Characters / WWE - Ruthless Aggression Era

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Lists the various WWE wrestlers active during the Ruthless Aggression Era, from March 25, 2002 to March 30, 2008. Please limit associated tropes to that wrestler's time in WWE.

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A

Akebono (Akebono Taro) 2005

B

Batista (David Michael Bautista, Jr.) 2002-2010, 2014, 2019

See also: Evolution.

Shelton Benjamin (Shelton James Benjamin) 2002-2010; 2017-2023

See also: The World's Greatest Tag Team and The Hurt Business

The Boogeyman (Martin "Marty" Wright) 2005-2009, 2015

Elijah Burke (Elijah Samuel Burke) 2004-2008

C

Carlito (Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colon, Jr.) 2004-2010, 2021, 2023-

John Cena (John Felix Anthony Cena, Jr.) 2002-Present

See also: The Nexus.

Rob/Robért Conway (Robert Thomas Conway Jr.) 2003-2007

See also: La Résistance (Tag Team)

D

Simon Dean/Nova (Michael "Mike" Bucci) 2002-2005

Rene Dupree (Rene Goguen) 2003-2007

See also: La Résistance (Tag Team)

E

Eugene (Nick Dinsmore) 2004-2007, 2009

F

Finlay (David Finlay) 2006-2011, 2012-2020

• Blood Knight: "The name is Finlay, and I love to fight!"
• Cool Old Guy
• Fighting Irish
• Finishing Move: Celtic Cross (Running over the shoulder back to belly piledriver)
• Hot-Blooded
• Little Guy, Big Buddy: To Hornswoggle.
• The Mentor: Responsible for training the Divas down in WWE's developmental program.
• Oireland
• Put on a Bus: Took the blame for a house show incident where The Miz interrupting the National Anthem caused controversy.
  • The Bus Came Back/Kicked Upstairs: Returned in 2012 as a backstage producer.

G

Goldberg (William Scott "Bill" Goldberg) 2003-2004, 2016-2017, 2019-2023

Zach Gowen 2003-2004

• Arch-Enemy: Vince McMahon and Matt Hardy.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Sable flashed him, though nothing was shown on screen, of course, to help Vince McMahon defeat him in an arm-wrestling match on the June 12, 2003 SmackDown!.
• Handicapped Badass: He's the only professional wrestler who wrestles with one leg.
• Improbable Weapon User: His Prosthetic Leg.
• Littlest Cancer Patient: Had cancer as kid, which why he only has one leg.
• The Load: Due to only having one leg this was sometime a problem.
• Morality Pet: For Stephanie McMahon.
• Put on a Bus: Lost to Yoshihiro Tajiri on the October 23, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, and was then fired in February 2004.
• Red Herring Shirt
• Sidekick: To Mr. America (Hulk Hogan).

Sylvain Grenier 2003-2007

See also: La Résistance (Tag Team)

The Great Khali (Dalip Singh Rana) 2006-2014, 2017

H

David Hart Smith (Harry Smith) 2007-2008, 2009-2011, 2021

• Badass Family: He's the son of the British Bulldog and nephew to the Hart Family.
• The Big Guy (Face)
• The Brute (Heel)
• Demoted to Extra: Went from being tag team champions with Tyson Kidd while part of the Hart Dynasty, having a brief feud with him after their breakup, to not appear on TV at all. He was then released.
• Evil Brit
• It Runs in the Family
• Real Men Wear Pink: As part of the Hart Dynasty.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Union jack, post-Hart Dynasty.
• Wrestling Family
• Underwear of Power

