Claim OwnershipRuthless Aggression Relived
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Description
From 2002 to 2008, World Wrestling Entertainment produced the Ruthless Aggression Era. This celebration of one of sports-entertainment’s greatest periods looks at the challenges WWE faced in trying to recapture former successes while creating a raft of new stars to build a new era around.
28 Episodes
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Saturday, 10 August 2002.
As part of an effort to expand the WWE's reach, the company decided to return to a region starved for wrestling, hoping to cultivate a new market they could make profitable. The resulting tour led to this stop in Melbourne, Australia, which began a relationship which would pay great dividends ever since.
L. T. is joined by fellow newLegacy member and certified Australian duel to take a look back at WWE's jaunt to the land down under.
Thursday, 25 July 2002.
With Stephanie McMahon assigned to play the role of SmackDown!'s on-screen General Manager, the show would now need a new identity. To achieve that, the writers had to decide who they would place their faith in for the future. To that end, they chose a home grown star, an up-and-comer and someone jumping out the sky from their former competitor...
L. T. is joined by Mark Goddard of Bloody Good Reads for the WWE debut of Rey Mysterio!
Monday, 22 July 2002.
With the introduction of Eric Bischoff as Raw's General Manager, steps were to about to be made to help ensure both brands of WWE had their own identity. In addition to some new faces about to make a stir in their debut, there would begin a trimming of the fat over the coming weeks and months that kicked off with a championship unification match on this episode.
L. T. is joined by Katy Lawson for a look back at the European Championship's end and the beginning of the WWE careers of a memorable tag team.
Sunday, 21 July 2002.
With the General Managers now in place, WWE set about setting them- and their respective shows- against one another. The first shot in the war between Raw and SmackDown would be fired here tonight, before a legendary main event between three of the all-time great performers.
L. T. is joined by stand-up comedian and podcaster Eddie O'Keeffe to take a look back at one of the best wrestling matches of all time... and, you know, a promo that never seemed to end...
Thursday, 18 July 2002.
Now that Raw had a General Manager assigned to the position of authority, SmackDown! would be needing a counterpart. A change was soon to come to the WWE landscape as this episode would kick off a long-standing war between the two brands- but first, the fans had to meet SmackDown!'s new boss and see how they were all grown up now...
L. T. is joined by Mark Goddard of the Bloody Good Reads podcast for a closer inspection of the appointment of SmackDown!'s first ever General Manager.
Monday, 15 July 2002.
With Kevin Nash injured and the nWo dead in the water, it was full panic stations for WWE. Raw was in need of a quick shake-up. Luckily, the company had just the thing. In order to freshen things up, a new General Manager would be appointed to both Raw and SmackDown, given total control over their respective brands... and the WWE faithful were about to be rocked to their core when they met the new boss on Mondays...
L. T. is joined by Alex O'Keeffe for this look back at the appointment of the first ever General Manager in WWE history, specifically the first Raw General Manager.
Monday, 8 July 2002.
Not every moment in wrestling history is remembered for the most favourable reasons. On this particular evening, the WWE would be struck by two calamities. The fallout from one of these events would require a company-wide pivot to counteract. As for the other? It would go down in wrestling fandom legend...
L. T. is joined by stand-up comedian and podcaster Eddie O'Keeffe to take a look back at the night wrestling fans worldwide bore witness to THAT Jackie Gayda Match.
Sunday, 7 July 2002.
As Trish Stratus' star continued to rise, the sudden derailment of her feud with Jazz due to the latter's unforseeable injury meant the WWE Women's Division needed a new foe to occupy the top babyface in addition to Molly Holly. With this in mind, it was time to call up yet another new star in the form of one Victoria...
L. T. is joined by Demo Darby to watch as one of their favourite female WWE performers makes a strong showing in her first appearance.
In this episode, L. T. takes you through the process of how he makes an episode of Ruthless Aggression Relived!
PLUS, an entire former paid-exclusive episode co-hosted by Lewis Clark of SegaDrive.com in which he joins L. T. to review the WWF Forceable Entry music album!
Monday, 1 July 2002.
Amid the sea of rising talent, the new tide of the Ruthless Aggression Era would see plenty of established WWE talent elevated. One such individual was Jeff Hardy, who on this night would face his greatest challenge yet... and prove all his doubters wrong.
