10 Super Rare Times WWE Promoted Rival Titles

6. ...And So Do The Midnight Express

Mickie James
WWE

Or, the New Midnight Express anyway.

Jim Cornette's character was all over the map in 1998 as he tried and failed to juggle his IRL manager role with a kayfabe one being booked by Vince Russo. Having brought the Rock & Roll Express back to apparently save a tag division that was suddenly thriving again, his character was then cast to dress up Billy Gunn's less popular former partner and Sparky f*cking Plugg as one of the weaker "New" teams in wrestling history.

The belts may as well have been toys next to the real deals held up loud and proud by the white hot New Age Outlaws at the time, with the comparisons made even worse when the two sides squared off in a tragic bonus match at the 1998 King Of The Rings. Months before Gunn knocked everybody's block off and Hardcore Holly got a haircut to make him look like he could, they were desperate cases of men struggling to find any sort of form right as everybody on the roster seemed to manage it.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett