10 Biggest Last-Minute WWE WrestleMania Main Event Changes
The main event of the biggest show of the year was set in stone... until it wasn't.
WWE have absolutely no excuse not to be ready for WrestleMania every single year.
They know exactly when and where it's going to be, they've had the better part of four decades to get good at it, and it's their most important show of the year. So why has the Granddaddy of Them All been afflicted by last minute snafus so often?
Well, because wrestling is wrestling, that's why.
Stuff happens, people get hurt, stories don't get over, your top champion gets abducted by aliens.
Ok, that one hasn't actually happened... yet...
But it doesn't feel far off - WWE's flagship event has been subject to many an eleventh hour swap-out since the very first one back in 1985. Even the main event hasn't escaped this curse, as the company has left it late to finalise that match many many times.
To be clear, these matches didn't literally change in the final minute before they were due to start. But there was a concrete plan in place for the headline attraction before it was swapped out for something different close to the show. And Vince McMahon wasn't afraid to tear the script to shreds...
10. The Almost-Change - WrestleMania XIX
This one is bending the rules slightly, as we're talking about a change that was only nominally made, but it's a fascinating look behind the curtain at one of the best shows WWE has ever put on.
WrestleMania XIX is the hipster choice when it comes to favourite Manias. Michaels vs Jericho, Hogan vs McMahon, Austin vs Rock 3, this was an absolutely stacked night capped off with a classic battle between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar.
There's was one of the defining rivalries of the Ruthless Aggression era and this was one of the high points of the feud. However, it almost never happened because Angle was literally falling to pieces.
The star was told that he would need neck surgery, which would have taken him out of his planned title defence at Mania. To get around this problem, it was proposed that Lesnar beat Angle for the belt on SmackDown and face Chris Benoit at the show instead.
Because he isn't human, Angle powered through severe neck issues and had the match with Lesnar anyway, but there was a time where plans for the main event of WrestleMania XIX were regularly in flux.