10 Times WWE Couldn't Repeat Success

9. The 'New' Anything

Sin Cara Rey Mysterio
WWE.com

There's something of a marketing truism, infamously canonised by the Coca-Cola company's disastrous failed experiment of 1985, that brandishing any product with the label 'new' simply won't work.

Though it's logical to assume that if people once loved something, then surely they'll also love a fresh version of it, this reasoning ignores the fact that a 'new' anything practically invites comparisons to the older, and almost certainly better original. Indeed, conspiracists maintain that the New Coke was an elaborate (and expensive) scheme by Coca-Cola to re-establish thirst for their legacy product in the face of stringent competition from Pepsi (it wasn't).

Perhaps that was the thinking behind WWE's spate of 'new' versions of classic tag-teams throughout the '90s, which saw dreadful revivals of The Blackjacks, The Midnight Express and The Rockers (albeit with the decidedly old Marty Jannetty). Except there was precisely zero chance of the likes of Lanza and Eaton showing up, nor of Shawn Michaels descending back to the prelims. Like New Coke, WWE fans had no taste for these teams, nor the 'New' Dream Team, New Foundation or LOD 2000 for that matter. What's that saying about things often imitated?

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.