Muhammad Hassan (Mark Copani) 2004-2005

Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers) 2007-2013, 2016-2020

• Bumbling Henchmen Duo: With Zack Ryder, when they were associated with Edge, then with Vance Archer upon his return and with Tyler Reks.
• Cane Fu
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After his return to WWE, he never won a match, accumulating a losing streak of 269 matches, until his losing streak came to an end at WrestleMania 35, where he not only won but also won the Raw Tag Team Championships together with Zack Ryder.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He's grown very bitter and very jealous of Zack's success as of late.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: It's not just about Zack. He and his latest partner Tyler Reks both feel like they're headline-worthy talent being overlooked in general and they will complain about it to anyone who'll listen.
  • Follow the Leader: Ironically, or perhaps hypocritically, he and Reks tried to follow Ryder's lead in taking advantage of the internet fanbase by way of a Youtube series. WWE buried it for weeks on NXT before ordering it dead.
• Odd Friendship: With The Rock, of all people, outside of wrestling. Yes, a rarely seen on TV jobber and one of the biggest stars (and current Hollywood star) in wrestling history. Presumably it stems from Hawkins helping Rock shake off ring rust for his comeback.
• Put on a Bus: Currently out due to a knee injury.
• Red Baron: "The Party Starter".
• Shout-Out: Him and Reks performed a Magic Mike-style routine one week before a match. And they probably would have continued with it, had not Tyler decided to leave WWE, and wrestling all together, so he could be with his family.
• Straight Man: To Zack Ryder just before they split up.
• Underwear of Power
• Unrelated Brothers: With Zack Ryder when they were known as the Major Brothers.

Heidenreich (Jon Heidenreich) 2003-2006

• Aborted Arc: Who or what "Little Johnny" was is never explained even though he or it was responsible for Heidenreich's early victories.
• The Big Guy: His debut and as a member of the LOD.
• The Brute
• Cloudcuckoolander: As a face in 2005. He was often looking for a new friend and would read his poems which he called "Disasterpieces".
• The Ghost/Imaginary Friend: One of the theories for Little Johnny.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Type A.
• Last-Name Basis: After his Heel turn.
• Psycho Supporter: For Booker T.
• Wrestling Monster

I

Impostor Kane/Festus/Luke Gallows (Andrew "Drew" Hankinson) 2006-2010, 2016-2020, 2022-

See also: Bullet Club.

J

Jamal/Umaga (Edward Solofa "Eddie" Fatu) 2002-2003, 2005-2009

K.C. James/Kasey James/James Curtis (Kurt Sellers) 2006-2008

• Jobber: Became this in 2007.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy
• Put on a Bus: Was sent packing in August 2008 after jobbing to Evan Bourne and Braden Walker.
• Tag Team: The Teacher's Pets with Idol Stevens, with Michelle McCool as their manager.

Jesus (Aaron Aguilera) 2004

• Battle Butler: To Carlito.
• The Brute
• Put on a Bus: Got sent packing after losing to John Cena in a pretty one-sided bout at Armageddon 2004.

Nathan Jones 2002-2003

• Charles Atlas Superpower: Discovered powerlifting while in Prison for armed robbery.
• Demoted to Extra: After Team Angle d. Team Lesnar at Survivor Series 2003.
• Finishing Move: Chokeslam, Torture Rack.
• Glass Cannon: Big and strong but very injury-prone.
• Put on a Bus: Down to OVW in 2002 so he could work on his skills.
• Red Baron: "The Colossus of Boggo Road", which was where the prison he was sentenced to was located.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Quit during a tour in Australia in December 2003 because he hated the heavy work schedule.

K

Mr. Ken Kennedy (Kenneth "Ken" Anderson) 2005-2009

Mike Knox (Mike Knoxville Hettinga) 2006-2010

• Beard of Evil
• The Brute
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Was this to Kelly Kelly.
• Finishing Move: The Knox Out.
• Jobber: Was this towards the end of his stint before getting released in April 2010.
• Underwear of Power
• Would Hit a Girl: How he broke up with Kelly Kelly after December to Dismember 2006.

Vladimir Kozlov (Olyeg Olyeksandrovich Prudius) 2006, 2008-2011

L

Bobby Lashley (Franklin Roberto "Bobby" Lashley) 2005-2008, 2018-Present

See also: The Hurt Business

Brock Lesnar (Brock Edward Lesnar) 2002-2004, 2012-2020, 2021-

M

Drew McIntyre (Andrew McLean "Drew" Galloway IV) 2007, 2009-2014, 2017-Present

See also: 3MB

Balls Mahoney (Jonathan Rechner) 2005-2008

Tony Mamaluke (Charles John Spencer) 2006-2007

Santino Marella (Anthony Carelli) 2007-2016, 2020

Chris Masters (Christopher Todd Mordetzky) 2005-2007, 2009-2011

• The Big Guy: As a face.
• The Brute: As a heel.

