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Imagine this scenario - Nakamura and Styles have been tearing each other apart for almost 20 minutes and producing the best match in WWE since Taker-Michaels' second outing. Suddenly, Finn Balor's music hits and the Balor Club make their way down to the ring.
With Nakamura dazzled by their presence, Styles attacks Nakamura from behind and puts him down with Phenomenal Forearm and a Calf Crusher to win the match. After the match, Balor Club joins Styles and unleashes a series of strikes on Nakamura before announcing the reformation of The Club.
Shocking, right? This is exactly what WWE is famous for doing at the Grandest Stage of WrestleMania. With a string of exciting matches in the WrestleMania card this year, WWE can definitely fool the fans with a couple of shocking results and moments during the 5-hour extravaganza. While fan predictions usually come true on the day of WrestleMania, there have been several instances where exactly the opposite of what was expected happened.
With Wrestlemania just days away, we take a look at seven biggest swerves in the 33-year history of The Show of Shows.
#7 The Rock's night? Maybe some other time (WrestleMania 2000)
At the turn of the century, The Rock was probably the biggest star in the wrestling world. After his win at the Royal Rumble event in January, fans were craving for a contest between The Rock and the biggest heel in the company - WWF Champion Triple H. And it made sense too. We had two of the biggest stars at that time, squaring off in the main event of the biggest show of the year.
However, WWF, being WWF, turned it into another McMahon family saga, adding Mick Foley and The Big Show to the main event, turning it into a fatal-4 way elimination match. But the fans were OK with that as they knew The Rock was going to win anyway. Boy, were the fans swerved big time that night?
For the first time in the 16 years history of 'Mania till that show, a heel champion was the last man standing in the main event. Not only did WWE rob the fans of a singles main event, they shocked everyone by having The Rock take the pinfall in the end.
WWE played their card perfectly well, as their next pay per view, which featured a singles match between HHH and The Rock, generated one of the biggest buy rates as the people could see a title change. Although The Rock won the title at Backlash to a thunderous reception, the ending of 'Mania was one of the biggest shocks that WWF has ever pulled.
#6 A Not-so-Phenomenal debut (WrestleMania 32)
After wrestling for probably every single wrestling organisation in America and a prosperous stint in NJPW, AJ Styles finally made his debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble to a humongous reaction from the crowd.
Known for his near-perfect in-ring skills, Styles immediately became one of the biggest faces in the WWE. In order to solidify his position as a performer in WWE, Styles needed a career-defining first feud, and who better than Chris Jericho to have as your first adversary in WWE.
In fact, Jericho was famous for putting over new talent without thinking about his position, as evident from his loss to Fandango at 'Mania 29. With a grudge match scheduled between Styles and Jericho at the Grandest Stage, fans were eager to see their favourite Superstar win his first WrestleMania match. But what transpired that night wasn't exactly what the fans were expecting.
In a surprising turn of events, Chris Jericho pinned Styles' shoulder down on the mat after a code breaker. Right when no one was giving Jericho the slightest of a chance of winning, WWE presented a swerve that broke every die-hard wrestling fan's heart. Even though Styles has gone on to become WWE's main attraction, that one loss to Jericho nearly killed all the expectation that the fans had for Styles in WWE.
#5 Hulkamania runs wild, again (WrestleMania IX)
Hulk Hogan is arguably the biggest Superstar in the history of WWE. The man was single-handedly responsible for taking WWF to new heights during the 80's, but his time was winding quickly during the early 90's as Bret Hart was slowly emerging as the new face of the company. During Hogan's sabbatical in 1992, Hart became the WWF Champion and the top babyface in the company.
On the other hand, Yokozuna had slowly developed into WWF's biggest heel and was thrust into the main event scene with Bret Hart at WrestleMania IX, with Hogan fighting for the Tag Team Titles in the mid card. Everything set, right? Well, not according to Hogan.In a shocking turn of events, Yokozuna, a heel superstar, defeated Hart in the main event to win the WWF Title.
After the match, Hogan, who had earlier lost a tag team match, approached the ring side to console Hart. To make the matters worse, WWF had Yokozuna challenge Hogan to an impromptu match for the WWF Title.
In probably the worst swerve in WWF's history, Hogan pinned Yokozuna in just 22 seconds to win the Title just a few minutes after Yoko won it. Right when fans were expecting to see either of the two young Superstars leave 'Mania as champion, Hogan's ego ran wild again as he used his creative control to leave Las Vegas with the top prize in his grasp.
#4 Ego triumphs over emotions (WrestleMania XIX)
No reign or era in the history of WWE/WWF has been more dominated by a Superstar than Triple H's reign of terror on Raw between 2002 and 2005. So dominant was Triple H backstage that even someone like Shawn Michaels, his real-life best friend, held the World Title for a mere 28 days before losing it back to HHH. However, Triple H was at his worst during his feud with Booker T leading up to Wrestlemania XIX.
