With vampire movies being the rage in the 90s, why did The Brood fail in WWE?

The influence of horror and vampire movies in the 90s was so widespread that it made its way to WWE. This led to the formation of The Brood, comprising of Gangrel, Christian Cage, and Edge. While Gangrel and Christian donned white shirts and black pants, The Rated R Superstar wore his signature black leather jacket. Their leader wore fangs and held a chalice of blood as they entered the arena through fire.

During that time in WWE, there was no shortage of dark, mysteriously inspired gimmicks. The Undertaker also had a villainous, dark stable called The Ministry of Darkness, influenced by witchcraft. Throughout their tenure, prominent names were part of the faction, including Shane McMahon, John Bradshaw Layfield, Viscera, and Big Show (aka Paul Wight). They soon ignited a feud with The Brood, who later gave in and joined the faction.

The Brood had an impressive run for the few months that they were active. However, it seems they could not charm Vince McMahon, who was allegedly unhappy with Gangrel's association with the two then-upcoming stars. He was not a fan of the vampire gimmick and suggested he distance himself from Christian and Edge, who he saw as rising talents.

With limited space for expansion in creative direction, the faction could not showcase the extent of its talents before being disbanded. This led to The Brood failing to connect with fans towards the faction's dissolution.

"Vince McMahon told me himself I'll never use the vampire character, like, 'get rid of the fangs' because I was an idiot. I had fangs bonded in. That's probably why they only let me be The Black Phantom to hide the fangs....' so make sure you trim down, grow the hair out, and we'll definitely give you a job, but just not a vampire.'....I was sitting home [for] a week, sitting home. Vince Russo called up....And he said, 'hey, are you still doing that vampire thing?' I said, 'are you kidding me?'" said Gangrel. (H/T Wrestling Inc)

Vince McMahon perceived Edge as the talent to focus on during the faction's run. He was not enthused by Gangrel and Christian's ability to pursue a career as single competitors. Thus, he insisted that The Brood break-up despite garnering mixed reactions from fans.

However, since the two Canadian stars were unconfident and just starting off their careers, their alignment with Gangrel gave them a foothold in the industry. Additionally, it gave them a sense of comfort and bearing to build their own gimmicks as individual competitors.

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Edge brought back the 'Brood bath' during feud with Seth Rollins in 2021

The trio were known for their signature 'Brood baths' on their opponents, wherein the lights would go out and turning red, before blood-like goo would spill from the ceiling. The Brood officially split up on an edition of the now-retired weekly show Sunday Night Heat where Gangrel turned on Edge. He then attempted to convince Christian to follow in his footsteps, which he refused and teamed up with his 'brother' instead.

In 2021, the multi-time WWE Champion was involved in a feud with Seth Rollins. On an edition of SmackDown, he went to a 'dark place' and The Visionary found himself drenched in a Brood Bath. Gangrel later revealed that Edge had been planning the segment a couple of months in advance. The company had to resort to PG settings and douse Rollins in black gooey liquid instead of the iconic red to mimic blood.

At the Day 1 Premium Live Event last year, Edge made his entrance with The Brood's entrance theme and brought back his former gimmick which sent the wrestling world into a frenzy.