Hiya!

We are officially on the Road to Wrestlemania and it’s shaping out to be a Dwaye-Fest, which I don’t like. It was supposed to be a very straightforward affair, with Cody Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble and picking to face Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Things then changed with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returning to the WWE after Vince McMahon’s disgusting acts came to light, needing me having to face the ramifications of them. All of a sudden, Cody Rhodes didn’t want to finish his story at Wrestlemania but he changed his mind, leading to a weird alliance with Seth Rollins against The Rock and Roman Reigns’ Bloodline. This all culminated with Wrestlemania 40’s Night 1’s main event being a tag match between Cody and Seth taking on Roman Reigns and The Rock with a couple of stipulations which would affect the Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns match at Wrestlemania 40’s Night 2.

While this comes off like a huge mess to me, it could have been much worse. They could’ve gone through with The Rock’s altered plan of him taking on Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania with Cody Rhodes stepping aside. They did realize this was a no-no so they had to scramble and make this mish-mash of a match because, well, Dwayne really wants to still headline Wrestlemania.

This does remind me of several times the WWE had to scramble and make desperate changes to their original plans because of fan backlash or backstage incidents. However, these are the times when all the scrambling worked! Here are 5 times the WWE changed their plans at the last minute and it all worked out swimmingly.

#1 Daniel Bryan is a B+ player

This is the first thing which came to my mind because this is the one which mirrors these most recent events. A returning WWE Superstar from Hollywood. The WWE totally ignoring who the fans want to main event Wrestlemania. The mad rush to change things around to appease the fans. This all stemmed because the WWE thought hardworking Daniel Bryan was a B+ player. This all led to Daniel Bryan having to go through 2 matches at Wrestlemania 30 to become the top man of the company.

Strangely enough, this all began because of how the WWE screwed over Daniel Bryan a couple of years earlier at Wrestlemania 28. Fans were outraged at him losing in just 18 seconds to Sheamus, leading to fans opening backing him at the next RAW, mirroring his already iconic “Yes” chant then. This grew into the so-called “Yes Movement,” which propelled Daniel Bryan’s star even higher. However, the WWE bookers, namely The Authority, didn’t think he was a big enough star, opting to put the title on Randy Orton. It seemed like Daniel Bryan was okay with him stepping aside but the WWE Universe had other ideas as they openly cheered him on even before the Royal Rumble.

Adding fuel to the fire, Batista returned to the Royal Rumble but Daniel Bryan didn’t even participate. Batista won but the WWE Universe didn’t cheer when he won because he wasn’t their champion; it was Daniel Bryan. So, the WWE had to find a way to stitch Daniel Bryan back into the story, with The Authority saying he wasn’t worthy much more openly by calling him “a B+ player” in the WWE. This really egged the fans on.

One thing led to another and, all of a sudden, Daniel Bryan was back in the Wrestlemania 30 title picture, having not only to beat Triple H to get a title shot but participate in a Triple Threat to eventually conquer the odds and make one of the biggest Wrestlemania moments ever.

However, in a strange turn of events, this also became part of another huge swerve the WWE had to put together because of the surging popularity of another “B+ player” of the company: Kofi Kingston.

#2 Kofi Mania

Like Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston was a stalwart but relatively background player in the WWE. He has won various titles like the Intercontinental belt and the World Tag Team Championships with multiple partners. However, Kofi Kingston was never seen as a main eventer.

That all changed when Mustafa Ali got injured, facilitating a need for someone to replace the high-flyer at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The WWE selected Kofi Kingston and that should have been the end of it. He did lose to Daniel Bryan but only after a brilliant mini-match with him at the end. Kofi Kingston’s performance at Elimination Chamber led fans to have a whole new appreciation for the New Day member.

All of a sudden, fans were murmuring about how they would love to see an actual match between Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania. Thankfully, the WWE did listen to the fans but not without teasing us again regarding how they know better than us and no one wants to see Kofi Kingston headline Wrestlemania.

This led to a huge storyline with Vince McMahon saying this outright and forcing Kofi Kingston to try to get his match at Wrestlemania by jumping through all sort of hoops, like him having to go through a gauntlet match against 5 other wrestlers, only to have Daniel Bryan pop out as a surprised 6th opponent, to whom Kofi Kingston eventually losing to. In a poetic twist of fate, Daniel Bryan, the underdog and champion of the fans, became too full of himself and even started calling Kofi Kingston a “B+ player” like he was before.

Kofi Kingston did eventually get his match against Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania all thanks to his New Day companions, Xavier Woods and Big E, who went through their own gauntlet match as a tag team and winning. Kofi Kingston did beat Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania in one of the best underdog stories. However, I can’t help but think Mustafa Ali was sitting in a corner, watching all of this thinking, “That should have been me!”

#3 Becky Lynch becomes The Man

To me, there are always some WWE Superstars who work better as heels rather than faces. Charlotte always works well as a heel, in my opinion. I guess a lot of fans also feel this way as this was the catalyst to how Becky Lynch became the mega-face and started her change to become The Man.

Becky Lynch was supposed to have a one-on-one match against Carmela for the Smackdown Women’s Championship but Charlotte got inserted into the match, making it a Triple Threat. At the end of the match, Becky Lynch locked in the Dis-Arm-Her on Carmela but Charlotte swooped in and his Lynch with Natural Selection. Charlotte pinned Lynch to win the belt. Becky Lynch seemed to be okay with the loss but really, she wasn’t as she beat down her “friend” after the match.

