10 Most Controversial WWE Ruthless Aggression Storylines

From Snitsky and Lita's "romance" angle to Muhammed Hassan to JBL confronting illegal immigrants at the border, these are the 10 Most Controversial WWE Ruthless Aggression Storylines.
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Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, lists, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.

[@superrobz]

I still shudder to think what’s going through vinces mind when he wanted to do some sort of incest angle with Stephanie

[@nu-metalfan2654]

@Rob Picken. Well it runs in the McMahon family because Shane said in a radio interview about 4 years ago that he wouldn’t of mind doing the plan b for that Incest story which was going to be Shane be the father of Stephanie’s baby, because Shane said he finds his sister hot. Well if I had a sister that looked like Steph I wouldn’t mind to 😂

[@91Metalhead]

Honestly the crazy and somewhat offensive angles is a big part of what i enjoy about wrestling and also why i can't get into it anymore. It's too plain today, there's no surprises (at least the last time i watched). I know many of the angles of old, wouldn't hold up today and feel wrong, but i still enjoy them. I'm not looking at wrestling to be my moral compass anyway, it's mindless (but fun) entertainment.

[@conniecarroll7222]

@@nu-metalfan2654 Did they do that because I managed to miss it,thank goodness

[@nu-metalfan2654]

@@conniecarroll7222 No they didn’t end up doing it.

[@jakemitchell1132]

My question is, what would be the endgame? What exactly was the plan for that angle?

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Muhammad Hassan gimmick was poor timing at the time . Shame that his wrestling career was ruined forever

[@mitchellima4736]

Poor timing and they also.sjpildnt have had him go full terrorist, kinda kills the layers of the character a little

[@elneco4654]

The timing was actually great, especially since it wasn't the stereotypical foreign heel but rather a more intricate character. It was all going well until they decided to do the masked terrorist angle.

[@zanethind]

Yeah 😢

[@grimmwicked313]

Goose stepping and making Eddie's mother have a heart attack which he himself would have sometime later in the ring. And let's not forget the time he stiffed the blue meanie. Truly the most vile heel in wrestling history.

[@KingHiki]

I hated JBL as a kid but in hindsight he was a brilliant heel character. I wish JBL and Muhammad Hassan had a chance to feud at the time because the promos would've the stuff of legends

[@TheChamp820]

then he got stiffed but still yeah

[@thabisompisane6600]

The Ruthless Aggression made me a wrestling fan

[@anointed6386]

I became a fan during this Era but I wouldn't say it's what made me a wrestling fan. I think I became a fan despite the Ruthless Aggression stuff

[@Zeus1080p]

you and everyone here

[@ratedrva757]

@@Zeus1080p speak for yourself I been a fan since WWF new generation days 123 kid and doink days

[@ratedrva757]

@@BrockSamsonVB yeah and I turn 34 on the 24th

[@mageside]

.... cool

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Booker T was huge over than Triple H at the time

[@conniecarroll7222]

Yes it was and such a shame that he lost that match, especially that match where we were all counting till Hunter was able to pin Booker. Bad match

[@craigs9934]

Oh boy. Only at number 8 and we are already talking about "It Wasnt my Fault"....

[@hhtptai]

We all came into this knowing, KNOWING what number one is.

[@aprentissdaye]

Muhammad Hassan, the character that could've been. What a legitimate heat magnet.

[@zanethind]

True but it was the wrong time and the wrong place sadly 😢

[@kyleshiflet9952]

Oh boy the JBL,Kane and Lita,and Muhammad Hussein storylines was just wow

[@ChristopherJohn4389]

*were

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Vince Mcmahon's death storyline would've been mega storyline had the Benoit incident never happened

[@Zombiekilleryamato]

It likely be better then there back up story Vince’s illegitimate son hornswoggle

[@georgemunro319]

We saw how excited Paul London was at the thought Vince McMahon dying 😁

[@elneco4654]

@@Zombiekilleryamato Technically Hornswoggle was a backup of a backup since Mr. Kennedy was going to be the illegitimate son, but Randy Orton and wellness policy happened.

