10 Cancelled WWE Shows

At Royal Rumble '97, generic goody-two shows babyface Shawn Michaels combatted the archetypal monster Sid for the heavyweight championship, whilst antiquated concepts such as The Sultan and Henry O. Godwinn competed with the likes of the imposter Outsiders and a super-annuated Jerry Lawler in the titular match. 'Outmoded', would be a fair word to describe it.

Just a few weeks earlier, valet Marlena was getting her waps out in a New York nightclub as part of a distraction finish between Goldust and the aforementioned masked Rikishi. 1997 was a curious time for WWE, to say the least.

With ears pricked by the sound of bones breaking and tables smashing in Philadelphia's renegade ECW promotion, Vince McMahon decided to experiment with an edgier product of his own. Small snapshots could be seen in the main roster here and there, but it was with a new Saturday night show that the company really dipped their toes into the stream of 'extreme'.

Emanating from a series of notable NY nightlife spots, Shotgun Saturday Night was a different breed to regular WWE programming. The ring was tiny to account for the smaller venues, the ropes were yellow (!), and the content was considerably more risqué. Aesthetically, it was as close as they could get to ECW without just turning up and filming there.

It's a truism to say all WWE content regresses towards the standard mean of decay, and within a matter of just six weeks, Shotgun became just another addendum to Raw, nixing the nightclubs, the nudity, and the uniqueness. By the time it was canned in 1999, it was nothing more than a glorified 'B' show.