Ruthless Aggression Relived: Recent Episodes
L. T. Fletcher
Chronicling the 2002-2008 period of World Wrestling Entertainment that brought us Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista and so much more.
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!
Thursday 9 May 2002.
As a string of new faces emerged in the recently renamed WWE, one future Superstar of great renown would make his first televised appearance for the company here tonight. A far cry from how the world would later know him, strange serendipity for a long-running career suggests perhaps divine forces were at work...
L. T. is joined by John Blud of newLegacy Inc. and Deadlock to take a look back at the on-screen arrival of none other than Batista!
Having become a household name the world over in the course of the previous two decades, the World Wrestling Federation now faced an unprecedented challenge. Forced to rebrand under a new name, the company had to make a tough call. They had to Get The F Out.
L. T. is joined by podcaster and games journalist Lewis Clark to see if the company could really stick to a "new name, same attitude" mantra for this episode of Raw, the first production under the name of World Wrestling Entertainment.
Saturday 4 May 2002.
As a new era began, a different kind of era had to be ended as the World Wrestling Federation as the world knew it was to be rebranded under a new name. The final event produced under the name the company had held for almost twenty years would be this pay-per-view, exclusive to Great Britain and Australia, also the first brand-exclusive pay-per-view the company produced. Would the Superstars of Raw be able to wish a fond farewell to the WWF name?
Join L. T. and artist and Sonic the Comic Online editor Michael "Stiv" Stephenson for a look at the first UK-exclusive event of 2002... and an examination of the Plane Ride From Hell... Plus: Triple H profile.
Thursday 25 April 2002.
As the brand split began to take hold, the winds of change were blowing across the World Wrestling Federation. A new period in the company would require fresh new faces. Enter one Randy Orton, who first appeared on television for the company this night some twenty years ago... and began one of the most illustrious careers in professional wrestling history.
Join L. T. and video game journalist and podcaster Stuart Gipp as they take a look back at Rookie Orton's first night on air.
Sunday 21 April 2002.
With the brand split now in effect, it was time for the World Wrestling Federation to promote its first pay-per-view event of this brave new world. How would the Superstars of the company's two brands ensure they stood out? And how far could nostalgia take fan favourite Hulk Hogan as he challenged for the WWF Championship for the first time in nine years?
Join L. T. and newLegacy Inc.'s duel as they take a look at Hulk Hogan's first pay-per-view main event in almost a full decade and see just how the Hulkster held up in early 2002.
Monday 25 March 2002.
The World Wrestling Federation was about to be turned on its head. To divide up the huge talent roster the company now employed, the first ever WWF Draft was presented to the world, with half the wrestlers to be exclusive to Monday Night Raw and half to be exclusive to SmackDown!. Of course, a wrestling draft had never been attempted before, so the wrestling world watched with baited breath to see how the WWF were going to make their Brand Split become a reality.
L. T. Fletcher is joined by stand-up comedian John Porter as the two of them look back on what the draft is, how it worked and the seeds of what it would lead to as the WWF entered completely new territory.
Monday 18 March 2002.
Hot off the heels of WrestleMania X8 the night before, the World Wrestling Federation found itself in a dilemma as its weekly Monday Night Raw broadcast drew closer. In addition to the night after WrestleMania traditionally being a blank slate for new storylines, meaning they had to begin from scratch, the company had more talent than they had airtime in which they could properly utilise them all. Oh yeah- and their top bad guy had just been forcibly turned into a hero by the loving WrestleMania crowd. Vince McMahon and his team of writers and producers were forced to make changes- and quick. But McMahon had a few tricks up his sleeve... including a new WWF Superstar he couldn’t wait to debut in front of the world.
L. T. Fletcher is joined by John Blud of newLegacy Inc. and Deadlock (and co-owner of fast-rising independent wrestling promotion Deadlock Pro Wrestling) for this look at the night things changed for the WWF as old rivalries draw to a close, alliances shift… and a new face explodes onto the scene as the WWF landscape is about to be changed in never before seen fashion.
From 2002 to 2008, World Wrestling Entertainment produced the Ruthless Aggression Era.
But what is a wrestling era? How did we get to the beginning of this one? What did the wrestling landscape look like at the time? And what exactly were the challenges that lay ahead?
Join host L. T. Fletcher for this introductory look at a classic period in professional wrestling history and get brought up to speed on everything you need to know prior to the March 18th 2002 beginning of the Ruthless Aggression Era!