The Ruthless Aggression Era

[Marshall_magic]

Honestly, I wish more top guys pushed back. Look what happened with Roman, basically packed his bags and wouldn't come to work unless the WWE made it worth his while. Suddenly they come up with the Bloodline and it's one of the best storylines the WWE had ever put together and Roman was made to look strong, at least for the first half which really carried the entire storyline.

That's why I think the fans always turned on The Rock, he never really stood for anything so his character came off as a phony. Same deal with Cena, who lost his edge and didn't really have that many interesting arcs. The recent heel turn threatened to be one of the best things they did, but they took it in such a cliche nonsensical direction that they lost the fans surprisingly quickly.

Roman was a total miscast as the big dog. He’s not a larger than life personality, life of the party type. They had it in their mind he had to be cast this way. When they gave him a persona that befits his personality and look he became a massive star.

Rock was turned on in my eyes, because he retreats to wrestling when he needs good press. When things are great for him in Hollywood you won’t see him near WWE. His attempt to overtly railroad the WM40 main event showed failed miserably. His Netflix debut appearance wasn’t much better.

Cena became a stale act, he just never evolved. His best work was when they did stories of Cena the dynasty vs an upstart (Punk, Styles, Owens). Otherwise if you’ve seen one Cena story you’ve seen them all. Even stories with Bray and Kane which threatened to change him never really did. His heel turn was like Austin’s, it came when no one actually wanted to boo him. It probably should’ve happened at least a decade earlier, probably even 15 years.

 

[Big Pete]

Roman was a total miscast as the big dog. He’s not a larger than life personality, life of the party type. They had it in their mind he had to be cast this way. When they gave him a persona that befits his personality and look he became a massive star.

Even then he got handed some of the worst dialogue of all-time and didn't think to stroke the fu-man chu? I'm glad he came to his senses, especially when you compare the before and after. I'll never forget the time Cena ate him up when they went head to head in promos.

Rock was turned on in my eyes, because he retreats to wrestling when he needs good press. When things are great for him in Hollywood you won’t see him near WWE. His attempt to overtly railroad the WM40 main event showed failed miserably. His Netflix debut appearance wasn’t much better.

Good point but even back in the day, I think the majority of fans would take Austin over The Rock in a heart-beat. A large part of that was because The Rock didn't really protect his brand and would agree to work with anyone or say some really corny line that only worked because of his charisma.

It's funny now because I think one of the reasons fans have turned on him is because he's overly protective of his brand and he's coming across as a back-stabbing phony. Not even in Pro Wrestling but in Hollywood in general with the Fast and the Furious and Black Adam.

And that's The Rock, he's one of the best performers to ever come out of Pro Wrestling. However I think his willingness was a double edged sword. It gave us Rock-Hogan and Hollywood Rock but I don't think the fans were as loyal.