15 WWE Returns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
11. Road Warrior Animal (2005)
What comes to mind when you hear the name Legion Of Doom? Big spiked shoulder pads, NWA/WCW squash matches and Hawk yelling, "What a rush" right? One name that doesn't (or shouldn't) leap to the forefront of brains is Jon Heidenreich. Unfortunately, someone in WWE creative thought he'd be the ideal replacement for the sadly deceased Hawk in 2005, and that ruined Animal's comeback immediately.
On the 14 July '05 SmackDown, then-champs MNM challenged the famous Road Warrior to find a tag-team partner and face them for the belts at the upcoming Great American Bash pay-per-view. Somebody must've cracked Animal on the bonce with a steel chair backstage, because he stumbled around before settling on Heidenreich as the right man for the job.
The worst era of LOD commenced.
Literally nobody asked for this. Had WWE fans been polled, they probably would've plumped for Animal riding solo against Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro rather than teaming with 'Hei-den Hei-den-reich'. Worse, Heidenreich became an official member of The Road Warriors when he added his own face paints and spiky shoulder pads to the equation.
This was even worse than the Droz offshoot had been years earlier in 1998-1999. Bringing Animal back could've worked out had he not harpooned his own credibility within minutes by recruiting Heidenreich. Fans didn't want to see anybody replace Hawk, they really didn't. Animal and Jon might've been palatable without the forced 'LOD 2K5' stuff, but this was never going to get over.
LOD 2000 was one thing. LOD 2005? Nah, that was never going to float anybody's boat or pan out.