For the years 2002-2008, WWE will be remembered for the Ruthless Aggression Era.
An era that came around when WCW closed down doors for good, stars of the Attitude Era, like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin left, and the WWF was forced to re-brand itself to WWE after losing a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund.
Vince McMahon needed new talent and new stars that would lead the company into a bright future.
He wanted to see ruthless aggression.
Since McMahon had a lot of WCW and also ECW talent on the roster now and also was searching for younger talent down at OVW. He felt like, in order to allow talent to fully grow, one roster might not be enough.
So WWE divided its stars into two brands: Raw and SmackDown. The first brand split.
But who took advantage and shined the brightest in that large pool of talent, alongside the already established stars from the 1990s like Undertaker, Kane, Shawn Michaels and Triple H?
15. Christian
Edge’s former partner in the Attitude Era stable ‘The Brood’ was all over the place during the Ruthless Aggression Era.
While being more midcard than main event, WWE management realised they could always count on Captain Charisma.
Christian, who was more heel than babyface during this time, collected title belts right, left and centre, and was able to generate incredible heat with the audience.
However, Vince McMahon never pulled the trigger on him. After a run with the European, Hardcore and Intercontinental Title, as well as two entertaining Tag Team Title runs with Lance Storm and Chris Jericho, Christian decided to leave.
He would not return until after the times of ruthless aggression were over.
14. Jeff Hardy
Shortly after the Ruthless Aggression Era was established, Hardy was hot-shot into the WWE Undisputed Championship picture with The Undertaker.
Obviously the former Tag Team Champion – a title he held numerous times with his brother Matt Hardy – was not quite ready to win the top title yet.
But it became clear that the company had big plans for him. However, personal problems, paired with his decision to leave WWE between 2003 and 2006, derailed any main event plans.
But the fans never stopped loving the ‘Charismatic Enigma’. Hardy was able to hold up the European Title, the Hardcore Title and yet another Tag Team Title with his brother Matt.
His biggest successes during this time, however, came with him holding the WWE Intercontinental Championship on three different occasions.
WWE gave Jeff Hardy the honour to usher in a new era in WWE, by making him the first new WWE Champion of a PG product.
13. JBL
For Bradshaw it was ‘do or die’ after the Attitude Era was over.
After years of teaming with the legendary Ron Simmons, he realised he could not always win the Hardcore Title and be thankful for a job at WWE.
Opportunity came around when SmackDown was in desperate need for a top heel. McMahon presented him with the idea of John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield.
JBL would save his career, as he completely changed everything and himself and fully leaned into the new character.
He became the longest-reigning World Champion in SmackDown history by holding the WWE Title for over a year between 2004 and 2005.
His brutal feuds against the likes Eddie Guerrero and John Cena are gone, but certainly not forgotten.
After that JBL, feuded for every singles title under the WWE umbrella and won the United States Title, as well as the Intercontinental Title in his later years.
The career of the ‘Texas Longhorn’ ended with the end of the Ruthless Aggression Era. JBL retired from in-ring competition at WrestleMania in 2009.
12. Big Show
Although Big Show was certainly a part of the Attitude Era, his true legacy was made in the Ruthless Aggression Era.
If Big Show would have stopped wrestling in 2002, we would have missed out on a lot of memories.
Not only was Big Show very much involved in putting over the stars of the following era, he himself gained more and more star power.
And star power was what Paul Heyman saw in Big Show as well, so he turned on Brock Lesnar at the 2002 Survivor Series, making Big Show a two-time WWE Champion in the process.
In 2003, he began teaming with A-Train. The gigantic duo took on The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
What followed was one of the key feuds in both his and John Cena’s careers. In one of greatest rivalries for the WWE United States Title ever, Show and Cena were driven to make this work.
Later on, he won the WWE World Tag Team belts alongside Kane in 2006, and also became the ECW Champion before taking a break from wrestling.
When he returned, WWE was already ushering in a new era.
11. Booker T
The former WCW World Champion was one of the very few stars from the folded promotion to actually also make it in WWE.
Loaded with charisma and incredible talent, he was going to be at the top eventually.