[@mohammedriadh4990]

@@elneco4654 the randy orton thing happened a year later

[@Matt-cr4vv]

At the time of this thing I was 13 I believe, and while I was aware that wrestling was scripted and all that as I remember things my kid brain didn’t have the awareness or processing ability to grasp that we have technology that can create this video that didn’t actually happen. So as a kid my mind was going wild because I knew it was all show because my family ruined the time period as a kid where you get to believe it’s all real by telling me it was scripted entertainment basically from day 1 of watching but too ignorant of the world to understand how there could be this video where I clearly saw him get in the limo and saw it explode yet it wasn’t real. So as a kid I spent the next week I think it was sitting on the fence I guess where I knew that it couldn’t actually be real but couldn’t grasp the video to fully accept that it wasn’t real. And that week we went on vacation and I remember watching the news in a hotel and seeing the Benoit stuff and seeing Vince speaking and finally having confirmation that it wasn’t real. But it’s even funnier now as an adult to think how wild it was to even do that on the show solely in thinking of the effects on the market it could have for a public entity to even pretend thsy this man who you’ve been saying for years is the key vital piece to your company in your SEC filings died like that. Obviously only a dense adult wouldn’t know it was for the show but even so have to think it swung their share price for a period of time.

[@nathanallen3761]

The Kane and lita story line was everything yo!! 😂😂😂

[@Matt-cr4vv]

Meanwhile I was ten trying to understand everything that was going on LOL

[@JackPowerX]

10:48 It would have been funny if there'd been about a ten-second pause between the words "pedigree" and "1, 2, 3". Or at least more accurate.

[@christopherballero866]

I know the product is PG now and since Benoit's and Eddie's deaths WWE has been much more cautious; however, I do kind of miss WWE going with crazy characters/stories. Not saying it always worked or was in good taste but I do appreciate the effort.

[@lewislast8501]

It wasn't pretty but it gave a sense of realism. People aren't perfect and people do dumb things. WWE acting squeaky clean comes off as scripted and fake

[@DavidRamirez-sh5xd]

WWE do something crazy, I remember the girls on RAW underground and immediately the people tried to cancel WWE for that.

[@larrymccoy4895]

@@DavidRamirez-sh5xd yeah man I remember 🤦🏾‍♂️ these cancel culture SJW and rest should be ashamed of themselves.

[@jp3813]

@@lewislast8501 WWE going squeaky clean is actually in tune w/ today's politically correct culture. Like it or not, that's reality.

[@lewislast8501]

@@jp3813 only to so much of an extent. Even the most righteous amount us have pasts with mistakes and will make mistakes today. Acting like they don't is unrealistic

[@DJDoubleCee]

I gotta admit, I thought those vignettes of Tim White trying to kill himself were funny as hell 😆

[@kyleshiflet9952]

Same here

[@jonnyOysters]

Honestly it was the best dark comedy WWE ever did.

[@RandoChrisYT]

As someone with a Hispanic background, I remember me and my sister in our early 10s hating JBL so much for what he did in those segments.

[@conniecarroll7222]

Everyone hated JBL for some reason, the man just made every ones skin crawl.

[@Ykwhat75]

Who else knew Katie Vick was gonna be number 1 ?? 😂😂

[@daleharris3809]

It might be the single most distasteful angle in the history of pro wrestling. And Vince Russo wasn't even there to take the heat for it.

[@bbsy1]

@@daleharris3809 top 5.

[@alastair852]

My main takeaway from this list is that Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle has a different title in the UK.

[@Jerry_Freestyle]

Kurt Angle winning a Gold Medal with a broken freaking neck is as well known as Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed

[@georgedafourth]

Hulk Hogan made a whole career being the right gay guy at the right place at the wrong right time

[@paullawrence1444]

Where is edge lita matt hardy love triangle

[@SonBlackHeart22]

Katie Vick to me was the worst angle in the Ruthless Aggression era it ruined Kane's backstory that Paul Bearer said in 97 it made Kane look like a big chump, the IC tittle went dormant for 6 months meaning tue midcard had nothing to fight for since all the belts on Raw where unified with the IC belt only for it to unify with the Big Gold belt since Trips wanted to hold that belt and not the IC one. And the only one who looked any "good" was Triple H who won this bs fued Kane should of one that fued in my opinion

[@martinrubio6357]

The snitsky storyline with the baby crazy

[@joshuaperez362]

It's not his fault

[@UncledadBFD]

I drank all day yesterday and just woke up and threw up. Then watched this. I don’t feel so good

[@theSANDMAN366]

Idk why but the Heidenreich-Michael Cole one just made me bust a side laughing

[@jamessaliturewizard5694]

Good times but they did not mention what was one of the most hilarious moments ever when Jon heidinrich had Michael Cole against the wall

[@Sunprism]

Eugene That is all

[@NickTaylorRickPowers]

Number 1. Katie Vick

[@kyleshiflet9952]

Oh shit

[@dansmith4394]

I'm not sure Vince knows what the internet is.

