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Regular followers of WWE will know that every match card is subject to change.
In 2019, for example, WWE announced that Asuka would defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 35 against the winner of a Fatal 4-Way match between Carmella, Mandy Rose, Naomi and Sonya Deville.
However, in the weeks leading up to the show, WWE’s plans changed and Charlotte Flair ended up going into her WrestleMania main event against Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey as SmackDown Women’s Champion. Asuka, meanwhile, had to settle for a spot in the kickoff show Battle Royal.
That is just one example of an important match that WWE altered at short notice, but did you know that this has actually been a common theme in high-profile encounters over the last few years?
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who were removed from big matches that had already been announced.
#5 Rusev (vs. The Undertaker, WWE Greatest Royal Rumble)
Following his return to in-ring action against John Cena at WrestleMania 34, The Undertaker was booked in a casket match against Rusev at WWE’s first major event in Saudi Arabia, the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Rusev took to Twitter to simply state, “Bury me softly, Brother,” after the match was confirmed, and it did not take long for WWE to announce that Chris Jericho was going to take his place and face The Undertaker instead.
This prompted lots of speculation about Rusev possibly getting into trouble for his Twitter remark, but the man himself revealed in a video posted on his YouTube channel that Vince McMahon removed him from the match because he did not want the three-time United States Champion's new babyface character to be damaged by a loss to The Undertaker.
“Then they put Jericho in, but what happened was, the prince called and said, ‘I want Rusev back in this match.’ Guess what happened? Rusev went back in the match and Rusev went to dinner with the Saudi prince. Rusev was over in Saudi Arabia, brother.” [H/T Fightful]
Unlike the other examples in this list, Rusev did end up facing his original opponent, The Undertaker, who picked up the victory in an entertaining 10-minute match.
#4 CM Punk (Championship Scramble, WWE Unforgiven 2008)
CM Punk was scheduled to defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Championship Scramble match against Batista, Kane, JBL and Rey Mysterio at the Unforgiven pay-per-view in 2008.
At the time, Chris Jericho was involved in a heated rivalry with Shawn Michaels, and WWE’s decision-makers wanted the two men to face off in a ladder match in the main event of the next PPV, No Mercy.
This meant that Punk got kicked in the head by Randy Orton earlier in the night at Unforgiven, ruling him out of the Championship Scramble match, and Jericho went on to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship in the Unforgiven main event to set up his ladder match with Michaels.
Bruce Prichard, who worked on WWE’s creative team at the time, revealed on his Something to Wrestle With podcast that he did not agree with the storyline development.
“CM Punk was confused. Really confused, and when you look back, to me Jericho and Shawn did not need that title. They needed a prop for a ladder match, okay, but they sure as hell didn't need the Championship. I thought CM Punk needed the Championship.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
Punk unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on RAW one week later and he did not return to the title picture for another eight months.
#3 Jinder Mahal (vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE Survivor Series 2017)
Following the 2016 brand split, WWE Survivor Series became the one event of the year where RAW and SmackDown would do battle in head-to-head competition.
In 2017, Brock Lesnar won the Universal Championship from Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, while Jinder Mahal produced one of the biggest shocks in WWE history to win the WWE Championship from Randy Orton at Backlash.
This led to WWE confirming that the two men would go one-on-one for the first time in a Champion vs. Champion match at Survivor Series 2017, with Lesnar representing RAW and Mahal representing SmackDown.
Sadly for “The Modern Day Maharajah”, his five-month reign as WWE Champion came to an end when he was defeated by AJ Styles on SmackDown two weeks before Survivor Series, meaning “The Phenomenal One” took his place.
It was not all bad for Mahal – he was able to face Triple H in a marquee match in India a few weeks later – but a match against Lesnar has still never happened.
#2 Braun Strowman (vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE Royal Rumble 2019)
Braun Strowman failed to win the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar in four WWE pay-per-view matches between August 2017 and November 2018.
In January 2019, it looked as though “The Monster Among Men” could finally get his big moment against “The Beast” after it was confirmed that the two men would meet once again at the Royal Rumble.
That was the plan, at least, until Strowman’s monstrous character pulled the door off Vince McMahon’s limousine, prompting the WWE Chairman to remove him from the match. Instead, Finn Balor went on to face – and lose against – Lesnar at the event in a Universal Championship match.
It was widely reported at the time that, in reality, McMahon chose to replace Strowman with Balor because he did not want the former Wyatt Family member to lose yet another match against Lesnar.
Strowman later confirmed in an out-of-character interview on NotSam Wrestling that he “had enough” with his position in WWE around the time of the 2019 Royal Rumble, leading to a lengthy “heart-to-heart, man-to-man conversation” with McMahon before an episode of RAW.
#1 Becky Lynch (vs. Ronda Rousey, WWE Survivor Series 2018)
While some of the names in this list were removed from WWE matches for storyline reasons, Becky Lynch could do nothing about being taken out of her Champion vs. Champion match against Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series 2018.
Lynch, WWE’s most popular Superstar at the time, suffered a face-breaking injury at the hands of Nia Jax during SmackDown’s invasion of RAW, which took place just six days before the two brands were set to meet in multiple Survivor Series matches.
“The Man” could not be medically cleared in time to compete in the match, so she was replaced by her biggest rival on SmackDown at the time, Charlotte Flair.
In hindsight, it is interesting to wonder whether the WrestleMania 35 main event would have been a Triple Threat if the original Rousey vs. Lynch match had happened as planned at Survivor Series.
After all, it had been reported in the year leading up to WrestleMania that WWE’s decision-makers wanted Rousey vs. Flair to headline the event, but Jax’s punch and Lynch’s undeniable popularity prompted major changes in the months before the show.