Before rising to the occasion, however, he formed an unlikely tag team with Goldust. The highly entertaining pair starred in several extremely funny promos and vignettes.
They got so popular, WWE put the World Tag Team Titles on them during 2002 and 2003. After their run, Goldust was attacked by Evolution backstage, which sparked a rivalry between Booker T and the faction.
The storyline, which also featured a very controversial promo by Triple H, culminated with Booker T challenging for Triple H’s World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XIX – a match he lost.
The Ruthless Aggression Era saw Booker capture two Hardcore Championships, the Intercontinental Title, another set of Tag Team Titles with Rob Van Dan, as well as the United States Title three times during 2004 and 2006.
Booker T is certainly one of the most decorated stars of the era. His biggest victory came in 2006, when he reinvented himself as ‘King Booker’, after winning that year’s King of the Ring tournament.
That victory ultimately led him to finally win the World Heavyweight Championship.
10. Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle is another star that already began making waves in the early 2000s, before becoming one of the pillars of the WWE during the Ruthless Aggression Era.
However, much like Big Show, the Olympic hero would not be a true legend today if it wasn’t for the years 2002 to 2006, where Angle was on his highest of highs.
During this time he went face to face with a debuting John Cena, who would go on to become one of the biggest stars the business has ever seen.
When questioned by Angle what makes him think he could go head to head with a Kurt Angle, Cena’s answer was simply: ‘Ruthless Aggression’.
After a short WWE Tag Team Title run with Chris Benoit, Angle entered 2003 as the WWE Champion. He was set to square of against the Royal Rumble winner: a young and hungry Brock Lesnar.
In the spectacular main event of WrestleMania XIX Angle dropped the title to Lesnar, dropping out of competition with a neck injury.
Angle would win the WWE Title one more time later that year, before entering a WrestleMania XX program for the strap against Eddie Guerrero.
The following year Angle had an incredible match against Shawn Michaels at the show of shows, before entering WrestleMania 22 a year later as World Heavyweight Champion.
This would be his last title run with the company. He would leave WWE in the summer of 2006.
9. Chris Jericho
You can not spell ‘Ruthless Aggression Era’ without Y2J.
Following his historic one-night victory over both The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to capture both the WWF and WCW World Titles, he ushered in the Ruthless Aggression Era as the first ever Undisputed Champion.
Jericho would dominate the television screens during this time, featuring heavily in both the midcard and main event scenes over the years.
The ‘Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla’ became a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion, held the Tag Titles with Christian and also won another two World Titles in 2008.
His legacy has him also come up with the concept of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, first held in 2008.
Jericho remains a top star of the business to this day.
8. Rey Mysterio
The master of the 619 was always destined for greatness.
However, WWE’s initial plans did not see him as a Heavyweight Champion. Mysterio came to the WWE when the Ruthless Aggression Era has just started.
He won tag team gold with Edge, before being the face of the cruiserweight division. He won the Cruiserweight Title three times during the first incarnation of the championship.
After that he was only able to reach championship success in tag teams. Capturing the titles alongside RVD, Eddie Guerrero and Batista. However, this did not stop Mysterio becoming highly popular among fans as a singles star.
Being named the ‘the best luchador ever’ by many in the business, he became one of the top merchandise sellers of the era. When Eddie Guerrero tragically passed away, WWE decided on Mysterio as their new Hispanic top star.
In 2006, Mysterio won the Royal Rumble match, lasting an incredible 62 minutes.
At WrestleMania 22, Rey beat both Randy Orton and Kurt Angle to capture his first World Heavyweight Title, making him immortal.
To this day Rey Mysterio is considered one of the very best to ever do it and he can still be seen seen every Monday night on Raw.
7. Chris Benoit
Benoit was also a name in the business before entering the era of ruthless aggression.
However, his biggest claim to fame only opened up due to Vince McMahon wanting new hungry men to step up.
The former Horseman kicked off the era by winning his fourth Intercontinental Championship. However, the fans wanted more.
Even a short Tag Team Title run with Kurt Angle was not enough anymore. People wanted more. Benoit wanted more.