[@EmmaBonn96]

Honorable mention Goldust tourettes

[@WhiskeyBrewer]

Death - The best kind of family entertainment

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

Chavo Guerrero becoming kerwin white, shelton benjamin big mama storyline, and everything to do with zack gowen All terrible ideas

[@SkullLeader001]

How about when Randy Orton called Shelton Benjamin "uppity"

[@logankerr8090]

it was Eddie's idea to have JBL give his mother a "heart attack" thus almost getting JBL killed over there. classic Eddie

[@LFPS0311]

Oh come on, the "Boy meets girl" bit belongs to Adam, not Adam. You KNOW Adam does it better.

[@LeDameMarciana]

Man, the reactions to the Kane/Lita storyline really was Something Else And A Half, especially in retrospect. ppl were really like "i can excuse a woman being r*ped but i draw the line at her accidentally losing the baby formed from that r*pe." OOF.

[@Heartshapedbox81]

Triple H would have done a much better job to dissuade the insinuation that everyone was fine with that storyline if he had instead condemned it and said that it shouldn't have happened, I don't mean the win-loss thing because good luck getting him to admit that he should have been the one to lose in that situation, but the storyline itself, him saying "oh no that wasn't racist" is just bad.

[@PunjabHP]

Muhammad Hassan was a great heel

[@TheFriendlyWeirdo]

I heard Tim White actually liked doing the Lunchtime Suicides.

[@ChristopherJohn4389]

It would suck if your first encounters of wrestling were during the 2000's. That'd be starting to watch the MCU at Phase 4. Then, having to go back and watch the rest and try to understand the excitement.

[@ericvyskocil7428]

No Billy & Chuck or giving HLA its own spot. Kind of surprised

[@Chaos0208]

I get why people don't appreciate a lot of these storylines nowadays (I tend to agree), but some were just "heel says heelish things to prove he's an obvious heel". People need to stop being so sensitive. I remember when parents were trying to cancel TV shows like Married with Children, or censor music by rappers and edgy rock stars. There was quite a number of Boomer religious folks pushing their views on everyone. Now, it's the younger millenials (Gen Z too?), pushing their views on what they learned was problematic from some of their liberal arts college professors (or now, their preferred news media). You might find the JBL storyline more offensive now, but it was still pretty offensive... thus why a heel was doing it. But yes, Triple H should've taken a couple big Ls with the kind of heat he managed by invoking racism and necrophilia.

[@Tattoosandjorts]

Yes the Katie Vick angle is horrible but it’s train wreck horrible too. I can’t help but laugh at it.

[@charleschamberlain5383]

boy some of these are brutal

[@doubledown0411]

The HHH-Booker fued is what ended my fandom. I couldn't believe that after all that Racist shit, HHH got a clean pin and ended the storyline. I stopped watching right after. Such bullshit.

[@zanethind]

Merry Christmas Cultaholic Wrestling 🎉🎄🤶🎅🎁🌲🎊🍾

[@jeremywilliams5141]

What about Chavo Guerrero as Kerwin White?

[@christianramirez7858]

JBL is one of the best heels ever

[@paulweston8408]

When someone tells you that Donald Trump should never been President, One, of many reasons, is he actually believed a WWE angle was real!

[@fritzvanlonden1388]

How could you not have the Mark Henry/Mae Young baby fiasco? That was pretty gross... and I'd say, controversial.

[@Jayage5d]

Because that was in the Attitude Era, this list is about the Ruthless Aggression Era.

[@garyhen1707]

That white guy chavo thing was very weird, I'll have you know.

[@JungleBunkRootsMusic2022]

I have no idea what was going on in Vince's head when he created the katie Vick segment...

[@skorpiontamer]

Kurt Angle's promo about not liking black people

[@lorimorgan7279]

Can't believe JBL really beat up the blue meanie

[@kylefunderburk4194]

Since you mention the Triple H vs. Booker T fued from 2003, here's a reminder of the PPV matches Triple H had in the months following WrestleMania XIX: -Backlash: 6-man tag team match with Ric Flair and Chris Jericho vs. Booker T, Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels. -Judgement Day: World Heavyweight Championship match vs. Kevin Nash. -Insurrextion: World Heavyweight Championship street fight vs. Kevin Nash. -Bad Blood: World Heavyweight Championship hell in a cell match vs. Kevin Nash. Why didn't Booker T go over? Is there a good reason for that?

[@andrewblanchard2398]

DON'T KICK THE BABY 👶 👞 KICK THE BABY 👶 👞

[@monstermikeheinrichs]

Before watching this video I'm going to guess that Katie Vick and Eddie-sploitation are going to be the top two. Edit - so I was half right. _Of course_ number 1 was Katie Vick, but I had actually forgotten about that feud between Kurt Angle and Booker T. And now I'm mad that I was reminded of it.

