10 Ways WWE Is Completely Unrecognisable From Just One Year Ago
Hindsight Is 2020...but not all of it looks better.
Don Henley reckoned anything could change in a New York Minute, such is the ever-flowing effervescence of the city and its ability to look and feel like the centre of the entire universe. To visit it is to understand why Vince McMahon was so married to it during promotion of WrestleMania 35 despite the event returning to Metlife Stadium one state along in New Jersey.
When the venue last hosted the 'Show Of Shows', McMahon had his people hoy a Statue Of Liberty atop the ring and craft arguably the best set in the history of the event. This time around, the layout wasn't quite as elaborate but the thematic approach was precisely the same. A Trump Plaza double-header, this absolutely wasn't - this was New York, New York pal.
A similar sized ground played host to SummerSlam in 1992 as WWE sold out Wembley Stadium for the "SummerSlam you thought you'd never see!", but this year's 'Grandaddy Of 'Em All' couldn't be further away from that presentation. To be held in the empty Performance Center, it'll be the "WrestleMania you can't see", so much so that the company have had no choice but to flog self-referential t-shirts advertising the fact.
This of course, was a reality entirely beyond even McMahon powerful grip, but not every massive change can be blamed on global events...
10. Same Old New Day
We'd never seen more New Day than in early-2019.
One of Vince McMahon's favourite acts (fairly sound speculation based on footage of him popping for their entrances on Network specials and the merchandise royalties that must roll in, anyway), the trio had typically been there to open houses or tear them down as per the needs of the company, but KofiMania reframed their existence as something far more important.
A muddled and over-busy build to WrestleMania 35 resulted in this manifesting in a series of long, long gauntlet matches to make an already-established point that Kofi Kingston had been in the company a long, long time and some overdue history needed making. Sometimes the matches dragged but the sentiment never dissolved - they were the most vital act on television.
At best this year, they'll feature (or were only destined to feature) in a multi-team match for the SmackDown straps, exactly where they were the year before.
In fact, even suggesting they're back exactly where they were undersells how steep their return to the midcard has been. Due to an injury suffered in October 2019, Xavier Woods has been missing - Kingston and Big E have been plodding on without their third man and the gimmick has understandably suffered for it.