10 Cancelled WWE Shows
8. Super Astros
In 1998, WWE desperately wanted to tap into the potentially lucrative Latin American market. Just as they are today, they were utterly mystified as to how to do that.
Could they assemble a crew of the finest lucha libre talent in the world and and wow the audience every week as WCW had managed with the likes of Juventud Guerrera, Rey Mysterio, and Psicosis? Or perhaps promote a character relatable to the target demographic to the top of the card, as opposed to pigeon-holing them into a stereotypical persona like a matador, or, um, a Caribbean ninja?
No, neither of those. Obviously the answer was to produce a bog-standard B-show, slap some salsa music on the opening titles, and translate an existing name into Spanish - Super Astros ('Super Stars').
Admittedly, the company did broker a deal with CMLL, allowing some of the best talent from one of Mexico's biggest promotions to star on the show, but in tiresomely predictable fashion, their unique style was almost immediately muted. Worse still, there was absolutely no purpose to the bouts, the programme entirely devoid of angles or belts - just an empty vacuum of aimless Latin-laden wrestling taped before an exhausted Raw crowd.
Over time, the Hispanic flavour was dispersed as WWE's main roster stars inexplicably migrated to the programme, until eventually it was just another show with an exotic sounding name.
An entire programme dedicated to a particular brand of wrestling which didn't allow the performers to play to their strengths, and had all the life sucked out of it by being taped as an addendum to a pre-existing show... sound familiar?