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WWE is a sports entertainment promotion whose shows are meticulously planned down to the last detail. Everything from the wrestling matches to the decisions of pushing a superstar or another are hashed out long before it comes into fruition. In short, WWE rarely goes off script.
There have been a few times though where things have slipped out of the control of WWE management and changed the direction the company was headed in. These reasons range anywhere from a devastating injury to huge crowd reactions and have forced WWE to throw out their long-term plans and brought about a change in WWE's history.
Let us now look at 5 such movements:
#5 The Yes Movement
This ranks lower on the list as it is still suspect whether this was a truly organic shift or a clever kayfabe storyline by the WWE.
While Daniel Bryan might be securely residing in the top tier talent now, this was not always the case. During WrestleMania 28 Bryan found himself a victim of an unfortunate booking. It is curious that this was also the match that would make him the most over wrestler in WWE for quite some time.
The Yes chant was already gaining some momentum with the fans after making its appearance at TLC PPV where Bryan won the World Heavyweight Championship by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. While it was meant to be an arrogant heelish catchphrase, the WWE didn't count on the fans latching on to it and showing their support for Daniel Bryan.
It was under these circumstances that AJ Lee gave Bryan the kiss of doom and he lost the title to Sheamus under 18 seconds. For any other wrestler it might have been a career nose dive but strangely, for Bryan, it did the complete opposite.
The WWE Universe got behind Daniel Bryan like never before and The Yes chant became their rallying cry. WrestleMania 28 jarred the audience into action. They could see a guy with great in-ring talent being passed over because WWE didn't feel like he was championship material.
While the loser got the winning end of this deal, the winner didn't benefit from it at all. Sheamus' title reign was lackluster and he got shuffled around a lot before finding his niche in the tag team division.
#4 The Curtain Call
In a world dominated by kayfabe, The Curtain Call was a scandalous departure from ongoing storylines. These were times when wrestlers did all they could to maintain the illusion that everything happening in the ring was real. The faces genuinely hated the heels, the heels were truly evil incarnates and so on. That is until The Kliq arrived on the scene.
The Kliq was a faction including Shawn Michels, Triple H, Kevin Nash and Sean Walterman. The group had a lot of pull backstage and got away with a lot that other wrestlers couldn't. It started with Eric Bischoff convincing Hall and Nash to come over from WWE to WCW. Their last match for the company took place at Madison Square Garden on May 19th, 1996.
WWE Champion Shawn Michaels went against the heel Nash in a steel cage match for the main event. Triple H and Hall went against each other earlier in the night. The four men would then embrace in the middle of the ring before posing for the fans.
At the time, it was synonymous to an act of blasphemy for faces and heels to mingle, let alone hug, in front of fans. While some still maintain that the whole thing had been blown out of proportion, it was still a group of wrestlers breaking kayfabe with no regard for the consequences and its effect on the storylines. It can be seen as a gesture of goodwill or a self-indulgent prank depending on who you ask, as the opinions are varied and strong on this incident.
The reason this incident is so vital to WWE's history is because of its aftermath. While Nash, Hall, and Michaels walked away from the incident unscathed, Hunter Hearst Hemsley did not fare so well. He was made the scapegoat and bore the punishment for the entire faction.
Triple H was earlier booked to win the 1996 King of the Ring. This booking was scraped and Stone Cold Steve Austin replaced him as the winner, starting his path to stardom. It can be argued that Hemsley's misfortune led to paving the path for Austin to shine.
The Kliq also lost a significant amount of influence as a result and were no longer in a position to call the shots. If Triple H had won the King of the Ring in 1996, there is little doubt that The Kliq would have maintained its prestige and leverage over the WWE bookings, making it harder for stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin to come up the totem pole.
The incident was an ushering in of the blurring lines between kayfabe and reality. It was also a start to delivering content for a more media-friendly audience who were no longer naive and could tell the difference between a storyline and real life.
#3 Firing Ric Flair from WCW
No star shines forever in the world of professional wrestling. At some point in every wrestler's career, he or she knows it's time to hang up the boots and pass on the torch to the next set of superstars waiting in line.
In 1991, Ric Flair was faced with just such a dilemma. For WCW at the time, Flair was a crowd magnet. While he was respected by the crowds, the WCW management saw him as a blast from the past - a star who had outlasted its shine.
However, instead of giving him a respectful sendoff, WCW decided to downgrade Flair by giving him a Gladiator gimmick by the name of Spartacus and a significant amount of pay cut.
Things came to a head when Flair refused to lose the WCW title to Luger instead of Sting. This decision ended up getting him fired from the WCW.
Flair decided to take his talents to the WWE along with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
In short, firing Ric Flair heralded the first blows to the downfall of WCW while giving WWE a spectacular talent.
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#2 Owen Hart Breaks Steve Austin's Neck
Piledrivers have always been high on the list of risky, life-threatening finishers to pull off. Nowadays, only a handful of superstars have the authority to even perform the maneuver.
This wasn't always the case though and Piledrivers were a common finishing move back in the day. It was also insanely hazardous and deadly when performed incorrectly.
Stone Cold Steve Austin found this out the hard way at SummerSlam 1997. Austin had everything going for him, he was hugely over with the crowd and geared to be the next Intercontinental Champion. His opponent for the night was Owen Hart who was recognized backstage as a diligent and safe worker.
This incident just goes on to prove that accidents happen with even the safest of in-ring performers and just how much of risk wrestlers put themselves under for the sake of the show.
As the story goes, Owens was supposed to hit Austin with The Undertaker's Tombstone Piledriver which is a reverse piledriver and much more dangerous than a normal one. Owen, however, botched up the move and landed the wrong way leading to Austin severely injuring his neck. The announce team didn't immediately realize things had gone horribly wrong and JR can be heard saying the move had shades of The Undertaker.
This injury obviously spelled disaster for the WWE. Even though Austin was injured, he continued to show up and interfere with matches, maintaining his popularity with the fanbase. It cannot be argued that the injury meant some major changes to the direction WWE and Austin were headed in. The botch shortened Austin's career considerably. He did go on to have a great run but his time was severely cut down by the grave injury to his neck.
While in the end, Austin managed to turn the tide in his favor and went on to become the anti-establishment babyface, the question remains as to where Austin's career would be if he had never sustained the injury.
Would his career have soared higher? Or was this injury the push that propelled him to the pinnacle of the WWE Universe's adoration?
#1 Owen Hart's death
No event in WWE history changed WWE quite like the death of Owen Hart. It was a horrific and heart-wrenching incidence and all the more shocking due to its circumstances. Hart didn't die of in-ring injuries or botched moves but of something as simple as an entrance stunt gone wrong.
At WWE pay-per-view event Over The Edge, Hart was scheduled to ascend into the ring with the help of a harness. The stunt, unfortunately, went terribly wrong and Hart sustained injuries that cost him his life.
The untimely demise of a wrestler as incredibly talented and gifted as Owen left a void within the company and one has to wonder how far this star would have risen if not for this tragedy.
Even in his short career span, Hart left behind an enviable wrestling legacy that continues to inspire and motivate the upcoming superstars.
While this was a disastrous incidence, the one upshot to it was that WWE upgraded their safety protocols after it and the well being of the company was given higher credence than ever before.
