<< Chapter 4: the Monday Night War
With the end of both WCW and ECW, WWF was standing on top of the wrestling business, with no competition. After WrestleMania X-Seven, several WCW and ECW wrestlers began appearing on WWF programming, and were depicted as invaders that tried to take over the promotion. They were called The Alliance and were led by Vince McMahon’s children, Shane and Stephanie.
The storyline ran for months and enjoyed commercial success, especially with the Invasion event held on July 22, 2001. However, the lack of major WCW stars led WWF to resort to WWF defectors to boost the ranks of The Alliance. This, together with the overemphasis on McMahon family feud, resulted in the Invasion storyline being universally considered “a flop” and “poorly handled”. Nevertheless, the WWF team ultimately defeated The Alliance at Survivor Series 2001, and Chris Jericho unified the WWF Championship and the WCW Championship at Vengeance on December 9, 2001, becoming the first Undisputed WWF Champion. Various other WCW and WWF championships were unified over the following months.
2002 marked the start of a new era for WWF that, after losing a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund, changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on May 6, 2002. Also, the roster was split in two with the first ever draft lottery, which resulted in different wrestlers appearing either on Raw or SmackDown!. As part of the split (dubbed “brand extension”), the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown!, while the new World Heavyweight Championship, represented by a variation of the belt of the previous WCW Championship, was introduced for Raw and awarded to Triple H. The new era was officially dubbed by McMahon as “Ruthless Aggression”, and it is now considered to have lasted from 2002 until 2008.
Triple H at WrestleMania X8 in 2002 after winning the WWF Undisputed Championship from Chris Jericho.
Around this time, a few former WCW talent that did not take part in the Invasion storyline arrived in WWE, such as Ric Flair, the nWo (with Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall), Goldberg, Scott Steiner, and even Eric Bischoff. Also, several young wrestlers debuted, including Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista, who would go on to shape WWE for numerous years. Major stars of the Attitude Era were instead leaving. Mick Foley had mostly retired from in-ring competition, The Rock was launching his acting career, and Steve Austin had his final match (until 2022) at WrestleMania XIX in 2003, losing to The Rock. Instead, Shawn Michaels returned to the ring in 2002, after a four-year-long hiatus after an injury suffered in 1998.
Brock Lesnar won the WWE Championship by defeating The Rock at SummerSlam 2002. Lesnar was drafted to SmackDown! and quickly became one of the top superstars in wrestling, but he left in 2004 after WrestleMania XX, citing burnout and injuries. In less than two years, Lesnar won the WWE Championship three times, and before leaving, at No Way Out 2004, he lost the title to Eddie Guerrero who, with his “lie, cheat, and steal” antics had rose to prominence as one of the most popular and beloved wrestlers of all time. At WrestleMania XX, Guerrero defended the title against Kurt Angle and, after the main event, celebrated with his real-life friend Chris Benoit, who had just won the World Heavyweight Championship after defeating Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple treath match (WWE’s name for a match with three wrestlers).
Eddie Guerrero remained one of the main stars in WWE after losing the title, but he suddenly passed away on November 13, 2005. After his death, WWE propelled Rey Mysterio, a popular fan favorite and longtime friend of Guerrero, to the top of the promotion, booking him to win the 2006 Royal Rumble and become World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 22.
Eddie Guerrero in 2004, he was one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE in the early 2000s (paddynapper, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).
On Raw, Triple H dominated the World Heavyweight Championship scene for years, aligning with Ric Flair, Randy Orton, and Batista to form the villainous group Evolution. The group gradually fell apart, launching Orton and Batista to superstardom during their feuds with Triple H. Orton was dubbed as the “Legend Killer” and feuded with established stars such as The Undertaker, before teaming with Edge to face Triple H and Shawn Michaels, who reunited as D-Generation X in 2006.
John Cena instead rose to prominence on SmackDown!, initially with his rapper gimmick and later as an all-conquering hero, and became WWE Champion for the first time at WrestleMania 21 in 2005. On the same night, Batista beat Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Later that year, Cena moved to Raw, while Batista went to SmackDown! as part of the draft, exchanging the world titles between the two brands. Over the following years, Cena became the main star in all of wrestling as a babyface, despite a divided audience that often criticized his on-screen dominance.
John Cena as WWE Champion in 2006. He was the top star in wrestling for several years, and won a total of sixteen world championships in WWE.
