15 MORE Failed Experiments From WWE Developmental
14. Lana
Remember Lana's dancing gimmick on WWE's main roster in 2017, and just how over that briefly got her? Remember how part of that might have been to do with the killer theme that impeccably served this new role? Remember how SmackDown Live really was the "land of opportunity" it purported itself to be and Lana was a genuine beneficiary of it for a time?
Things might have gone differently for the 'Ravishing Russian' had the first crack at of the gimmick made it beyond the Largo Loop. In a fan's phone video that has now seemingly been scrubbed from the internet, a denim-clad Lana appears to improvise a dance to the ring rather than entering the normal, stopping awkwardly for high fives while jankily moving from one uneven step to the next. Wrestlers have an unbelievable ability to remain impervious to cringe, but even memories shared of those that actually saw it can't discuss it openly without crumpling like a prop trash can.
Fitting, because that really is where that first draft belonged.
The above image shows the result of an immediate retooling, with a ballgown and chair far more in keeping with what the theme and persona needed, and virtually a like-for-like of what made it to the blue brand shortly afterwards.