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When a WWE Superstar receives a push, it usually means that the company’s decision-makers are keen to give that person an extended run on television in an attempt to encourage the audience to connect with their character.
In July 2019, for example, Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue reported that Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman wanted to give Braun Strowman a “monster push”, and we have since seen the former Wyatt Family member defeat Bobby Lashley in a Last Man Standing match and hint at a possible interest in challenging for the Universal Championship.
While Strowman is an example of a push that the creative team planned in advance, there have also been many incidents throughout WWE history where an unscripted moment has led to a Superstar receiving an unlikely push.
In this article, let’s count down five of those moments and look at how the push came about.
#5 Fans spot Buddy Murphy after Roman Reigns attack
The inspiration for this article comes from a recent report that Buddy Murphy was not originally supposed to be involved in the Roman Reigns attacker storyline.
According to the Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez, Murphy’s background presence in the aftermath of the forklift incident on the July 30 episode of SmackDown Live was simply a coincidence, and WWE decided to add the former Cruiserweight Champion to the storyline because so many fans were speculating that he might have been responsible for the attack.
The following week, Murphy claimed in a backstage segment with Reigns that Rowan was the culprit. This led to him competing in a match on the SummerSlam 2019 kickoff show against Apollo Crews, which ended in a disqualification after interference from Rowan.
Two days later, Reigns defeated the Aussie in one of the best matches of 2019 on SmackDown Live, leading the former Shield member to declare that the “secret’s out” and that Murphy is no longer WWE’s “Best Kept Secret”.
#4 Drake Maverick chases the 24/7 Championship
After establishing himself on WWE programming in 2018 as the General Manager of 205 Live and the manager of AOP’s Akam & Rezar, Drake Maverick has become one of the company’s biggest breakout stars in 2019.
The Brit took advantage of the power of social media in May when he started to post videos of himself searching for R-Truth in order to win the 24/7 Championship.
His online videos became so popular that WWE’s creative team began using him on a regular basis on Raw and SmackDown Live, and Triple H even name-checked Maverick in a conference call before NXT TakeOver: XXV as somebody who has successfully used his creativity to help build his own brand.
The 205 Live GM has since become a four-time 24/7 Champion, with his most memorable segment coming in June when he lost the title to R-Truth during his own wedding ceremony.
#3 Kaitlyn wins a Battle Royal
At the end of the 2005 Royal Rumble, the feet of the final two participants – Batista and John Cena – touched the ringside floor at the same time, prompting Vince McMahon to march down to the ring to restart the match (and tear both of his quadriceps).
The clumsy finish was a genuine mistake, as Batista had been booked to win the match in clean fashion, so “The Animal” simply compromised by hitting a spinebuster on Cena before throwing him over the top rope to win the match at the second attempt.
Now, fast forward to August 2012 and a similar incident took place in a No.1 contender Divas Battle Royal on Raw. This time, however, the wrong person’s feet touched the floor first, with Kaitlyn accidentally winning the match by eliminating Eve Torres.
The unscripted finish resulted in an immediate push for Kaitlyn, who featured prominently on WWE television in subsequent months before winning the Divas Championship from Eve in January 2013.
#2 Kofi Kingston replaces the injured Ali
Ali was originally supposed to compete in a six-man WWE Championship match at Elimination Chamber in February 2019, but he suffered an eye injury against Randy Orton in a match on SmackDown Live shortly before the PPV and had to be replaced by Kofi Kingston.
The unscripted moment led to Kingston lasting over an hour in a gauntlet match on the following week’s episode of SmackDown Live – a specific role that was reportedly due to be given to Ali – and he went on to receive huge cheers of “Kofi! Kofi! Kofi!” when he went one-on-one with Daniel Bryan at the end of the Elimination Chamber match.
Despite previously having no plans for the New Day member as a singles competitor, it was clear after his performances in the gauntlet match and inside the Chamber that WWE's creative team was fully behind Kingston and the ‘KofiMania’ phenomenon that fans had created.
Two months after replacing Ali in the WWE Championship storyline, Kingston defeated Bryan in what was widely viewed as the best match of the night at WrestleMania 35 to become WWE Champion for the first time in his career.
#1 Daniel Bryan's "Yes Movement" phenomenon
Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam 2013 to win the WWE Championship. The celebration was cut short, however, as Randy Orton cashed in his Money In The Bank contract, thanks to the help of special guest referee Triple H, to bring Bryan’s title reign to an abrupt end.
According to Bryan, WWE’s plan at the time was for his rival to receive a push as WWE Champion, with “The Leader of the Yes Movement” merely being a stepping stone on Orton’s way to headlining WrestleMania 30 in an all-Evolution main event against Batista.
There are several unscripted moments that we could point to as an example of how WWE drastically altered their storyline plans between August 2013 and April 2014, but the standout moment came during Orton and Cena’s ‘Championship Ascension Ceremony’ on Raw in December 2013 when fans hijacked the entire segment by cheering for Bryan.
The overwhelming crowd support for WWE’s ultimate underdog continued in the months that followed, leading the company’s decision-makers to add Bryan to the main event of WrestleMania 30, which he won against Orton and Batista.