[@packerpf]

JBL saying various things about Mexicans isn't too controversial in the US, in that it's pretty normal language in Texas and Arizona and some part of California and most of the bible belt. While it's completely insensitive it's not controversial when it's an accurate portrayal of a large selection of intolerant folk; many place of which the WWE tours.

[@Geojr815]

This kinda stuff is what made wrestling great. Why would any fan want their entertainment to be toned down or less ridiculous?

[@pizzarolls5573]

95

[@MustafaAli-lb8dq]

Mohammed Hassan was a wasted potential.

[@MrBrownsugar85]

lol ruthless aggression era aged fine, people are just soft nowadays

[@vincentvalen72]

Anyone else never watched the Katie Vick angle, and only remember her from the fictional book about Kane? Yeah kinda weird to look back in hindsight xD

[@JeremyBearimy913]

My big question is... do they really call it "Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies" in the UK?

[@ejscorp]

There's no way Trump really believed Vince got blown up

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

What about Stephanie vs vince

[@cj3036]

I barely watched the jbl segment recently, and as a 18 year old Mexican,, I sadly laughed

[@unevan570]

That limo explosion happened in wilkes barre pa and the explosion was done the day before the more you know!

[@flippineck2825]

Dawn/Al storyline was a highlight of wwe's entire history.

[@walterreed7639]

So, terrorism is less CONTROVERSIAL than necrophilia?

[@Whogrl16]

Ruthless aggression era was basically attitude eras little brother

[@scottdixon1986]

Vince vs God. Where would that rank?

[@pizzarolls5573]

I am 100 for real now

[@tamzidmohsinkhan3333]

Katie Vick storyline completely ruined Kane

[@VIGLounge]

The more I hear about the storyline of Muhammad Hassan I can't help seeing parallels between the storyline of Sgt. Slaughter being portrayed as an Iraqi sympathizer.

[@flockawaka1017]

Not His Fault was God-Tier awful and I love it

[@xenerith5536]

I was so in to the Limo angle

[@nicktaylor2657]

You didn't mention that the only reason Vince dropped the fake death angle was the real life murder-suicide of Chris Beniot

[@petertorres6941]

I like this video

[@iandude1]

It was short term and ended because of Eddie's death, but not even an honorable mention to Kerwin White?

[@brotherdavid]

Harold and Maude! My favorite movie! I marked the fuck out, bro!

[@themaskedmark92]

Vince limo segment Is so stupidly "artsy" that Is casting Lynch surreal territory

[@martinrubio6357]

Muhammed hassan was gona be champion

[@iDrkTV]

1:29 - Dude, I had looked away and had no clue what this sound was. 😆

[@martinrubio6357]

Melina is hot

[@melanineyedoc]

No arguments.

[@mariannalovegood2418]

I'm shocked at no mention of them exploiting Eddie's death. It's what made me stop watching for basically a decade

[@georgedafourth]

Right! The "Eddie's in hell" was just the worst

[@ROBken2654]

These storylines bring back some horrible memories Jesus

[@chrishollister80]

So glad I stopped watching wrestling around 2001 and missed all this nonsense lol

[@hsal1996]

You're acting like as if the Attitude Era didn't have any dumb storylines lmao 😂

[@christianramirez7858]

So you didn’t missed DX doing blackface

[@matthewfulton4863]

"I like this video" - Ross

[@pizzarolls5573]

96

[@torgregory1254]

I don’t think peacock is editing the wwe network in the uk is it?

[@startheprophet]

i was just watching that kurt angle story and was wondering why i have never seen it on one of these 10 videos 😂 that was so horrible

[@TheKCShow17]

How the Matt Hardy vs Edge/Lita storyline didn’t get ranked at all is insane.

[@dasiareed2708]

That wasn’t controversial

[@garymetzler5675]

The Tim white stuff was hilarious. Can’t lie

[@Nbflowers1989]

Crazy times!

[@turtletcp1598]

It wasn’t my fault.

[@eward0654]

Hahahah woke wrestling commentary.

[@rcdune7132]

People who actually get offended over things in WWE just sicken me... It's FICTION!!!!!!!

[@officialbrucewayne]

When nwa and Vince McMahon sr was still alive

[@ShowdeQuetzal]

Ah the early 2000's

[@hhtptai]

I really hate how WWE writers just used sexual assault as a storyline a little *too* frequently.