What’s really funny about this is Becky Lynch was supposed to become the heel and Charlotte was to stay as a face. The fans called bullcrap on the entire idea, rightfully cheering on Becky Lynch during the beatdown. The WWE tried to salvage it, sending out Becky Lync to give out a heel promo by blaming the fans for siding with Charlotte instead of her. Still, the fans called bullcrap and cheered for Becky Lynch even more! This led to a feud between the two, with Becky Lynch christening herself as The Man as a take on Charlotte Flair’s dad, Ric Flair, saying “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.”

It wasn’t over for The Man, though. Becky Lynch eventually became the Smackdown Women’s Champion and, before Survivor Series, led her Smackdown Women’s team to RAW. An all out brawl happened in the middle of the ring and an errand elbow from Nia Jax hit Lynch across her nose, breaking it. Even after that, Becky Lynch stood defiant in the crowd, bloody nose and all, taunting the RAW Women Superstars.

This did take Becky Lynch out of commission, leading her to sit out Survivor Series, which was supposed to be a match against the then current RAW Women’s Champion, Ronda Rousey. To add insult to injury, Charlotte Flair was named as Becky Lynch’s replacement! Becky Lynch eventually lost her Smackdown Women’s Championship to Asuka, thanks to interference from Ronda Rousey. She failed to regain it at that year’s Royal Rumble but inserted herself into the Royal Rumble to win her title shot at Wrestlemania.

Some last minute changes were added after this. Charlotte beat Asuka to become the Smackdown Women’s Champion. Becky Lynch got suspended so the Wrestlemania became Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte to unified the RAW and Smackdown Women’s belts. Lynch was then added back to the Wrestlemania match, which she won. To think all of this started because the WWE thought Charlotte was going to be a good face.

#4 Austin 3:16 came to be because of The Kliq

Triple H has had a very long and illustrious career over the years. However, his rise to superstardom should’ve happened much earlier if he didn’t bid his friends goodbye. Wrestling fans are probably familiar with the “Curtain Call” incident, which saw Shawn Michaels and then Hunter Hearst Helmsley breaking kayfabe to hug Diesel/Kevin Nash and Razor Ramon/Scott Hall as the latter duo were leaving the WWE during a house show. This wouldn’t have been a problem, despite the WWE still trying to trick people into believing “sports entertainment” was legit and real. The problem came about when leaked images of the faces and heels acting amicably in the ring, in direct conflict with wrestling kayfabe, became public.

Someone had to be punished for this break in kayfabe. Well, they couldn’t punish Scott Hall and Kevin Nash as they were out of the company. Shawn Michaels was the current WWE Champion so they couldn’t touch him. This left the entire weight of the punishment to be carried by Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Because of the Curtain Call incident, Helmsley was relegated to “jobber to the stars” duty. Unfortunately for him, he was about to receive a big push and was slated to win the King of the Ring tournament. That was out. Now, the WWE had to find a new guy to win it. That honor fell into the lap of one “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

By this time, Austin had just shed his Ringmaster gimmick but wasn’t really going anywhere but he was given the green light to win the King of the Ring tournament. During the finals, Austin faced off against an injured Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who was going through a born-again Christian gimmick. You would think the babyface would’ve made a comeback, despite the injury but “Stone Cold” Steve Austin handily won the match with a Stone Cold Stunner. During the coronation, Austin mocked Roberts by spouting off a bastardization of a Bible verse. Yes, this was the legendary Austin 3:16 promo.

The timing for this couldn’t have been more perfect. The attitudes of WWE fans were changing, glomming more onto anti-heroes like Austin and going against goody-two-shoes like Roberts’ preacher gimmick. The fans ate it up! For a lot of fans, this was the start of the Attitude Era and it all stemmed from a group of friends trying to wish their other friends good luck on their new job.

#5 Mr. McMahon and “Bret screwed Bret”

The Montreal Screwjob is probably one of the most well-known moments in wrestling history because it was just unheard of for the time. We all know the story by now. Bret Hart was leaving the WWE but he didn’t to drop the World Heavyweight Championship belt to Shawn Michaels in Canada. He promised he would then relinquish the title on RAW the next day. Vince McMahon, however, didn’t want to chance it. So, he ordered for referee Earl Hebner to end the match the instant Shawn Michaels locked in the Sharpshooter, Bret Hart’s own finisher, so Bret would lose the belt then and there.

This did lead to a lot of problems down the line. One of them being was why was Bret Hart so upset with Vince McMahon. Around this time, his “official” role in the WWE was a color commentator. It was then revealed he was more than that and he was the actual owner of the company!

Still, Vince McMahon then tried to make Bret Hart come off as the bad guy and he was just doing what he needed to do to keep the WWE afloat. He wanted Bret Hart to follow protocol and drop the title during the match. In order to get this message across, the WWE had Jim Ross interview Vince McMahon regarding the decision, leading to the infamous “Bret screwed Bret” quote.

Still, for a lot of fans, this was a huge dick move from Vince McMahon. He immediately became wrestling’s biggest bad guy. So, like any good businessman who sees an opportunity, he leaned into it. Since people already thought he was an unscrupulous company owner who loves to throw his weight around, the persona of Mr. McMahon was born. Coupled with the rise of the Attitude Era and anti-heroes like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, this led to the reinvention of wrestling as we know it today.

Byee!

What are other wrestling storyline which were crafted at the last minute that worked out in the end? Let me know in the comments section below!