8 Wrestling Events That Pulled Inspiration From Strange Places

4. New Year’s Revolution 2007 – Chinese New Year

While many may think of the great stage setups from major shows or memorable events, 2007’s New Year’s Revolution isn’t one that stands out for being a huge show with mega matches dotted throughout the card.

The event was headlined by WWE Champion John Cena at his Super Cena best as he defeated Umaga to retain the gold, and the other big bout on the card saw Rated-RKO taking on D-Generation X in a match that was thrown off by Triple H suffering another quad injury mid-way through the contest.

For those who remember this PPV, however, the true highlight was the totally badass fire-breathing dragon that was a part of New Year’s Revolution’s stage display. As in, yes, this dragon structure literally spewed flames from its mouth.

The similar sort of design had been in place since New Year’s Revolution in 2005, but the fire-breathing tweak was a new addition for ’07.

What was the inspiration behind this? Seemingly WWE was going for an oriental feel, which may have had something to do with the Chinese New Year that was mere weeks after this annual PPV. In Chinese and Asian culture, the dragon is a symbol of strength, power and good luck.

Going into New Year's Revolution, mind, there was no hint whatsoever that the event would have an Asian flair, for the poster and promotional material saw Triple H and Shawn Michaels donning wigs and presenting a "DX-Claration of Independence".

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.