10 WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Superstars You Probably Don't Remember
For these Superstars, Ruthless Aggression ended up being a period of Merciful Meekness...
Among the first utterances by a pre-Jorts John Cena on WWE programming were the company's ordained buzzwords of the day: "Ruthless Aggression". Following the Attitude Era, and the one-year grace period of botching invasions from WCW and the nWo alike, WWE instituted a new era of sorts, one that fans a bit younger than the Attitude heyday look back on fondly, because it was *their* era.
And no doubt, Ruthless Aggression spawned many good things, from the rise of the Ohio Valley Four, the establishment of tremendous wrestling on SmackDown, and many memorable rivalries and character turns. But not every individual under that ruthlessly-aggressive spotlight thrived. For every "Rated R Superstar" and "Doctor of Thuganomics", there are those that never could get out of the starting blocks. While some flourished, others faded away with barely a sound.
Let's turn back the clock to those years with the double-zeroes in the middle, and scope out some WWE superstars who, with all due respect, didn't prove to be super, nor could you call them stars. For them, Ruthless Aggression ended up being a period of Merciful Meekness.
10. The Teacher's Pets
For about a year from Judgment Day 2006 onward, Paul London and Brian Kendrick defended their WWE Tag Team titles on each and every SmackDown pay-per-view, although at times it seemed like creative had to scrape some duos together for the highest of hooligans to square off with. No Mercy that year gave us a pretty good match, albeit a forgettable one, that pitted London and Kendrick against two OVW standouts that ended up not being long for the main roster.
They were KC James and Idol Stevens, sometimes referred to as The Teacher's Pets. That's because their manager was former science teacher Michelle McCool, whose arena attire definitely played on the "Hot for Teacher" stereotype. James looked like the lovechild of Bobby Eaton, while Stevens looked like a clean shaven Damien Sandow - which is because he *was* a clean-shaven Damien Sandow, years before discovering the comfort that a plush bathrobe can provide. The month following No Mercy, James and Stevens faded from the SmackDown roster, and James retired two years later.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.