A controversial storyline that blurred the lines between reality and kayfabe took place in 2005, involving Matt Hardy, Lita, and Edge. Hardy discovered that his then-girlfriend Lita had a real-life affair with his friend and fellow WWE wrestler Edge. Hardy aired his grievances online, which prompted WWE to fire him for unprofessional conduct. This caused a harsh fan backlash toward WWE, Edge, and Lita, and WWE later rehired Hardy. The real-life feud was turned into a wrestling storyline, which ended with Edge winning and being pushed as a major heel. This series of events marked one of the earliest instances of fans influencing WWE storylines, and a decisive step toward the definitive end of kayfabe.
Women wrestlers in the 2000s were still often sexualized, and forced to compete in pillow fights, bikini contests, and matches in which the goal was to undress the opponent. Nevertheless, competitors such as Trish Stratus and Lita are credited for a resurgence of women’s wrestling during this time, and the two are regarded among the best female performers in wrestling history.
Various new concepts were introduced in the 2000s in WWE. One of these was the Elimination Chamber match, held for the first time in 2002. This is a cage match in which two wrestlers start in the ring while four others join them at timed intervals, and all competitors fight to eliminate each other until only one is left standing. In the first Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series 2002, Shawn Michaels won the World Heavyweight Championship by last eliminating defending champion Triple H.
Another peculiar new concept was introduced in 2005: the Money in the Bank. The inaugural Money in the Bank ladder match was contested at WrestleMania 21, and saw six wrestlers compete to obtain a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase, dubbed Money in the Bank, contained a contract for a guaranteed championship match at any time and any place of the winner’s choosing for a year. Edge won the inaugural match, and shockingly “cashed in” his contract to win his first WWE Championship at New Year’s Revolution on January 8, 2006, by beating a bloodied and exhausted John Cena, who had just defended the title in a brutal Elimination Chamber match. The Money in the Bank concept became a staple of WWE, with annual contests to decide the briefcase holder, and opportunistic heels often taking advantage of worn out faces to win one of the world titles.
Edge as WWE Champion in 2009. He won the WWE Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship seven times in WWE between 2006 and 2011 (Gregory Davis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).
A notable event of this era is the return of ECW, not as an independent promotion, but as a brand of WWE. After acquiring the ECW assets in 2003, WWE produced a documentary on the history of the promotion, which received critical acclaim. This prompted WWE to produce ECW One Night Stand, a special event featuring both WWE and former ECW talent. The event was a huge success, and led WWE to bring back ECW as the third brand of the promotion in 2006. That year, WWE held another ECW One Night Stand, during which former ECW wrestler and fan favorite Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship.
A new weekly show, simply called ECW, debuted on June 13, 2006, two days after ECW One Night Stand. The brand acquired famous wrestlers such as Kurt Angle and Big Show to boost its roster, which mostly included young wrestlers. A new ECW Championship was also established, and initially awarded to Rob Van Dam. However, the brand soon became just a glorified developmental territory, and quickly fell behind Raw and SmackDown!. The show was canceled in 2010, and the ECW Championship was retired. Nevertheless, new wrestlers such as CM Punk and Bobby Lashley became popular during their time in ECW before moving to other brands.
In June 2007, Chris Benoit was moved to ECW, and was scheduled to win the ECW Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions on June 24. However, he failed to appear at the show, citing a “family emergency”. Over the following days, it was discovered that Benoit had killed his wife and son, before taking his own life. The event shocked the wrestling industry, and led to a federal investigation into steroid abuse and brain injuries among wrestlers.
The incident also prompted various changes in WWE programming and drug-testing policy. After airing a memorial show for Benoit when details about his death were still unknown, WWE decided to remove all mentions of Benoit from its programming, a ban that persists to this day. Also, direct chair shots to the head were legitimately banned and, starting in 2008, WWE moved to a more family-friendly format, distancing the company from the more violent content of the past. This became known as the start of the PG Era (named after the “Parental Guidance” rating) of WWE. WWE also strengthened its Wellness Program, a drug-testing policy initially introduced after the death of Eddie Guerrero.
The 2000s and 2010s saw declining ratings and a mostly stagnating product, with WWE’s popularity already decreasing after its peak during the Attitude Era. One of the high points of this period was “The Streak”, the series of wins by The Undertaker at WrestleMania. This undefeated streak began at WrestleMania VII in 1991, when The Undertaker beat Jimmy Snuka, and continued throughout the 1990s and 2000s. While this series of wins was not initially planned, it started to be referenced in the early 2000s, and became a major point of each WrestleMania. Over the following years, various wrestlers aimed to be the first one to break the streak, regarded as an achievment greater than winning a world championship.
