7 Last-Minute WWE PPV Replacements That Rocked 

Angle and Styles are far from the first to substitute for another wrestler at a PPV.

Kurt Angle WWE
WWE.com

In a matter of minutes, WWE’s TLC PPV went from a one-match event that was sold on a reunion of a popular trio to a two-match event featuring the first in-ring appearance of a Hall-of-Famer in 11 years and a much-anticipated first-ever encounter in the promotion.

TLC went from a potential trainwreck to a can’t-miss affair.

And we all have meningitis to thank for that.

WWE announced Friday that Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt would miss the PPV due to contracting meningitis and requiring treatment. That instantly threw two of the seven matches on the card, particularly the main event, which featured the first teaming up of The Shield in more than three years.

So what did WWE do? They sauntered over to the red, white & blue emergency box and broke the glass. Then they called in a SmackDown megastar to add a little luster to Sunday’s Raw brand PPV.

But this isn’t the first time that WWE has been forced to make a last-minute change to its PPV matches, adding someone to take the place of an injured or absent superstar – sometimes in storyline, sometimes in real life. Some of these replacements made a huge impact on WWE.

This article will take a look at several times that a last-minute replacement hit the ring at a PPV and made a pretty big splash. Let’s get to it…

7. Royal Rumble 2004 – Mick Foley

Kurt Angle WWE
WWE.com

Let’s dispense right away with any suggestion that surprise entrants into the Royal Rumble should automatically count… unless they replaced a specific wrestler. For example, say the announcers at the 2008 Rumble were expecting Randy Orton, and instead John Cena’s music hit, replacing the Viper. That should count.

In 2004, the Royal Rumble was cruising along when Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was serving as Raw sheriff, discovered Test laid out backstage when he was supposed to enter the Rumble. Austin angrily ordered an unseen person who presumably had beaten up Test to take his spot in the match.

And then out came Mick Foley. The Hardcore Legend went after Randy Orton, who was in the midst of his “Legend Killer” gimmick. Foley clotheslined both men out of the ring, eliminating both. This set off a rivalry that included The Rock’s final WWE for nearly eight years at WrestleMania XX and culminated in his first word title win later that summer.

But it all gained steam with a vicious, gruesome feud with Foley.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.