L. T. is joined by Eddie O'Keeffe for a look at a packed edition of Raw, capped off with one of the greatest matches in WWE history.
Saturday, 29 June 2002.
In a changing television landscape, though the "edgy" content of the Attitude Era wouldn't fly, there was still titillation to be found if viewers wanted it. WWE tried their hand at Girls Gone World as they presented what they called the New York City Thong-a-thon...
L. T. is joined by Katy Lawson for this look back at a frankly unhinged night of sports entertainment that pushes the definition of both words and horrifies the pair of them.
Thursday 27 June 2002.
With the company now committed to a new direction, the drive to create new stars would become all the more important. Deciding to go all-in on one rookie's debut, WWE had no idea they would be introducing the world to a man they would one day call the greatest of all time...
L. T. is joined by comedian and podcaster Eddie O'Keeffe for a look back at the night John Cena and Batista stepped into the ring on WWE TV for the first time ever!
Monday 24 June 2002.
By now there was no point in pretending otherwise: the lightning had escaped the bottle. The Attitude Era was over. And the top stars of the era were all either gone or going. The WWE had been forging a new identity and this was the perfect opportunity to declare a new creative direction. Vince McMahon would be the one to deliver a promo that confirmed for us all we were in a brand new era. Now all that remained was for the wrestlers to step up...
L. T. is joined by John Porter for a look at the night Vince McMahon coined the term Ruthless Aggression!
June 23 2002.
It had been a tumultuous few weeks for WWE. Stone Cold Steve Austin, the biggest star in the history of the professional wrestling industry, had sensationally walked out on the company- and, seemingly, WWE had turned its back on him in response. With no choice but to press onward, the company now had to crown a new top star, with the winner of this year's King of the Ring earning a place in the main event of the second biggest event on the wrestling calendar.
L. T. is joined by newLegacy Inc. fellow Slip for a look back at the first pay-per-view in a post-Austin wrestling landscape.
Thursday 6 June 2002.
WWE continued to debut new stars but also new approaches to writing their weekly television shows. Paul Heyman's SmackDown! would make use of his strengths in building up multiple characters at once, including two performers making their SmackDown! debut here tonight with a golden gimmick.
L. T. is joined by fellow newLegacy member, W3 commentator and Championship Wrestling From Hollywood star, Dino Winwood as a Tough Enough winner is repackaged and paired up with a brand new WWE Superstar, BOY!
Monday 3 June 2002.
As the WWE looked to create a wave of new stars for their new era, they also turned to the past as one of their greatest world champions of yesteryear prepared to make a triumphant return to the company. His timing couldn't have been better, as the WWE was about to lose an even bigger star...
L. T. is joined by Nerd Trash Jen for a look back at a night that seemed a bit like a revolving door...
Saturday 3 September 2022.
The WWE prepared to promote their first UK pay-per-view since 2003 and their first UK stadium show since SummerSlam 1992! How was the "premium live event" experience? And what emotional response did the matches draw out? Host L. T. Fletcher was in attendance at the show and now, one month on now that the dust has settled, gives his thoughts!
Saturday 25 May 2002.
As the WWE entered its new era, it would bring with it two brand new broadcasts. The first would be Velocity, a show highlighting SmackDown and spotlighting some of the lower-card talent from that brand. The second would be Confidential, a magazine show which promised to pull back the curtain and take a look at what goes on in the lives of WWE's Superstars when the cameras stopped rolling. On this date, both of these new series debuted.
L. T. is joined by wrestling fan and Ruthless Aggression neophyte Katy Lawson for a look at an evening that saw a number of WWE talent surprisingly underdressed for the occasion.
Sunday 19 May 2002.
At last our timeline brings us to the first pay-per-view under the WWE name. But all that's old is new again as The Undertaker challenges Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship in a rematch from 1991!
L. T. is joined by Slip of newLegacy Inc. for a look back at a pay-per-view in which ONE MAN WILL BE SHAVED BALD.
As the WWE entered a new era, that meant adding a little polish and glamour to their production, improving the overall feel of the company's televisual output. This meant, of course, any productions lagging behind in appearance would have to be revamped- or go entirely.
Join host L. T. Fletcher for a look at this, the final episode of WWE Jakked/Metal!
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