Ranking Every WWE Year Of The 2000s Worst To Best

May 2024 ยท 6 minute read

The 2000s was one of the most tumultuous decades in WWE history. It began with them riding high only for the fall of WCW and ECW to change the wrestling landscape. The brand split shifted things up, even more, leading to the Ruthless Aggression era. By the end of the decade, the PG Era had taken over, so by 2009 WWE was a totally different beast than 2000.

Related: 10 Best WWE Superstars In Each Year Of The 2000s

The decade saw the rise of mega-stars like John Cena, Batista, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and more. There was a lot of bad stuff yet also a great evolution of wrestling as WWE had to change its business model. The ECW brand's addition was rough, yet the potential for great stuff in even a bad year was notable. It's tricky to judge, but here is how every year of WWE in the 2000s ranks, showing how this amazing decade would transform the business forever.

10 2001

What makes this year so awful is it started out great with top feuds and arguably the greatest WrestleMania ever. Then came injuries to Triple H and Benoit to take out two top guys. That was the lead-up to the complete disaster of the Invasion as WWE took what should have been the dream feud with WCW and made it into a complete debacle.

Horrible angles, nonsensical turns, and more marred it. Chris Jericho becoming Undisputed Champion should have been an epic moment, not an embarrassing coda. This year ended the Attitude Era and sent the business into a sharp tailspin.

9 2009

There's simply no getting around how awful this year was. Except for Undertaker/Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania was lackluster, and the rest of the year was not much better. The "RAW guest hosts"  produced terrible shows and the in-ring action suffered.

Related: 5 Years Where SmackDown Was Better Than Raw (& 5 Years Raw Was Better)

There was too much reliance on the same guys (Batista, Cena, Edge, Orton, Triple H) dominating the main event scene despite a strong undercard. Feuds went nowhere, and the PPVs didn't spark either. It just felt so utterly bland, with WWE closing out the decade in a very rough way.

8 2003

The best that can be said about this year is that the Brock Lesnar-Kurt Angle feud was a great program. Sadly, the rest of the year was packed with awful stuff from Hulk Hogan as Mr. America to various stupid characters.

It was worse on the RAW side, with Triple H's "Reign of Terror" ruining things like Goldberg's debut. Bringing back the IC and U.S. titles sparked the midcard, but overall, this was a weak year for WWE and took them a bit to adapt to the changing times.

7 2007

It's hard to talk about this year without mentioning the Benoit tragedy casting a dark shadow over everything. There was a lot of bad stuff like Vince McMahon as ECW Champion, the "Battle of the Billionaires," and the "McMahon death" angle that went nowhere.

Related: 10 Ruthless Aggression Storylines That Were Never Resolved

John Cena's absence hurt, while the return of Chris Jericho did spark things up. Yet there was also Great Khali as World Champion, too many lackluster feuds, and a bad tendency of injuries to hurt some programs. It wasn't awful but also not that special in the long run.

6 2002

On the one hand, the first year of the brand split was rough on the RAW side. Triple H dominating as champion was bad, the nWo return fell apart, and there were too many ratings-grabbing bits. 

But the SmackDown side featured the rise of Brock Lesnar as champion alongside Edge coming into his own as a singles star, the return of Rey Mysterio, and the debut of a young rookie named John Cena. There was also women's wrestling getting more attention, with Trish and Victoria having a great feud. Thus, while mixed, the SmackDown side did make this an important year for WWE.

5 2006

The arrival of the ECW brand was rough (see the horrific December to Dismember show) but offered more spark to the company. There were also some top feuds, notably Edge rising to the top as WWE Champion while introducing cashing-in MITB.

Related: 10 Years Where Two Faces Of WWE Emerged

The SmackDown side saw Rey Mysterio become World Champion, and the ECW brand did bring in top stars like CM Punk, while Jeff Hardy's return was a good addition. While tricky in places (the DX reunion), it was still better than most years in this decade.

4 2008

This year had a grand kick-off with John Cena's shocking return at the Royal Rumble. It led to a year with great stuff, from HBK vs Jericho to CM Punk becoming World Champion and Edge clicking nicely as a heel. Ric Flair had a great send-off at WrestleMania, and the undercard was strong.

Even Triple H as champion wasn't too awful, thanks to some top-notch competition while the Divas were entertaining. It was the PG Era's start, but it had enough touches of the Ruthless Aggression times to make it very enjoyable.

3 2004

This was an up-and-down year but still pretty good overall. Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero's rise as champions is bittersweet today but worked then to spark the company up. Randy Orton rose as a champion before a harsh burial, but the year was balanced by John Cena coming into his own as a star.

Related: The Best WWE PPV From Each Year Of The 2000s

JBL's title reign was surprisingly effective, while the lower card got more attention. Even with the rougher stuff, this year felt more exciting for fans and sparking new interest while paving the way for some of the future stars known as legends today.

2 2005

This year was marked by John Cena and Batista taking off as the new stars of WWE. Each was the champion of their brands and the company did a smart move trading them between shows in the summer. Their feuds were tremendous alongside other fine programs like Michaels/Angle, and the ECW revival was great the first time around.

Yes, there was the shocking loss of Eddie Guerrero. But this year also featured events like the Matt Hardy/Edge real-life soap opera pushing the envelope, marking a year of some fantastic entertainment amid a few talent losses.

1 2000

From start to finish, this was a stellar year for WWE. The Radicalz debuted, The Rock and Triple H warred for the title, The Undertaker became a wild biker, the TLC matches were insane, and Kurt Angle, Lita, and Trish Stratus all debuted.

Sure, there were a few duds (Rikishi's heel turn, for instance), but that was balanced by some stellar PPVs and terrific storylines with a solid undercard. Everything just seemed to click wonderfully for 12 months. The year 2000 was the final gasp of the Attitude Era, but it went out in grand style.

Next: 9 Wrestlers Who Were Top Stars As Heels

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKeoqqSowaa%2BjZympmenp7K0wMuipaBnp6yybn6PaWesZZWrsrPFjLKcmqpdp66vt8SdZJudo6l6uLvRrKto