending Brock Lesnar's Undefeated Streak
The Ruthless Aggression Era started with Brock Lesnar’s dominance in the middle of 2002 kickstarting a new time. Lesnar scoring decisive victories over The Rock, The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan felt like a new fresh star putting the past names behind him.
However, that entire run took a hit when WWE picked Big Show to end Brock’s unbeaten streak in his rookie year. Paul Heyman turning on Lesnar to help Big Show landed Brock his first loss. The decision was already regretful, but Big Show dropping the belt to Kurt Angle one month later showed how much they dropped the ball.
9 Ending Eddie Guerrero's Title Reign Early
One of the feel-good moments of the Ruthless Aggression Era featured Eddie Guerrero pulling an all-time great upset victory over Brock Lesnar. The fan connection with Eddie as a face made his journey feel more relating than most other champs of the time.
Guerrero even had a stellar feud with Kurt Angle that showed things were working creatively. WWE pulled the trigger on Eddie losing the title too soon in favor of a polarizing JBL run. Many fans viewed this as the end of Smackdown as the top brand since it turned into a poor man’s Raw with JBL as their Triple H.
8 Randy Orton Losing First Post-Evolution Feud Vs Triple H
Another great title win that ended poorly saw Randy Orton becoming the youngest World Champion ever by defeating Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004. Even the Canadian fans cheered Orton winning the gold over the hometown favorite due to his momentum.
WWE booking Triple H to turn on Orton one night later by kicking him out of Evolution led to things trending downhill. Orton lost his first PPV title defense to Triple H and had his entire face character destroyed. It wasn’t until Orton turned heel vs The Undertaker the following year that he rebounded.
7 Matt Hardy Getting Buried In Edge/Lita Feud
WWE had a unique presentation of a real life issue turning into a storyline with the love triangle between Matt Hardy, Edge and Lita. Fans chanting for Matt forced WWE’s hand to rehire him and feud with Edge and Lita as a result of the internet spreading that story like wildfire. The program was compelling with all three sides having to mix reality and script into an angle.
Edge winning the feud was good for his career, but he was already getting pushed hard with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Hardy taking a loss and having to leave Raw completely ruined the appeal of someone that was getting the biggest cheers on the show some nights.
6 Kevin Federline Pinning John Cena
Kevin Federline may have been the worst use of a celebrity ever by WWE when having him feud with and pin John Cena. Many of today’s newer fans have no idea who Federline even is, since his career consisted of marrying Britney Spears and being in the news when they divorced.
WWE brought Federline in and had him pin Cena due to Umaga’s interference. This was a big deal since few names were allowed to pin Cena in any manner. Names like Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and Triple H going without pinning Cena in that time frame made the protective booking pointless by having Federline score one.
5 ECW Rebirth Becoming WWE Developmental
There was a lot of excitement for the ECW brand returning in 2006 after two outstanding One Night Stand PPVs. The energy captured those nights created a momentum for ECW to return, but WWE gave on that by the first TV show.
Experimental gimmicks and new talents from developmental were used to make the show feel like a drastic step down from Raw and Smackdown. ECW was a joke by the end of 2006 by becoming a glorified developmental brand on television.
4 Goldberg Losing First Title Match
The signing of Goldberg for WWE came right when Steve Austin retired, and The Rock was transitioning into Hollywood. WWE had hope that Goldberg would become a top player like his WCW career, but they didn’t showcase that in his booking.
Goldberg’s first title shot challenging Triple H in an Elimination Chamber match ended with Triple H pinning him after a sledgehammer shot. Triple H pinning Goldberg just a few months into his debut took away from that unbeatable appeal that existed in WCW.
3 Hornswoggle Revealed As Vince McMahon's Son
The final few years of the Ruthless Aggression Era saw Vince McMahon coming up with new ideas to get involved for ratings ploys. A long running mystery of Vince having a child on the roster that he didn’t know about turned into a whodunit scenario with vignettes every week.
The big reveal was meant to be Mr. Kennedy getting a push with McMahon to feud with Triple H, but he was suspended for violating the wellness policy just weeks before the reveal. WWE didn’t care to write a strong backup plan and just had it revealed as Hornswoggle due to that being the funniest scenario to Vince.
2 Burying Promising Women's Wrestlers
The WWE women’s division was underrated in the 2000s, but it never took off due to few names getting treated with respect. Trish Stratus, Lita, Mickie James and Melina showed that some women would get the chance to have compelling storylines or matches.
Unfortunately, that didn’t extend to everyone on the roster. Gail Kim, Molly Holly, Jazz and Victoria were all placed in weaker roles that killed any momentum they ever had. WWE often placed the credible wrestlers into embarrassing angles since their in-ring skills were secondary at the time.
1 Triple H Getting Handed First World Championship
The fan perception of WWE at the start of the brand split in the Ruthless Aggression Era was that Smackdown destroyed Raw as the better show. Brock Lesnar having a compelling program with The Undertaker showed one title scene, while Raw went the other direction.
Eric Bischoff just handed the big gold belt to Triple H when naming him the World Championship without winning a match. This could have been a massive story of a tournament or a big match to crown a new champ, but WWE just gave it to Triple H to add negative momentum to Raw.