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A great twist can most often revive a poor movie. This reason is why most filmmakers tend to incorporate a twist in most films in the modern era. Therefore some of the greatest stories have some great twists that make them even more enjoyable.
Being a company that values storytelling as much as in-ring action, WWE is no different in that aspect, and has produced several twists in the professional wrestling scene. Some of those twists fell flat.
One of the most recent examples for this was the WrestleMania 34 main event. Every WWE fan thought Roman Reigns would dethrone Brock Lesnar at the Showcase of the Immortals. But to everyone's surprise, the Beast Incarnate beat the Big Dog clean in the ring.
However, WWE has also produced some beautiful twists over the years. Stone Cold Steve Austin's heel turn at WrestleMania 17 is one of the most beautiful twists in everyone's memory.
On this list, we will be looking at five great twists we didn't see coming. This list would be focusing on the more recent incidents, particularly in the 21st century. So without further ado, lets begin.
#5 Thumbs down
Evolution was one of the most dominant stables in WWE history. The group of Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair ran RAW for months. However, like all good stables, Evolution also began imploding.
After defeating Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004, Randy Orton became the youngest ever World Champion in WWE. However, the next night on RAW, Orton had to defend his title in a rematch against the Rabid Wolverine. With a little assist from his Evolution mates, Orton successfully defended his title. However, while celebrating, the faction turned on the Legend Killer.
Even though Orton's subsequent babyface run was underwhelming, this twist was nothing short of brilliant.
#4 Mark Henry's fake retirement
On a 2013 June episode of RAW, Mark Henry came out wearing a Salmon coloured blazer, with his boots in hand. The world's strongest man began talking about his career, and was in tears throughout the promo that hinted his retirement.
The then WWE Champion, John Cena, who was at ringside the whole time, gave Henry his WWE Championship. The entire crowd was chanting for Henry, who was a veteran in the company at this time.
After a few seconds, Henry gave the championship back to Cena and hugged him. This hug was the precursor to one of the best twists in WWE of all time. Henry lifted Cena and delivered a World's Strongest Slam.
In a career spanning over 17 years in WWE till then, Mark Henry only came close to the main event scene only a few times. This segment was followed by a WWE title match between the two at Money in the Bank 2013, giving Henry a great moment before subsiding to the mid-card.
#3 Tommaso Ciampa betrays Johnny Gargano
One of the biggest issues with the tag team division is that they mostly have only one major storyline at a time. Take a look at the current SmackDown tag division. The Bar will defend their SD tag team title against the team of Shane McMahon and the Miz at the Royal Rumble. However, at this time, other tag teams have nothing else to do, rather than getting lost in the shuffle.
This would have been the case with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, had they not split after DIY failed to win the NXT tag team championship from the Authors of Pain at NXT Takeover: Chicago.
After the match, the pair walked up the ramp to a blistering ovation from the crowd, only for Ciampa to brutally attack Gargano.
One year later, these two are the most prominent figures in NXT.
#2 Sting's WWE debut
Sting is an icon in professional wrestling. Thus, when the rumours of Sting joining WWE were in the air, the WWE fans were more than happy to welcome the WCW legend. But when and how the Vigilante would debut was still in doubt.
At Survivor Series 2014, when team Authority was facing team Cena to decide the future of WWE, the latter team found themselves severely outnumbered when Dolph Ziggler was up against Luke Harper, Kane, and Seth Rollins. Though Ziggler managed to pin both Kane and Harper successively, he still had to overcome Rollins, who had the help of Triple H.
Triple H bent the rules of the match and laid Ziggler down with a pedigree. While Rollins was pinning Ziggler, a piece of strange music hit the arena. The Icon made his debut in a WWE ring.
Sting helped Ziggler win the match.
Although his run in the company was underwhelming, his debut was something every WWE fan enjoyed.
#1 Seth Rollins betrays the Shield
There are simply no other candidates to bag the number 1 spot on this list. The Shield was one of the most dominant stables in WWE during the PG era. The trio of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose were known as the Hounds of Justice, and laid waste to almost everyone who crossed their path.
For the majority of their initial run, the Shield were heels, and acted as the thugs of the Authority. However, during WrestleMania 30 season, they had a small change of heart, and turned face.
After WrestleMania 30, the Shield got in the way of Triple H, which led to two great matches between the Hounds of Justice and Evolution. Subsequently, Batista quit WWE due to the lack of a singles World Championship match - leaving Evolution outnumbered.
Thus, Triple H triggered the infamous PLAN B. Before a scheduled match between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns, Rollins back-stabbed both Reigns and Ambrose, aligning himself with Triple H in the process. The whole crowd was shocked at this turn, and it was a hard moment to fathom.