His exceptional skill inside the squared circle had few doubting that this man was up to something remarkable.
In 2004, Benoit did the unthinkable and won the Royal Rumble match. In the main event of WrestleMania XX he ushered in a new time for WWE.
Not only did his friend Eddie Guerrero defend the WWE Championship earlier that night – Benoit captured the World Heavyweight Championship from both Shawn Michaels and Triple H in the main event.
He later built a short-lived tag team with Edge, with whom he won the tag titles two times. He also captured the United States Championship three times.
6. Edge
Much like with Jericho and Angle, you can hardly picture a Ruthless Aggression Era without the ‘Rated-R Superstar’.
But it’s not only the live sex celebration that put Edge in one of the top spots of this era.
Edge became a multi-time champion and owned this era like few others. He won so many titles, you can’t list them all here.
He did win six World Titles during the period, and also memorably faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXIV, but was unable to beat the streak.
Edge is a Hall of Famer these days, and his ruthless aggression certainly did open the doors to WWE’s holy halls.
5. Randy Orton
Randy Orton is part of a very special class of talent to enter the Ruthless Aggression Era in 2002/03.
The first third generation WWE star burst onto the scene alongside the likes of Shelton Benjamin, John Cena, Batista and Brock Lesnar.
All were seen as the pillars of the future of WWE.
The ‘Viper’ became the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion after capturing the Intercontinental Championship as part of Evolution.
He then formed Rated-RKO and won the Tag Team titles alongside Edge.
After that he won two WWE Championships, before entering the PG Era as a made star.
4. Batista
By 2005 everyone was talking about Batista.
Before that, the Evolution member already captured tag team gold with Ric Flair.
Batista, who turned and Evolution and therefore on Triple H, was set to become one of biggest names ever.
In the main event of WrestleMania 21, ‘The Animal’ was able to end Triple H’s reign of terror with a massive Batista Bomb in order to crown himself World Heavyweight Champion.
After that Batista had another Tag Team Title run, this time with Rey Mysterio. Later he also won it with John Cena.
But it was Batista’s World Title storylines that made him the talk of the town.
He became immortal when he faced The Undertaker for the World Title and for the streak at WrestleMania 23.
To this day they tell the tales of Batista. The legacy this man left behind is incredible.
3. Brock Lesnar
Some would say Brock Lesnar only became a legend after returning to WWE in 2012.
But there is no one that burst onto the scene quite like the ‘Next Big Thing’.
He was able to rally both Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman behind him, which spelled certainty for an incredible career.
McMahon even wanted to go so far and make him beat Steve Austin on an episode of Raw, something that made Austin no-show and walk out from WWE.
Later in 2002, Brock Lesnar won the WWE Undisputed Championship and two more runs with the title followed in 2003/04.
Lesnar never held a midcard title or tag team title. He was immediately slotted into the main event.
He had it all. Only he himself was able to stop him. And so he did. He ended his wrestling career in 2004, going to the UFC, before reentering the squared circle years later.
2. Eddie Guerrero
He lied, he cheated, he stole.
The impeccable Eddie Guerrero gathered the masses behind him.
The uncle of former ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero had such a gigantic amount of charisma, he was larger than life.
During the Ruthless Aggression Era, Guerrero won the Intercontinental Title, as well as the Tag Team Titles with both Tajiri, his nephew Chavo, and Rey Mysterio.
He was also able become the first WWE United States Champion after the title was brought back in 2003.
His biggest success, however, came when he beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship in 2004.
Eddie Guerrero might be gone, but he will never be forgotten.
1. John Cena
Do I need to say anything?
The record 16-time World Champion is one of the biggest names this business has ever created. He carried the company during the Ruthless Aggression Era and he was always meant to be.
When he stood face to face with Kurt Angle and uttered the words ‘Ruthless Aggression’, it was hard to question that he got ‘it’. Not even The Undertaker did. He offered the ‘kid’ a handshake afterwards.
Legendary moments that sparked an incomparable career, that would have never been, if Cena did not battle everyone from No. 15 to 2 in this list throughout his time with WWE.
Cena got the best out of anyone. Cena was pure ruthless aggression.
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