• The Fighting Narcissist: At first, not so much later on.
• Finishing Move: The Masterlock, a wrenching full nelson on steroids, in more ways than one. His initial gimmick kind of made it a big deal.
• Genius Bruiser: Reads books on politics on the road.
• Ignorant of His Own Ignorance: Shawn Michaels told him he was this on the August 22, 2005 Raw, making himself sound like a Grumpy Old Man in the process.
  "The problem with you kids today is you don't even know enough to know that you don’t know."
• Pec Flex: Oh man. He did this thing A LOT in his run. He's got to be one of the most famous modern examples you could think of in professional wrestling or in general.
• Red Baron: "The Masterpiece."

• Testosterone Poisoning: During the mock Jerry Springer show, Eve claims to have dumped him in favor of somebody who was much more manly than him. His response? "That's impossible!"

Joey Mercury (Adam Birch) 2004–2007, 2010-2017

See also: The Authority

• Arch-Enemy: London and Kendrick and The Hardy Boys, particularly Matt.
• Badass Longcoat
• Badass Teacher/Retired Badass: Currently works as trainer in WWE's developmental territory NXT.
• Bald of Evil: Reappeared as a member of the Straight Edge Society (with the requisite shaved head) quite a bit after MNM broke up. Then reappeared again as a corporate stooge for The Authority.
• Dirty Coward
• Facial Horror: Accidentally got a ladder in the face, during the Armageddon 2006 Fatal Four-Way Ladder Match, when Jeff landed on the ladder. The result was not pretty, especially since Nitro made it out unscathed.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: This was then made into an angle between the Hardy Boys.
• Full-Name Basis: Went by Joseph Mercury when he joined the Straight Edge Society.
• Fur and Loathing
• Glass Cannon: Cites his injuries as the reason that his in-ring career never took off.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy
• No Shirt, Long Jacket
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome
  • Tall, Dark, and Snarky
• Would Hit a Girl: He was willing to attack women if Melina commanded it when he was in MNM.

Ernest "The Cat" Miller 2002-2004

The Miz (Michael "Mike" Mizanin) 2004, 2006-Present

Matt Morgan 2003-2005

Johnny Nitro/John Morrison (John Randall Hennigan) 2004-2011, 2020-2021

Rey Mysterio (Oscar Gutierrez) 2002-2015, 2018-Present

N

Nicky/Dolph Ziggler (Nicholas Theodore "Nick" Nemeth) 2005, 2006, 2008-2023

Jamie Noble (James Howard Gibson) 2002-2004, 2005-Present

• Butt-Monkey: Well he was on the losing end of a feud with Hornswoggle, a fact that always makes you one of these, and he was disliked by general manager Vickie Guerrero on top of it. Later became this to an extent as part of J&J Security with Joey Mercury.

• Finishing Move: A tiger driver and a submission hold he called the trailer hitch.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Thanks to Sheamus Powerbombing him on the floor outside of the ring, which forced him to retire.
• Just Hit Him: All of his elaborate schemes to do away with Hornswoggle, when all he needed to do was, well, you know.
• Karma Houdini: Pretty much. Losing his girlfriend because of his mistreatment of her seems pretty fair at first, for example, but then gets to beat her in a match, technically broke the rules to do so, and there was no payoff for it. Aside from Nidia though, the faces Jamie feuded with were largely not the type who could give him a beating that would please fans without being completely out of character. This might be the reason for his aforementioned butt monkey status later, to make up for lost time (though it is more likely that Vince had decided to phase out the cruiserweight division, leaving a lot less for guys like Jamie Noble to do).
• Lust: A flaw of his, he used the money he got from winning a lottery to try and bribe Torrie Wilson into sleeping with him. This was despite him having a girlfriend at the time, and strangely enough ended up in a foursome also involving Billy Gunn. His inability to ignore Miss Jackie ultimately results in him losing a match he probably should have won to Rico. His infatuation with Layla did end up working out, eventually, for a little while, but then William Regal stole her away.
• Older Than They Think: Noble used a rope-assisted DDT years before Randy Orton would use it regularly.
• Rags to Riches: Inherited a lot of money. Jury's still out on whether he didn't know what to do with it or simply chose not to use it to move beyond his roots.
• Revenge: He feuded with Tajiri over the fact Tajiri made his girlfriend Nidia blind.
  • Human Shield: This is what Jamie ended up using Nidia since she could not see what was happening. He would then blame everything that happened to her on Rey Mysterio, giving her a deep seated fear of him.
• Straw Misogynist: Not on purpose; he was just kind of ignorant and not good with his words. Nonetheless it earned him the wrath of Vickie.
• Would Hit a Girl: He was willing to attack Dawn Marie to ensure Nidia got a win on Velocity. (Dawn of course focused her payback on Nidia rather than Jamie). Downplayed with Nidia herself, whom he would shove and use to save himself from other people's hits while blind, but when it came to an actual fight between them, he opted to make her tap out.
• Underwear of Power: When he wasn't wearing denim shorts.

