5 things in WWE that would have been impossible to believe a year ago

A year is a long time in the world of sports entertainment. Even though sometimes it feels like the product is lagging and just spinning its wheels in place, a lot of changes in the WWE landscape over the span of a year.

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As fans of the product, we witness these changes take place gradually, but if you step back and look at them as a whole, these changes are huge.

For all the talk of the transient nature of WWE, a few things that have changed or remained the same would have been impossible to believe 365 days ago.

So, let's check out the five things in WWE that would have been impossible to believe a year ago.

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#5 Carmella would be the first Superstar to pin Asuka

Unthinkable!

Asuka debuted on the main roster in August of last year to much fanfare after relinquishing the NXT title, ending her reign at a mammoth 510 days.

She had never been defeated in the company, but now that she had moved out of NXT and graduated to the main roster, it was expected that her unbeaten streak would come to an end sooner rather than later.

WWE waited for their biggest show of the year to hand Asuka her first defeat, with Charlotte making her tap-out at Wrestlemania 34 is arguably one of the best matches of the night.

From there, she inevitably set her sights on the Smackdown Women's Championship that was held by The Princess of Staten Island, who had cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase to become champion.

A year ago, it would have been impossible to believe that Asuka would lose to Carmella at all, but the fact that The Empress has been pinned by her twice on pay-per-view is astounding and unbelievable. Neither pin was clean, but it was a pin nonetheless. Time will tell if Asuka is able to recover from those defeats.

#4 Undertaker vs. John Cena will be a squash match

An entrance almost as long as the match

People have been fantasy-booking John Cena vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania for years.

With the Undertaker seemingly retiring after his loss to Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 33 and Cena wrestling on a part-time schedule, seeing this match happen had become a pipe dream.

But WWE seemed dedicated to making the impossible happen, as the two titans were slated to finally meet each other at Wrestlemania 34...kind of.

Undertaker did not appear till Wrestlemania itself, with Cena sitting in the audience and when he did, the match was over in two minutes and 45 seconds. Just like that, Cena was beaten and Undertaker was gone.

Everyone wanted this match to happen, but not like this. We all wanted two legends to go at it on the Grandest Stage Of Them All in an epic battle.

But a year ago, would you have believed the match would be over in under three minutes and Elias would somehow be involved in the whole segment?

#3 Daniel Bryan will be cleared to wrestle by WWE

Risen from the ashes once more

Daniel Bryan's WWE career has been beset with setbacks, but the leader of the 'YES!' Movement somehow always finds his ways back from seemingly insurmountable odds.

A year ago, Bryan was involved in a number of angles that seemed to be going nowhere and all the heat he had with The Miz had fizzled out.

He had been cleared to wrestle by his own doctors, but WWE was more hesitant to let him back in the ring, making the possibility of The American Dragon returning to the independent scene a very possible reality.

But then, just a few weeks before Wrestlemania 34, WWE actually cleared him! Bryan actually competed after three years in a tag-team match at Wrestlemania, before segueing into a short-lived feud with Big Cass, reuniting Team Hell-No and finally finding his way back to feuding with The Miz.

Imagine telling someone just a year ago that the Bryan/Miz feud will actually happen and then covering your ears as the cries of joy erupt all around you.

#2 Ronda Rousey will be the baddest woman Superman on the roster

Rousey is truly special

If we were to view WWE solely as a business, then Ronda Rousey would definitely be one of their most valuable assets (if not the most valuable asset).

Ever since she made her presence felt at the Royal Rumble, the WWE Universe anxiously waited for her first match as a WWE Superstar. The excitement was tinged with nervousness as everyone waited to see how Rousey would do in her first match in the squared circle.

Rousey exceeded all expectations at Wrestlemania 34, as she excelled in a match including two all-time greats. That was the night a true WWE Superstar was born and since then she has become more comfortable in the ring and improve on the mic.

She has been booked as a hard-hitting Superstar and has been used sparingly to avoid over-exposing her to the WWE Universe.

2018 could not have been better for Rousey and expecting it to go this well would have been unimaginable a year ago.

#1 Brock Lesnar is still Universal Champion

And STILL WWE's Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar

As of this writing, Brock Lesnar has been Universal Champion for 480 days. After winning the title from Goldberg at Wrestlemania 33, it increasingly seemed like Roman Reigns would be the man to dethrone The Beast and assume his position at the top of WWE's food chain.

The two powerhouses collided in a rematch of Wrestlemania 31. Wrestlemania 34's main event was expected to go Reigns' way, but Lesnar somehow retained his championship, brutalizing The Big Dog along the way.

The two then had a rematch in a steel cage at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, where Lesnar retained once more (albeit unconvincingly), and Lesnar vs. Reigns Part III is slated to take place at Summerslam where Lesnar's reign may finally come to an end, either thanks to Reigns or Money in the Bank winner Braun Strowman. Expecting a part-timer's reign to last this long was unexpected to say the least, but that's exactly what happened.

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What else do you think would have been impossible to believe a year ago? Share your views in the comments below!