10. Chyna To Defeat Stone Cold Steve Austin For WWF Title - SummerSlam 1999
At the height of the 'Attitude Era' Steve Austin was, in many respects, untouchable. The beer drinking self proclaimed 'toughest son of a b*tch' had played an integral role in transforming the fortunes of the WWF in the Monday Night War with WCW, and in the process helped to elevate professional wrestling to a level of popularity few ever thought possible. In 1999 WWF Champion Austin was the anti-establishment blue collar face of the WWF. Yet as the year had progressed it was clear that at least backstage Austin was far from untouchable. Plans were being quickly assembled to have Austin drop the WWF Championship at SummerSlam. However Austin allegedly refused to lose to a variety of suggested opponents, causing the WWF Creative Team to try and piece together a way in which Austin would walk out of SummerSlam without the belt. As a result of Austin refusing to work with the majority of the locker room, WWF creative penned a plan that would see Austin not have to 'job' to a male wrestler but rather drop the belt to a woman; none other than Chyna! In 1999 Chyna had stepped out from the shadow of her enforcer role with D-Generation X and had established her place on the roster as one of the most dominant female athletes to ever step foot in the WWF. As a result of being 'over' with WWF fans, WWF bookers ensured that Chyna would receive a momentous push in a long term plan to have her challenge gender stereotypes and prejudice. After all Chyna had, prior to SummerSlam, been the first female to qualify for the King Of The Ring Tournament and appear in a Royal Rumble match. Chyna's momentum coupled with a stubborn Austin had meant that for a brief moment a plan had been penned that would have seen Chyna face Austin at SummerSlam and win the WWF Championship.
It would seem that at first the plan was followed to the letter. Chyna became the first female number one contender for the WWF Championship, with the assumption that she would go on to challenge Austin for the belt in the main event of SummerSlam. However WWF Creative team abandoned the idea, opting to have Mankind take Chyna's place at SummerSlam instead in a triple threat match with HHH and Austin.