So, my friends, for the purposes of this video, we are going to class the ruthless aggression era. As 2002 to 2008 and I know now you're hiring what's time and what about this day, we have to come up with some rules and these are the rules that I have decided. That does clock get around about six years which means there's a bunch of paper views. What happens now if you do go back in time and watch every single one of these events? Well, I tell you, you absolutely get a mixed bag. So what information should you take away? I'm Simon Miller. Let's go. Number 25, Vengeance 2002 was one hell of a kickoff. So talk about a way to make a first impression, because if Vince was calling to see more ruthless aggression, or at least some of the roster heard him, including the Rock Undertaker and Kurt Angles. This was indeed Vengeance 2002, and if you've never seen this match, you'll be absolutely surprised, because those three guys don't really feel like they jell together, but actually, this is one of the best triple threat matches the WW had put on at the time. Every single individual totally understands what they bring to the table, and they make sure that everybody else gets their stick in. It's just a super entertaining fun match with a good finish.

You also get a table's bout, putting Bubba Ryan Spike Dudley versus Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, and you get John Cena's pay-per-view debut versus Chris Jericho, so it's got historical context too. Somehow Brock Lesnar is taken on RD for the Intercontinental Championship and Christian Lance Storm are taking on Edge and Hulk Hogan. So really this does have everything. So it really is an unbelievably fun start to this era and you do get some story stuff too, mostly Stephanie McMahon who was the GM of Smackdown and Eric Bischoff who was the GM of Raw going on, oh man, one of us needs to sign Triple H. True Michaels also jumps on that ball because he starts winking winking nudge nudging that maybe degeneration x is going to return and even less about like jami noble versus billy kidman and book a t versus big show whether all right man it's the same for jeff hardy versus william regal so if you want to walk into my house and say ha ha this couldn't have gone any better i would totally agree with Number 24, the old Madison Square Garden is dearly missed. So if you are of a certain age, you probably remember two specific things. The first would be Stone Cold Steve Austin v. The Undertaker from SummerSlam, 1998 and 10 years on at the Royal Rumble 2008, when John Siener made his surprise return at the Royal Rumble and that wonderful, wonderful entrance way that looked about as long as your foot. Now if you've ever wondered why we returned to Madison Square Garden today, it does not look like this. It's because it got a massive upgrade soon after that and basically started to look like every single other arena in the world. Now, of course, those behind the seas at MSG had to do this. You have to move with the times, but it just had such an iconic feel. And so many important moments happened with that small entranceway. When you do see it during the Ruth's aggression era, you're going to feel a pang of sadness. I suppose it's nostalgia, but we'll go with sad. It would also take you back to WrestleMania 20, which of course was a huge WrestleMania at the time. And the other positive of this is, of course, Madison Square Garden is sold as a huge arena. So when you knew the WWE was going to get in there and you were going to get a different look too, where you just shoved your hands together and you created something fresh. I suppose this helps even more when you are a touring brand like World Wrestling Entertainment, because it means when you do get these shows, your eyes go, well, this is nice nice it doesn't look like the 42,797 buildings we're usually in i mean you can even make the claim that john seen a surprise return at that rule rumble is more impactful because of this because as soon as you see it even when you are scrolling through ticot or whatever instantly you know what it is but look you can't live in the past forever but through Ruth's aggressive pay-per-views and you see them head of Madison Square Garden, it does make them more fun, I'm just saying. Number 23, the 2003 commentary feud. So really, when it comes down to your commentators, they should never be feuding with each other, because all it does is take away from the story that your commentators are trying to get over in the ring. We all remember when Michael Cole went bad guy, which was a huge distraction, but actually back at Unforgiven 2003, you also get Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman beating Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, and the stipulation was whoever does win this, then goes behind the desk, and if you can believe it, Al and Jonathan actually won. I don't want to be that guy, but I do not remember this. Now, of course, this story point didn't last long and mostly Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman were going to commentate on Heat. They did actually supplant JR and King on the flagship show. Things get even crazier when you do go through JR's in-ring career, which is something he never wanted to do, because he has nine matches between in and 2011. There's also rambling at the start of this that coach wanted to work matches as well, which he also did, even right back when he was a backstage interviewer in 1999 and 2000. Somehow, during the ruthless aggression era, he's always falling into some sort of physical situation too. But hey, when you do watch it, it kind of looks like he's enjoyed himself.

If you want to know about the rest of Unforgiven 2003, it was indeed headline by Goldberg beating Triple H to become the world champion. And you have a very nice match between Randy Orton and Shaw Michaels. You also get Kane v. Shane-Shame McMahon, which we're going to move on. And if you know, you do know. But I can't believe if you brought up this show to anybody else.

They would go, oh yes, that's when Coach and Snow took on J.R. and King.

