'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
With the recent viral outbreak affecting several of WWE's top stars, the company was scrambling at the last minute to present an acceptable match card for their TLC pay-per-view. AJ Styles was called upon to substitute for Bray Wyatt in a match against Finn Balor and, in even more of a shocker, Kurt Angle replaced Roman Reigns for the main event in Angle's first WWE match in over 11 years.
These changes are likely to make TLC 2017 remembered as having some of the biggest last-minute changes to a pay-per-view card in WWE history. Although it may have been the most event recently to feature such late-breaking changes, it wasn't the first. In fact, several WWE pay-per-views underwent shake-ups to their lineup at the eleventh hour with these five have the most impact.
#5 Survivor Series 1989
Several of the earlier Survivor Series events underwent numerous changes at the last minute. It was almost as if the November tradition was cursed - and this was years before the Montreal Screwjob.
The first time the card had a last-minute replacement was in 1989, in the main event nonetheless. The team of the Ultimate Warrior, Jim Neidhart, and The Rockers were scheduled to face the Heenan Family's assembly of Andre The Giant, Haku, Arn Anderson, and Tully Blanchard. By the time the final match on the card took place, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan had replaced Blanchard in the main event since Tully was no longer with the promotion.
The substitution was explained as "dissension" amongst the Heenan Family, but in reality, Blanchard was released due to a failed drug test. It was rare to see The Brain climb back into the ring for an actual match so the decision to replace one-half of the Brain Busters with The Brain himself was seen as an acceptable one for the Survivor Series audience.
#4 Survivor Series 1993
Four years later, the first match of Survivor Series '93 saw Randy Savage make an unscheduled appearance, replacing Mr. Perfect on Razor Ramon's team. It was a strange coincidence considering the events surrounding the prior year's Survivor Series, but more on that later.
The biggest change, however, came in what was to be the culmination of the long-running Jerry Lawler vs. Bret Hart feud. The plan was for Bret and his brothers, Owen, Keith, and Bruce, to battle Jerry Lawler and his knights. At the event, however, Shawn Michaels replaced The King due to unexpected legal troubles that impacted Lawler at the time of the show (the charges were eventually dropped).
While the change made little sense in kayfabe with no explanation given for Lawler's absence, it was a nice callback to the 1992 Survivor Series which featured Shawn vs. Bret in the main event. It was also Shawn's return to WWE after a three-month suspension so the situation wasn't a total loss.
#3 Vengeance: Night Of Champions (June 2007)
When wrestling fans think of the weekend of June 24, 2007, the unforgivable actions of Chris Benoit's come to mind. These actions were so horrific that everything else about that weekend in the wrestling world took a major backseat. One of those details was that a world title match on WWE's Vengeance card was forced to be changed on the fly.
At Vengeance: Night Of Champions, Chris Benoit was booked to wrestle CM Punk for the vacant ECW Championship. When Benoit no-showed the pay-per-view, WWE scrambled to salvage the ECW title match.
In Benoit's place, the company inserted Johnny Nitro, also known as John Morrison, who defeated Punk to win the ECW Championship. It defied Vince McMahon's typical booking pattern that if a talent no-shows or a match has to be changed for any reason with little-to-no notice, the babyface goes over 99% of the time. This was the example of that 1%.
#2 Badd Blood: In Your House (October 1997)
Recently celebrating its 20th birthday, Badd Blood: In Your House is remembered for many notable reasons. Not the least of which was the announcement of the untimely passing of Brian Pillman during the event's preview show, the Free-For-All.
The day of the event, Pillman was found dead in his hotel room, having suffered from what was later revealed to be a heart attack. This was the first time that anything like this had ever happened to a current performer (and major star) on the WWE roster.
At In Your House, Pillman was slated to wrestle Dude Love in what was to be one of the show's feature bouts. Instead, WWE quickly added two unscheduled matches to the card: Max Mini and Nova vs. Tarantula and Mosaic, and the Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas. Neither contest was anything spectacular, but given the tragic events of the day, they were simply added to fill time.
#1 Survivor Series 1992
Prior to this year's TLC event, the biggest change to a WWE pay-per-view card came back in 1992 when two of WWE's top stars were terminated within days of the Survivor Series. The show's tag-team main event was scheduled to be the Ultimate Maniacs (Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man Randy Savage) vs. Ric Flair and Razor Ramon, with Mr. Perfect, as usual, in Flair's corner.
This event came smack-dab in the middle of WWE's steroid scandal in which the talent roster underwent many changes. As WWE implemented strict drug testing, many performers' physiques were noticeably changing while other talents were outright released. Shockingly, two of the company's biggest stars at the time, the British Bulldog and the Ultimate Warrior, were terminated by Vince McMahon due to their alleged involvement with human growth hormone (HGH).
Both men were advertised for the upcoming Survivor Series, with Bulldog wrestling The Mountie and Warrior in the main event, but neither man appeared. Instead, just nine days before the show, Mr Perfect turned babyface on the 11/16 Prime Time Wrestling, aligning with Randy Savage, and taking Warrior's place at Survivor Series. As for the Bulldog, he dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Shawn Michaels on the 11/14 Saturday Night's Main Event in Bulldog's last televised match before leaving the company.