The matches of The Undertaker became a cornerstone of WrestleMania, and his wins against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 in 2009 and WrestleMania XXVI in 2010 are regarded as two of the best matches in the history of WWE. The Streak finally came to an end after 21 consecutive wins at WrestleMania XXX in 2014, when The Undertaker was defeated by Brock Lesnar, who had returned to WWE two years earlier.
The Undertaker in 2008, his WrestleMania matches were one of the highlights of WWE for many years (David Seto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).
The PG Era also saw the rise of CM Punk, who enjoyed one of the longest reigns of all time as WWE Champion between 2011 and 2013, and the return of The Rock, who faced John Cena twice, first at WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012, and then again the following year. In 2011, WWE ended the brand split, and wrestlers began appearing on both Raw and SmackDown. The two world championships were unified in 2013, when World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton defeated WWE Champion John Cena in a TLC match. The WWE Championship was renamed WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a result.
Daniel Bryan became extremely popular around the same time, and WWE included him in the world championship storylines, pitting him against The Authority, a villainous group led by company executives Triple H and his real-life wife Stephanie McMahon. WWE initially intended champion Randy Orton to face a returning Batista at WrestleMania XXX, but fan support for Bryan caused WWE to change plans. Bryan’s rise culminated with him winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX by defeating Orton and Batista in a triple treath match. However, he soon got injured and had to temporarily retire.
Bryan had joined WWE in 2010 through a new reality program called NXT that saw young wrestlers being mentored by more established stars. The show later morphed into a weekly program and developmental territory. Produced by Triple H, in the late 2010s NXT became highly praised for the quality of its matches and storylines, often outshining the main WWE roster, with the help of several wrestlers hired from other promotions. In NXT, WWE also brought back the WarGames match, which was held in 2017 for the first time since the closure of WCW. The match has since been held several times, and has moved to the main WWE roster.
Daniel Bryan after winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX in 2014 (Megan Elice Meadows, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Outisde WWE, various new promotions were founded in the United States aiming to fill the gap left by the demise of WCW and ECW. Jeff Jarrett and his father, promoter Jerry Jarrett, founded Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2002. Initially affiliated with the NWA, TNA rose to prominence in the mid 2000s, thanks to wrestlers such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels. TNA also saw the arrival of several former WWE and WCW wrestlers, most notably Kurt Angle and Sting. The promotion left the NWA in 2004, but continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight Championship thanks to an agreement with the organization until 2007.
In 2009, TNA hired Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff as part of their creative team, and they immediately tried to go one-on-one with Raw by moving their main show, Impact!, on Monday nights. After declining ratings, Impact! moved back to Thursdays less than two months later. Nevertheless, TNA was considered the second-largest wrestling promotion in the United States, and continued to enjoy a period of popularity. Over time, with controversial storylines, many wrestlers leaving, and an overemphasis on older and former WWE talent, TNA declined in the 2010s and suffered from several rebrandings, talent departures, and ownership changes at the end of the decade.
AJ Styles in 2016. He was the most popular wrestler in TNA for several years, but left the promotion in 2014. After wrestling for NJPW for two years, he joined WWE in 2016 and won the WWE Championship twice (Miguel Discart, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Another major secondary promotion founded in 2002 was Ring of Honor (ROH). Considered the third-largest wrestling company in the United States throughout the 2000s and 2010s, ROH focused more on athleticism and the moral requirement to follow a set of rules (known as the “Code of Honor”), as opposed to the more “soap opera” style of WWE and TNA. ROH launched the careers of many wrestlers that later rose to the top of the industry such as CM Punk, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan in WWE), and Tyler Black (Seth Rollins in WWE).
In Japan, NJPW, under the leadership of Antonio Inoki, tried to include elements of MMA in their wrestling shows in the early 2000s, a decision criticized by many fans and journalists. Inoki left the company in 2005 and founded his own promotion, the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), in 2007. Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar wrestled for IGF, but the promotion soon declined. NJPW started expanding in the 2010s, parterning with some North American promotions and setting the stage for a global rise in popularity. Meanwhile, AJPW fell behind NJPW, and suffered from the defection of many wrestlers in 2000, who founded a new promotion called Pro Wrestling Noah.
Mexican promotions CMLL and AAA also often partnered with companies in the United States and Japan, while remaining very popular in their home country. In 2014, AAA collaborated with an American media company to launch Lucha Underground, a wrestling promotion and television series in the United States. Lucha Underground received critical acclaim for its unique style and cinematic presentation, but it was ultimately canceled in 2018 due to budget concerns.
Chapter 6: professional wrestling today >>