10 Original Failed WWE Pushes You Completely Forgot About
Getting a second chance to make a first impression.
When WWE get it right first time, it's magic. One only need to look to NXT in recent years for the sort of debuts that were truly out-of-the-box awesome to know and feel an emotion sadly currently lacking in the Empty Arena Era.
To the strains of a "Glorious" theme, Bobby Roode had an It Factor TNA had worked to fabricate for years. In 2017, "ADAM COLE BAY BAY" echoed throughout the Barclays Center from a Brooklyn crowd barely removed the former ROH star's debut and formation of The Undisputed Era alongside Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish. Shinsuke Nakamura's TakeOver: Dallas maiden entrance and match was perhaps the WWE debut perfected - it's since come to represent the peak of a run perpetually perforated by just how spectacular his arrival was.
There are sadly more catastrophes to oppose these rampant success stories, but there's something to be said for a first draft going so poorly that fans simply erase it from their memories. WWE's cockeyed creative machine has made a lie of yet another adage - you can get a second chance to make a first impression, as long as the majority of fans have forgotten your initial effort...
10. The Headbangers - The Flying Nuns
Shotgun Saturday Night was much of what its title suggested - a blast by WWE right into its own face, paying no heed to the ramifications of pulling the trigger when such extreme measures were deemed necessary.
Vince McMahon was already in the process of borrowing liberally from ECW in the shifting tones and styles of promos and brawls brought forth by Stone Cold Steve Austin et al, but the New York nightclub locale was an added quirk never attempted before or since by a company typically fastidious in their production standards and output. The shows, lovingly, looked like sh*t. But the sort of sh*t you couldn't stop staring at.
Yellow ropes, before they were the preserve of NXT, were there as police tape to go with an aesthetic that looked like it was breaking laws, even if they were just around fire hazards and maximum occupancy. The Flying Nuns visiting a church before hitting the Mirage Nightclub for a bout with The Godwinns were an act so toothless they should have been illegal, even if really it was just an ecumenical matter.
They were one-and-done as the company did the opposite of the late night broadcast and erred on the side of caution.