10 WWE Disasters Rescued With One Tiny Change

Sometimes, WWE just needs to change one small thing and BOOM! The day is saved.

Sheamus Pete Dunne Butch Ridge Holland
WWE

WWE has and always will burn through thousands of ideas.

The promotion is tasked with delivering freshness weekly, or at least the illusion of it; there are only so many variations of the same themes, after all. Regardless, even fans who have been tuning in since before they could tell the time want more, more, more.

It's no surprise that WWE has come up with some stinkers over the decades then. Many of those creative abominations die out quickly, but some...stick around and work out. The survivors? Those are the ones overworked writers or pro wrestlers themselves endeavour to tweak and change into something beautiful.

They pull success from the wreckage, in other words, and they do so in the most ingenious ways. Such changes are rarely sweeping, but they always have a dramatic impact that improves gimmicks immediately. Without those rescue missions, you might not regard any of them as worthy topics at all.

The best thing about all of this is that WWE didn't have to work too hard to turn things around. All they needed was one itsy bitsy, teeny tiny adjustment.

10. New Day Ditch Gospel

Sheamus Pete Dunne Butch Ridge Holland
WWE.com

Holy f*ck, the original concept for New Day was dire.

Vince McMahon wanted Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods to be babyface gospel singers who'd encourage the WWE faithful to get on up out of their seats to clap along. All three wrestlers spotted disaster on the horizon, and they begged McMahon to ditch that plan and just let them do their own thing.

The then-boss eventually relented, and New Day became one of the best trios in company history. Kofi, E and Woods took ownership of the New Day and turned it into a winner. That wouldn't have been the case had they forced some crummy gospel gimmick down everyone's throats.

They still danced, and they still clapped, but New Day did so as heels who were deliberately trying to irritate everybody. They were so entertaining at it that they gained popularity, turned babyface and thrived. All three deserve a medal for fighting back against Vince's awful vision.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.