simon17 - "If there's one thing they should do with that mess, it's to let sleeping dogs lie..."
Sure, they should; not sure they can, though.
First and foremost, the WTS is an apocalyptic millennialist group - has been since its inception - and there are no indications whatsoever that that's changing, so virtually all its theology is either directly or indirectly End-Times-centric.
Unlike some other Armageddon scenarios (UFO cults, for example), WT eschatology has had to be pretty compelling to hold its adherents' interest but still feel familiar to new recruits who may have defected from other conservative churches. In addition, it's been specifically reamed through with scriptural references to give it a sense of authenticity.
However, Revelation's a pretty hefty read. When you're creating an End-Times narrative from it, vague generalities won't cut the mustard, but you can't let it get too weird-ass either; you want it to look at least plausible, and like I said, back when Fred Franz scripted it, a lot of it seemed very much so.
Not so much these days, though.
Unfortunately for the WTS, Fred never left any kind of protege or successor that might be able to reinterpret Revelation for the 21st Century, so they're stuck with his script; the Revelation Climax book was studied as recently as '06, so it's pretty clear that that interpretation is still WT canon.
Because they are - first and foremost - an apocalyptic millennialist group, they can't really let sleeping dogs lie. They have to keep up with the official party line.