10 Most Shocking WWE PPV Main Events Ever

Proving that anything can happen in WWE...

Stone Cold Vince Mcmahon
WWE.com

The old company line says that anything can happen in WWE - but how often does it? Most of the time, the results of shows - especially toward the top of the card - are rather predictable. We all know which stars the company wants to push, which stars aren't protected, and what the overall trajectory of WWE is. While occasionally, WWE's decision-makers will flip a result around to try and shock the crowd, it usually happens in less consequential matches.

Once in a while, though, the incredible does happen - WWE saves a tremendous angle or mind-blowing result for the main event of a Pay-Per-View, and as a result, people talk about it for weeks, months, or even years. They don't - and can't, and shouldn't - happen every month, but when they do, it shakes up the entire company.

Here are the ten most shocking main events in WWE Pay-Per-View history. Before we start, though, a couple of notes - first, we'll only be including advertised main events, so no Money in the Bank cash-ins. Secondly, we'll only be discussing things that happened during the match, so if there was a huge angle that came after the main event ended but the match itself went ahead without incident, it's not eligible.

10. CM Punk Vs. Ryback Vs. John Cena - Survivor Series 2012

Stone Cold Vince Mcmahon
WWE.com

Survivor Series 2012 marked CM Punk's one-year anniversary as WWE World Champion, but he'd have to get past two opponents in order to celebrate - Ryback, who had been robbed of his undefeated streak by Punk the previous month, and John Cena, who was a persistent rival for the champ.

Most assumed that the Punk would find some way to weasel out of the match with the title, probably by stealing a pinfall on Cena - but the actual result would be more complicated, taking advantage of the automatic "no disqualification" rule that accompanies triple threat matches. Ryback hit the Shell Shock on Cena, but he was immediately attacked by three unknown men who put the boots to him, then gave him a Triple Powerbomb through the announcers' table. With Ryback out of the match, Punk was able to get the pin on Cena.

Hardcore wrestling fans recognized two of the men as independent standouts Tyler Black and Jon Moxley, who had been in WWE's developmental system for a while. Over the coming weeks, they -and Roman Reigns - would become known as The Shield, one of the most dominant groups in WWE history.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013