5 Last Minute Changes That Made WrestleManias Even Better

WrestleMania is WWE’s biggest event of the year, and with that status comes equally substantial expectations and hype. WWE typically builds to WrestleMania matches over the course of weeks or months, though sometimes things change when everyone least expects it, causing necessary changes to the card. That said, sometimes changes happen at the very last minute, and while some of those changes are infamous for the negative reaction they received, others have been huge last-minute changes that made WrestleMania even better, and we’re breaking down 5 of the best.

5. Brock Lesnar Switches The Match at WrestleMania 35

At WrestleMania 35, Brock Lesnar was the Universal Champion and would be defending his Title against Seth Rollins. That match was initially scheduled to go on right before the main event, which was going to be the now-famous Winner Take All Triple Threat Match between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch. The story goes that when Lesnar saw the card layout, he felt both finishes would suffer from being back-to-back, and so called for a major change.

At the last minute, Lesnar wanted to switch up the lineup, and instead of going on second to last, he wanted his match with Rollins to go on first and lead off the night. That wasn’t a change made lightly, and both Lesnar and Rollins had to convince Vince McMahon to change it, but it did get changed within an hour of the show. The result was a big finish with Rollins defeating Lesnar, and the match not only got the night started off in a big way, but it didn’t take anything away from the main event, which would go on to be a show stealer on its own.

4. Hulk Hogan’s Heroic Turn at WrestleMania 18

On paper, this match was perfectly cast, as Hulk Hogan (still in his Hollywood Hogan phase) was set to face The Rock, who was the incredibly over babyface that fans loved. Thing is, you just never know which way the crowd will go, and in their match at WrestleMania 18, the Toronto crowd was simply not interested in booing Hogan.

Instead, the crowd was clearly behind Hogan all throughout the match, and much to their credit, both Hogan and Rock listened to the crowd and tweaked the match along the way to lean into that response. Granted, Rock still got the pin, but then there was an angle after the match that fully embraced the crowd reaction, as the nWo turned on Hogan for losing, only for him to take them down (with some help) and turn babyface to the crowd’s delight. Sometimes what is great on paper simply doesn’t end up becoming reality, but in this case, reality turned out to be even better.

3. Stone Cold Bleeds at WrestleMania 13

Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart are two of the best to ever do it, and their match at WrestleMania 13 was a true classic. It would go on to help launch Stone Cold into the stratosphere of popularity, and the moment many remember from the match was the now iconic finish, which saw a bloody Stone Cold refusing to tap to the sharpshooter and passing out.

It’s even more impressive then that much of this match was actually built far more on the fly than the two stars initially anticipated, as Hart has stated, when they tried to map out the match, they ran out of ideas early on. The other major aspect to this was that this was still relatively early in Austin’s tenure in the WWF, and so at the time there was a no color policy. When Hart suggested that for that finish he needed to have some color, Hart was the one who got that cleared and also helped him make it happen during the match. While that came down to a moment during the actual match, it was a change that made a great finish an iconic finish, and it is one of Austin’s all-time unforgettable moments.

2. Seth Rollins Cashes In At WrestleMania 31

Money in the Bank cash-ins are always some of the most thrilling scenarios, as even if they fail, there’s a surge of energy and hype around the possibility that a major Title change could happen. When they actually hit, that feeling is multiplied tenfold, and while there have been some truly fantastic cash-ins over the years, it was Seth Rollins who had one of the best at WrestleMania 31, especially when you consider that he didn’t find out about it until the event had already started.

Rollins was holding the Money in the Bank briefcase as Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar battled for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but Rollins had actually already lost to Randy Orton earlier in the day. Rollins’ luck was changing though, as moments before the match, he found out he was going to cash in on Reigns, and he did just that, hitting Reigns with a curb stomp and pinning him to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. It was a major moment not only for Rollins but the WrestleMania crowd, and shows that sometimes last-minute decisions work out for the best.

1. Daniel Bryan Becomes a Champion at WrestleMania XXX

It is well known that the powers that be in WWE had other plans for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX, and they weren’t named Daniel Bryan. The plan was originally set to be Batista vs Randy Orton, a blockbuster match at any other time that fans would have likely wanted to see. The problem was that over the course of the year before, WWE fans had rallied behind another superstar who they felt was getting screwed over, and as more evidence mounted, the outcry for that star only grew.

That star was Daniel Bryan, and as time went on, the crowds would continue to chant his name and essentially take over with their support. WWE held fast to its decision all the way up to WrestleMania, and CM Punk even revealed as much with the internal card for the event showing Batista and Orton’s names. Despite that hesitancy, WWE finally relented and changed plans, making Bryan a part of the main event and ultimately crowning Bryan as Champion.

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