Lets talk about that transition from Attitude to Ruthless Aggression...

[CM_Burns]

I guarantee we talk about how spoiled we are in terms of workrate. There are a bunch of guys who can give you a LEGIT 5 star match, and there are way more Daniel Bryans/cm punks/dean ambrose/tyson kidd/y2j/ziggler/wade/etc guys than there are Khali's, Rybacks, big shows, and lumbering fools.

even the jobbers like Zach Ryder, Jack Swagger, Sandow, dibiase, Sin Cara, 3mb are reliable hands and can sell well.

This might be the best workrate era ever.

I don't see myself regretting not appreciating 6 minute Wade Barrett vs Tyson Kidd matches with no interesting angle, consisting mostly of basic slams, clotheslines, and punches and kicks.

As good as the Ruthess Aggression era was, I think a lot of people still missed the "what's going to happen monday night?" feeling of Raw in 98/99 that they've never been able to consistently replicate since.

 

[Ed MOTHEREFFING G]

I don't see myself regretting not appreciating 6 minute Wade Barrett vs Tyson Kidd matches with no interesting angle, consisting mostly of basic slams, clotheslines, and punches and kicks.

As good as the Ruthess Aggression era was, I think a lot of people still missed the "what's going to happen monday night?" feeling of Raw in 98/99 that they've never been able to consistently replicate since.

I understand that. I think thats why we're all so impressed with the Shield, because everything around them has mattered so far, they have zero bad matches, they're new talent and they've been booked flawlessly.

Its like they said "wow we botched nexus and like 8 dudes in a row, lets learn from our mistakes and build these 3 up right" and then THEY DID IT

You will appreciate lil matches like how punk faced bryan like 3 raws in a row about 18 months ago, with no fued, just because, and they were like all 4.5 stars....THAT was gold.

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

They did some stuff right like the rise of Batista/Angle/Edge/RVD and the Y2J/HBK feud, but the Ruthless Aggression era was full of a lot of missed opportunities. It was like WCW's Nitro years: they had all these potential great moments/stars but they either didn't pull the trigger or treated noteworthy stuff like it was just another segment.

Early brand split days damn near killed my interest in wrestling. I didn't bother with SD (UPN ) and I wasn't trying to see Acolyte Bradshaw teaming up with Austin in the Raw main events like that on a weekly basis.

 

[jdashmaj]

Can't say I really liked that era that much at the time because of that retarded roster split However looking back there were alot of highlights. King Booker was classic, HBK put on some classics after classics,Benoit and Eddie were made into the stars I wanted them to be but then died not long after , RVD was getting the respect he deserved and put on some of the best matches I've ever seen.
I liked Orton as the Legend Killer put on a pretty good match with Hogan. when that Deadman Biker gimmick ended, but I hated Kane that era. Hollywood Rock was great I was bored with the Rock's character around the time he fought Brock at SS, his return as a heel was a breath of fresh air.
All in all it wasn't to bad looking back.


Angle was a monster around that time the promo and matches just

 

[krackdagawd]

(UPN )

 

[R=G]

The thing about 2002 and 2003 is that Smackdown was rolling strong. Lesnar got the push of a lifetime and was handed million of dollars after the Summerslam put over, Mysterio was on fire at the same time, Kurt Angle was rolling really strong in the ring, Benoit and Eddie were untouchable in the ring, Cripple H was exposed for being overrated, women's wrestling division was strong as fukk, tag team wrestling was on fire, Edge's protected push was going really strong still....good ring stuff but no one REALLY was dying to see any of this. Once Rock and Austin were gone most times, the reaction in the arenas weren't the same and the energy for pro wrestling in America felt different.

 

[R=G]

whats weird is the slower big guys like Big show and henry and others were completely left in the dust during that era. I can't even tell you one thing big show did during that entire era.

Guys like Umaga/lesnar really left them behind for a few years.

Big Show ended Lesnar's streak but he did get despushed even though he was making 1 million a year. I think he was doing a jobbing angle on Sunday Night Heat in 2002 before they had him beat Lesnar in 10 minutes at Survivor Series.

 

[El Cocodrilo]

big show fukkING SUCKS

i wish he'd leave and join tna so i wouldnt have to see his dumb ass ever again

I'm not a Big Show fan at all, he could go to TNA tonight and I wouldn't care

BUT to be fair

For an athlete that size, he probably is the most capable of all time. Also during that era he had a pretty good feud with Lesnar. :goatshrug:

 

[El Cocodrilo]

I've always been a huge mark for Hogan and during the Ruthless Aggression era the GOATster had that piff nWo run ending on that piff Rock match not to mention his beating Trips for the Undisputed Strap AND his run as Mr.America...

Ruthless Aggression was when fukkery was supposed to be good. scumgoat

I had a lot of fun watching Goldberg's shytty RAW run for what it was

Not to mention the GODS Kurt, Van Dam, Guerrero, HBK in action ON THE REGULAR. WE TOOK IT FOR GRANTED BREHS

and

It's hard to explain what kind of a MACHINE the MONSTER Brock Lesnar was back then. Watch some piff-ass shyt:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUoFQwX52kM[/ame]

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

:smugbo:

 

[Squirtle]

I felt like it was the beginning of the end, and honestly wrestling hasn't been the same since.

 

[HollywoodP]

I stopped watching when Big Kev tore his quad. So I pretty much missed most of this era.

 

[Cheercomp]

The RA era was partially cool. RAW was buttcheeks due to Triple H and his shaven-faced gloryhogging on television. It made the show unwatchable. How many times would there be a crappy tag match involving Evolution and Orton/Big Show/Kane/Eugene on tv? For Christ's sake, Eugene was on so many television main-events it was ridiculous!!!! How many times did HBK/HHH happen? After the Summerslam match, it got old real quick. So essentially, Triple H ruined RAW for me and many others.

On the other hand, Smackdown was awesome with the SD 6, and Heyman's involvement. Not too much other than that, that I actually remember about SD during that era.

 

[raw613]

mixed bag, some really good matches, the smackdown tag team division in particular was on fire. Also you had some horrible angles, Katie Vick, i think Torrie Wilson's dad angle was around then, Shelton Benjamin's mom, Booker vs HHH if book was gonna lose they really should have not gone there and made the story about something else.

 

[Nintendough]

The RA era was partially cool. RAW was buttcheeks due to Triple H and his shaven-faced gloryhogging on television. It made the show unwatchable. How many times would there be a crappy tag match involving Evolution and Orton/Big Show/Kane/Eugene on tv? For Christ's sake, Eugene was on so many television main-events it was ridiculous!!!! How many times did HBK/HHH happen? After the Summerslam match, it got old real quick. So essentially, Triple H ruined RAW for me and many others.

On the other hand, Smackdown was awesome with the SD 6, and Heyman's involvement. Not too much other than that, that I actually remember about SD during that era.

Lets be real, HHH hogging the belt made him one of the most effective heels ever. It literally made you hate him and find ways to hate him beyond regular hate. It was hilarious being a HHH fan and watching my homies get infuriated at him being attached to the belt....then watching them still tune in to watch.











Reading that @El cocodrillo post made me remember that Hogan run as Mr. America. @ Hogan trying to pretend that wasn't him, like we wouldn't know that gut from anywhere.