But it happened. Why, the Ruthless Aggression era is so weird. There's a lot of narratives where you look back now, you're like, what the flub? Number 22, the weird main events. Now, of course, people like Triple H, Kurt Angle and John Cena headlined loads of paper views during the ruthless aggression days,

and you could also give a nod to Batista the Undertaker and Edge. It's not like that, People like Triple H Kurt Angle and John Cena headlined loads of pay-per-views during the ruthless aggression days,

and you could also give a nod to Batista the Undertaker and Edge.

So it's not like WW didn't have superstars that could fit into the main event role,

and more often than not, they did a very good job.

Given that this was also the period where we separated Raw on Smackdown, though,

I think Vince McMahon was trying many a new thing,

especially as we did at the Great American Bash 2004,

when the main event is The Undertaker versus the Dudley Boys. And no, that's not a verbal typo, it was the dead man taking on Bubba and Devon in a two-on-one handicap match. It's also crazy this did go on last, because you know what else is on this card, JBL versus Eddie Guerrero in a Texas bull rope encounter. You also get Ray Mysterio versus Charvo Guerrero for the Cruiserweight title. And while that was never going to main event, well, the Barbara Ray Devon Taker match was so bizarre, maybe it should have done. Just in case you don't know as well, you can look at the image on screen right now. And yes, this is also the match when Paul Barer was murdered after the fact. And I'm just going to leave it there because we have talked about it before.

But once again, what the hell are we doing? There are other main events throughout this period, too, because at Vengeance 2006, it was DX versus the Spirit Squad. Listen, that feud was kind of fun for all the wrong reasons, but just stick it in the middle of the card. Nothing will ever be as bad as the extreme elimination chamber match at December 2 dismember in late 2006, which is often voted as the worst WW match in history. And of course, there's Undertaker versus Mark Henry, which is just an odd choice to close that Unforgiven 2007. I mean, they're big stars, but it didn't feel like a main event. Of course, fans just raised a little bit of an eyebrow because they were still paying $50 for some of these. I understand that WW were trying to get Raw and Smackdown over as separate brands. Maybe they just didn't have the Star Power to back it up. Number 21, New Year's Revolution was risky. So, WWE knew that they needed to be careful with New Year's Revolution in 2005. The show was beamed live on Puerto Rico on the 9th of January, which was only mere weeks before the Raw Rumble that was set to air on the 30th of January. Now of course, usually when WW kicks off a brand new year, the first paperview or big event is the Raw Rumble, but clearly Vincent Mann got into this New Year revolution idea because it did happen three times between 2005 and 2007. By 2008, he decided to put it in the trash again, although the last time we saw the name was a house show tour in 2020, which yes, of course, was before the COVID shutdown. Outside of that, Triple H actually brought the moniker back as a subheading for a special edition of Smackdown 2. There was also that day one event in 2022. I mean, that had a different name, but it was the same concept. These days, if you are a brand new fan, I suppose the best comparison is what WW is trying to do with their Netflix anniversary. But of course, those are part of your subscription. When WW was trying to sell a pay-per-view before the Royal Rumble, well, let's just say they didn't sell very well, because people were saving their cash. Now, the shows themselves aren't actually that bad at all, and you get some super historic moments, particularly when it comes to the money in the bank briefcase. But otherwise, it was just an attempt of something that didn't really work. Maybe you can even put the blame on the Royal Rumble. People just love it too much. Number 20, Brock Lesnar only had one bad pay-per-view match. Now, of course, Brot Lesnar didn't last that long in the ruthless aggression era because he was going to leave WWE. But you can kind of bookend his appearances with the first being against Rob Van Dan at Vendant of Vengeance 2002, the last being against Bill Goldberg at WrestleMania 20, and we all remember that. Now, loads of people will remember his very strange encounter with hardcore Holly at the Royal Rumble 2004. And actually, if you do go back and watch it now,

even though it was a strange match to put together, it's totally fine. You wouldn't even call it

bad. I mean, it only goes about six minutes, so what can you really do? And while Holly was not a

credible challenger for Brock's WWE title, listen, go watch it now. We were plugging a gap.

After that RVD match of Vengeance 2002, however, Brock went on to beat the Rock at Somerslam and have a feud with The Undertaker at Unforgiven and No Mercy. He then has matches with the big show at Survivor series, which is way better than you do remember, and in 2003, he was taken on Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 19. John Cena at Backlash is also good, and then he's going against Kurt again at Somerslam, Take her at No Mercy, and the now absolutely iconic world title match at No Way out 2004 when he loses to Eddie Guerrera. So sure, you can kind of raise an eyebrow when you get to the Goldberg match, but even then there are extenuating circumstances. So really, Brot Lezzar turned up in the WWE, he got a massive push and he proved to everybody, well, maybe they are doing the right thing because he's pretty flipping great.

It would have been super interesting to see what would have happened if he did carry on 2004.

That didn't happen.

So there's no point thinking about it.

Even more so, because this was 20 years ago and I don't want to travel back in time.

...