Lasting from 2002 to 2008, WWE’s Ruthless Aggression Era was characterized by a move away from the over-the-top, edgy content of the Attitude Era with a greater focus on in-ring competition — not to mention the company’s infamous name change. Over this period, slews of new stars were introduced — so many that they had to split them up between Raw and SmackDown, which means that many performers have gone forgotten.
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Let’s take a look at the forgotten heels of Ruthless Aggression, the bad guys that either failed to have any staying power or weren’t given enough time to really make an impression.
10 Simon Dean
Fans likely remember Mike Bucci best for his role as Nova (or Hollywood Nova) of ECW’s Blue World Order, which he reprised on occasion in WWE. But after signing to WWE in 2002, he debuted on the main roster as heelish fitness expert Simon Dean. With his own “Simon System,” and a Segway that he named the Dean Machine, Simon Dean seemed like he could be a suitably entertaining midcard heel. However, he soon slid down to jobber status and managed The Gymini before taking a backstage role in WWE’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.
9 Amy Weber
Amy Weber was discovered via WWE’s old Diva Search contests, winning 4th place in 2004, and debuted that same year as part of JBL’s forgotten heel stable, The Cabinet. Her main angle during this run would involve feuding with fellow Diva Search contestant Joy Giovanni, who finished in third place. But the backstage environment, which she compared to a frat house, coupled with low pay and bullying tendencies from the male wrestlers, led to her quitting the company in 2005.
8 Idol Stevens
“The Intellectual Savior of the Masses” and Damien Sandow made his main roster debut in 2012 and stuck around for four years, but fans of the beloved midcarder might not be aware that Sandow actually signed to WWE way back in 2003. A few years later, the future Sandow made his debut on SmackDown in 2006 as one of Michelle McCool’s flunkies, Idol Stevens.
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Stevens teamed with another McCool henchman, KC Cassidy, and even challenged for the Tag Team Title. However, McCool ended up getting hospitalized, and Stevens was sent back to OVW.
7 The Heart Throbs
Ruthless Aggression has a few tag teams that won’t show up in retrospective video packages, but at least the Basham Brothers were in a couple video games and won the tag belts. Less fortunate, however, are The Heart Throbs, Antonio Thomas and Romeo Roselli, whose gimmick was that they’re very handsome and loved to kiss girls. Their run lasted about a year with matches on Raw and Heat, but the gimmick has lived on, as it was recycled for The Lotharios, Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, who even do the same Kiss Cam gag.
6 Sylvester Terkay
With a legitimate background in MMA and Kickboxing, Sylvester Terkay debuted as an MMA-inspired heel on SmackDown in mid-2006, backed up by Elijah Burke as his manager. After winning a handful of squash matches, Terkay and Burke moved over to the rebooted ECW later that year, but only wrestled three tag team matches together, including a bout against the FBI on the infamously reviled December to Dismember pay-per-view. Terkay would be released in early 2007, after which he’d head over to Japan and wrestle for Antonio Inoki’s MMA-wrestling hybrid promotion Inoki Genome Federation as “The Predator.”
5 Luther Reigns
No relation to Roman, WCW Power Plant trainee and future actor Luther Reigns made his first splash on SmackDown in 2004 alongside Mark Jindrak as part of a faction led by Kurt Angle. On his own, Reigns would have notable rivalries with The Undertaker and The Big Show, as well as interrupting an Thanksgiving segment on SmackDown, with his line “I had peas before” becoming an in-joke among fans on the Internet. He requested his release from WWE in 2005, and retired in 2006.
4 Rodney Mack
With a WWE stint going from 2002 to 2004, Rodney Mack initially showed up as John Cena’s bodyguard Redd Dogg before becoming a member of Thuggin’ and Buggin’ Enterprises, a stable organized by Teddy Long. For the most part, Mack would be a regular on Raw before getting relegated to Sunday Night Heat.
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Rodney Mack’s greatest achievement, however, would be his White Boy Challenge, where every week he’d offer an open challenge in the ring, which would be answered by caucasians of increasing importance. The punchline here was that the final challenger was Goldberg, but to Mack’s credit he jumped the megastar in the middle of his interminable entrance.
3 Kenzo Suzuki
In 2004, WWE signed former NJPW Young Lion Kenzo Suzuki and intended on making him a “classic” Japanese foreign heel named Hirohito despite World War II having ended nearly 60 years prior. Suzuki ended up debuting under his real name, but still remained a generic foreign heel. He never really set the world on fire, but he did once have a battle rap segment with John Cena and held the tag team titles with Rene Dupree. It’s unclear which was more prestigious.
2 Shaniqua
Linda Miles won the second season of Tough Enough alongside Jackie Gayda, initially feuding with her co-winner as a babyface. However, the following year she’d be repackaged with the go-to stereotypical name white guys ascribe to black women: Shaniqua. As Shaniqua, Miles adopted a dominatrix gimmick, managing the Basham Brothers. Her last televised match for WWE would have her teaming with the Bashams against Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty, during which she took the pin for her team.
1 Nathan Jones
Hailing from Australia, strongman and MMA fighter Nathan Jones was initially introduced in WWE as a student of The Undertaker, but soon was taken under the wing of Paul Heyman, becoming part of Team Lesnar for Survivor Series in 2003. However, when WWE’s touring schedule brought them to his home country the following month, Jones abandoned ship and elected to remain in the country, quitting the company. Since then, Jones has appeared in various movie roles including Mad Max: Fury Road and 2021’s Mortal Kombat.
