WWE WrestleMania History: 5 bookings Vince McMahon changed at the last minute

It's no secret that Vince McMahon is a wrestling genius. He utilized his business skills to take over most of the territories in the USA during the 80s, and turn the WWE into the biggest wrestling promotion in history.

Vince McMahon has given us some of the biggest superstars in the form of Hogan, The Rock, and Austin. But the fact remains that over the years, Vince has lost touch with modern wrestling and is still trying to make his old formulae work in present times.

The boss still has the final say in every major WWE match, and Vince has actually changed long term decisions at the very last moment. Let's take a look at 5 such instances.

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#5 Brock Lesnar retains the Universal title, WrestleMania 34

Brock wasn't supposed to win originally

The main event of WrestleMania 34 was a rematch from the 31st edition of the show of shows. Brock Lesnar was set to defend his Universal title against the controversial superstar, Roman Reigns.

The Big Dog was all set to finally dethrone The Beast and take back his Universal title at the grandest stage of them all. Roman Reigns came into the building that morning, with the knowledge that he was going to take the belt from Lesnar.

On the go-home edition of Monday Night Raw, Paul Heyman stated that if Brock lost, the duo would be leaving WWE forever. The deal for Lesnar to stay was made on the same Raw episode, but his contract was signed on the day WrestleMania 34 aired.

Reigns was informed that he was going to lose the match, as the plans had been changed. The WWE Universe, tired of Brock's "Reign of Terror", was expecting The Big Dog to finally rid us all of Lesnar's title reign. That obviously didn't happen as Brock left the ring with the Universal title in his hand, after delivering six F5's to Reigns.

Reigns finally won the title from Lesnar at SummerSlam 2018 but had to relinquish it soon and leave the company to battle cancer. Even though Rollins is expected to slay The Beast this year, it wouldn't be a good idea to raise your hopes too high.

#4 Triple H vs Booker T, WrestleMania 19

Booker T's first WWE World title win was very close to becoming a reality

Triple H's 2003 reign of terror is considered as being one of the biggest travesties in wrestling history. Over the course of an entire year, The Game ran roughshod over a string of superstars to keep the big gold belt on his waist.

Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Kevin Nash were some big names Triple H ended up burying throughout the year. Booker T's burial, however, is the most interesting one among the bunch.

Booker won a Battle Royal on Raw to get a chance at the title at WrestleMania against The Game. For the next several weeks, Triple H mocked the former WCW Champion on various occasions, leading everyone to believe that Booker would end up winning in the end.

Surprisingly, Triple H easily disposed of Booker and made him look bad in a bland encounter at Mania. Booker was originally going to win, but Triple H's supposed backstage pull ended up changing the finish at the last moment.

#3 Steve Austin vs Scott Hall, WrestleMania 18

Austin flat out refused to lose the match

Stone Cold was slated to face off against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18, but Austin's refusal forced Vince McMahon to change it to The Rock vs Hulk Hogan. Austin supposedly didn't want to share a stage with Hogan, fearing that he would get booed out of the building.

Austin was booked in a match against Scott Hall and the original plans were for Scott Hall to defeat Austin using some nefarious tactics. Vince wanted the feud to continue after WrestleMania and Scott Hall needed to win the bout in order to build it further.

Austin again flat out refused to do as he was told, and this forced McMahon to change the finish to Austin winning the match with a thunderous stunner on Scott Hall. The match wasn't great either, but it's famous for Hall's incredible selling of the Stone Cold Stunner.

#2 Seth Rollins cashes in

A thunderous ending to WrestleMania 31

Roman Reigns faced Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight title at WrestleMania 31. The original plans were for Reigns to leave the stadium with the championship. But as usual, Vince changed his mind at the last moment.

During the segment involving The Rock and Ronda Rousey, Seth Rollins was called backstage and informed that he would be cashing in during the main event. The three performers planned out the finish in a jiffy and played it to perfection at the end of the night.

Roman was giving a hard fight to The Beast, with Brock's face a bloody mess. Suddenly, Rollins music hit and he sprinted towards the ring with the briefcase in his hands.

The match was immediately turned into a triple threat bout, with Seth pinning Reigns to steal the world title at the very last moment. Apparently, Roman's family was pissed off at Vince for doing this to The Big Dog.

#1 Undertaker's WrestleMania streak

A moment that stunned the wrestling world

In one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history, Brock Lesnar broke The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30. 70,000 fans gasped in unison, as Lesnar and Heyman left the ring, leaving an exhausted Taker to face the sea of fans.

Reportedly, The Undertaker was slated to defeat Lesnar and advance the streak to 22-0. Vince McMahon changed the decision hours before the match, citing reasons of this possibly being Undertaker's final match in WWE. Some sources say that Mark Calaway was hesitant on going with the changed plans, while other sources state that he agreed without any arguments.

The moment came to fruition exactly as Vince had planned. But The Undertaker was far from being retired. He came back to wrestle on four consecutive Mania cards after that, with a squash win over John Cena at WrestleMania 34, and another defeat at the hands of Roman Reigns the year prior.