Racial slurs and comments are never taken lightly by the WWE. So when HHH brought up Booker's past during a promo, it left a bad taste in the mouth of fans. WWE had the opportunity to correct the mistakes and give Booker a well-deserved victory at 'Mania. Guess what? We witnessed another one of Triple H's ego trip.Not just an ego trip, it was probably the worst case of HHH using his backstage influence to win a match.
Not only did HHH pin Booker T right in the middle of the ring, the way he defeated him made Booker look like a fool. A 23 seconds after executing a pedigree, HHH crawled over to Booker T, who was lying lifeless as if he had just been hit by a bullet, to continue his reign of terror. Right when the fans were expecting a long due crowning for Booker, WWE and Triple H swerved everyone with arguably the worst decision of that era.
#3 Rattlesnake makes a deal with the Devil (WrestleMania X-Seven)
No Match in the history of WWE has received more buzz and media coverage than what Austin v Rock II did in 2001. The two biggest stars of Attitude Era, it made sense to have the two close the Show of Shows just days after WWE purchased its biggest rival, WCW, and brought an end to the Monday Night Wars.
It was the first time in two years, that the two were facing each other, one on one, and were wrestling a slobber knocker of a match in front of a raucous crowd in the Astrodome.
Right then, Mr McMahon made his way to the ring. We all knew how this was gonna end, right? - Vince screwing Austin once again, with The Rock turning heel once again - but WWE took the road less travelled that night. In a shocking turn of events, McMahon broke the count while Austin had his shoulders down and knocked the referee down, screwing the guy he helped back at Survivor Series 1998.
If that wasn't enough, Austin attacked Rock and encouraged McMahon to hit Rock with a chair on the hand. With the crown in Houston as shocked as anyone, Austin continued to attack Rock with a chair before pinning him in the middle of the ring.
In just a blink of an eye, WWE's biggest babyface embraced his negative side, that also at the Grandest Stage, and made a deal with the devil himself. The fans were left dumb struck as McMahon and Austin shook hands and shared beers at WWE bad adieu to the Attitude Era.
#2 The Steal of the Century (WrestleMania 31)
In less than two weeks, WWE will present its 34th annual WrestleMania and, with the type of match card that has been finalised so far, the show promises to be a slobber knocker. However, the fact of the matter that every wrestling fan in the world knows how it's gonna end, with one Hated superstar standing tall again, is not sitting well with the fans.
And it is not the first time that WWE is trying to present Roman as the new leader of the crop. They tried doing it 3 years ago but decided to go on a route that made WrestleMania 31 a must watch show.
As the main event of the show, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns were supposed to fight each other. The fans knew that Reigns was going to win the match, hence, despite being the face in the match, he was booed out of the building. Despite Lesnar's best efforts to produce a wild, fun match with Reigns, the fans were not ready to accept Reigns as the new face of the company.
Right when it looked like Reigns was gonna end the show with the Title around his waist, WWE knew that they had to do to prevent fans from creating a scene.
Enter Seth Rollins. The moment his music hit, fans knew that WWE has swerved once again. Despite being the biggest heel in the group, Rollins was cheered as if he was the biggest superstar in the world.
With Reigns and Brock exhausted after a 15-minute slugfest, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to turn the match into a Triple Threat and, just 90 seconds later, became the WWE champion with the crowd erupting in excitement. On a night which was supposed to end with a chorus of Boos, we saw the steal of the century as Seth Rollins ended the night with the WWE title in his grasp.
#1 The Streak.... is over (WrestleMania XXX)
The Undertaker is a legend - there is just no debate on this topic. The man has the aura, the presence that is second to absolutely no one in the history of WWE. And when it comes to WrestleMania, the man is on par with Shawn Michaels as the greatest performer in the history of the event.
With 21 wins in as many 'Mania matches, a match with the Undertaker at 'Mania was considered as a bigger award than a World Title match, with wrestlers vying for a meeting with The Phenom at 'Mania.
By the time WrestleMania XXX came around, it was just impossible to even imagine 'Taker ever losing at 'Mania in his career. So, when WWE announced Brock Lesnar as his opponent, fans were expecting a typical 'Taker 'Mania match.
However, what fans were treated with was a slow, plodding affair that was unlike 'Taker's previous 'Mania matches. Still, fans were assured that 'Taker would fight back to win the match and extend his streak. When Lesnar hit a third F-5, fans knew that 'Taker would kick out before the count of 3. Referee counting - 1...2... and......3. The crowd went silent because "The Deadman" had been pinned.
Brock Lesnar had pinned The Undertaker down on his shoulder at 'Mania XXX. In a moment that can be described as show-stopping, 'Taker failed to kick out of a pinfall at 'Mania. Everyone in the Superdome, with their jaws dropped in shock, tried to figure out what just happened.
WWE displayed the graphics of 21-1 on the giant screen followed by Justin Roberts announcing Lesnar as the winner. In just a blink of an eye, the greatest winning streak in the history of professional wrestling ended, with a beast slaying the legend of a Phenom at WrestleMania.
Right decision, or wrong decision, we don't know, especially when you consider Lesnar's successful run as an unstoppable beast for the next two years. But WWE swerved the fans in the best or the worst, possible way that night by doing something that seemed impossible till that point.
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