• Verbal Tic: "Jamie Noble boy".

Christopher Nowinski (Christopher John Nowinski) 2002-2003, 2005

Nunzio (James Maritato) 2002–2008, 2010-2011

O

Randy Orton (Randal Keith "Randy" Orton) 2002-Present

See also: Evolution, The Authority and The Wyatt Family.

P

Johnny Parisi (Joseph Dorgan) 2005-2007

• Finishing Move: The Long Island Legsweep.
• Jobber: Was basically a mainstay on Sunday Night Heat, losing to the likes of Chavo Guerrero and Kane.
• Wrestling Family: Nephew of Tony Parisi.

Montel Vontavious Porter/MVP (Hassan Hamin Assad FKA Alvin Burke, Jr.) 2006-2010, 2020-

See also: The Hurt Business

CM Punk (Phillip Jack Brooks) 2006-2014, 2023-

See also: The Nexus

Daniel Puder 2004-2005

R

Ryan Reeves/Skip Sheffield/Ryback (Ryback Alan Reeves FKA Ryan Alan Reeves) 2004, 2010-2016

See also: The Nexus.

Luther Reigns (Matt Weise) 2004-2005

• Badass in a Nice Suit
• Battle Butler: For Kurt Angle.
• Beard of Evil
• The Brute
• Co-Dragons: With Mark Jindrak to Kurt Angle.
• Jobber: Only got wins over the likes of Funaki, Charlie Haas, Nunzio, and Hardcore Holly, but would lose to bigger stars in John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Booker T, The Undertaker, and Big Show.
• Underwear of Power

Cody Rhodes/Stardust (Cody Garrett Runnels) 2007-2016, 2022-

Rosey (Matthew Tapunu'u Anoaʻi) 2002-2006

See also: Samoan Dynasty

• Badass Family: He's the son of Sika and Roman Reigns older brother.
• The Big Guy: As a face.
• The Brute: As a heel.
• Tag Team: The Island Boys/Three-Minute Warning & The Hurricane & Rosey.
• Wrestling Family: Part of the big Samoan, Anoa'i Family.

Rico (Amarico Sebastiano Constantino) 2002-2004

Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) 2007-2020

S

Sabu (Terry Brunk) 2005-2007

Sakoda (Ryan Sakoda) 2003-2004

• But Not Too Foreign: Half-Japanese, half-American.
• Wrestling Doesn't Pay: A wrestling bodyguard for Tajiri.

The Sandman (James "Jim" Fullington) 2005-2007

Gunner Scott (Brent Albright) 2006

• Jobber
• The Load
• Put on a Bus: Lost to Mr. Kennedy on the June 30th episode of SmackDown and was then put in a body bag by The Great Khali, before being released from his WWE contract on October 12th that same year.
• Sidekick: To Chris Benoit.

Gene Snitsky (Eugene Alan "Gene" Snisky) 2004-2008

• Bald of Evil: Shaved himself bald when he went to WWE's ECW, and this cemented his transformation into a rather feral Wrestling Monster.
• Catchphrase: "It wasn't my fault!".
• Gonk: Outside of causing Lita's miscarriage and punt kicking baby dolls, being a physically repugnant weirdo with a creepy foot fetish is primarily what he is remembered for.
• Last-Name Basis: After a couple months.
• Never My Fault: After accidentally causing Kane to bump into a (Kayfabe) pregnant Lita resulting in the baby’s miscarriage, he refused to accept any responsibility for it. Hence his catchphrase.
• Wrestling Monster

Idol Stevens/Damien Sandow/Damien Mizdow (Aaron Haddad) 2006, 2012-2016

U

Último Dragón (浅井 嘉浩, Asai Yoshihiro) 2003-2004

Y

Jimmy Wang Yang (James Carson Yun) 2003-2005, 2006-2010

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