10 Best Kept Secrets In Wrestling History
Those times fans, and even talent, genuinely had no idea what was coming their way.
The feeling of being genuinely caught off guard by an incoming surprise within the wrestling world has unfortunately become rarer and rarer with each passing year, with absolutely unimaginable Royal Rumble appearances, outrageous comebacks, and glorious retirement fake-outs once being way more common than they are today.
That's because social media has now made it pretty much impossible to not get even the smallest sniff of a shocking return, debut, or result before it's actually occurred on a product.
Well, almost.
Even during the age of leaks and reports dropping online seemingly by the week hinting at various arrivals and booking decisions, there have still been those wonderful times there when the likes of WWE and AEW in particular have actually managed to pull off the unthinkable: keep a truly jaw-dropping secret.
Taking advantage of contract blunders, only making decisions final at the very last second, or simply doing everything humanly possible to keep a huge impending moment under wraps have all led to some of the most astonishing happenings in wrestling history.
So, let's have a bit of fun reliving some of the very best times wrestling blew fans' minds with a remarkably well kept secret.
10. John Cena's Royal Rumble Return
A return so deeply shocking and exciting, 20,000 folks briefly forgot it wasn't cool to love John Cena during the late 2000's. Wonderful stuff.
After going down injured in October 2007 with a pectoral tear, most expected to not see 'The Face that Runs the Place' for around six months to a year. But this freak of nature isn't your average human, folks.
About a month before his sensational comeback inside of Madison Square Garden during the 2008 Royal Rumble, folks within the company were already aware one of the most unlikeliest of comebacks was on, according to Bruce Prichard on his Something to Wrestle pod (via 411Mania).
And then, when the time came to execute this monumental surprise at the PPV, former WWE referee Marty Elias recalled to Wrestling Inc how WWE went to extreme lengths to keep this unexpected secret. Cena was hidden all day, and even marched through the hallway covered when the time came to finally blow the roof off of MSG.
All that effort to keep this Rumble return under wraps paid off and then some in the end, with Cena's number #30 entrance at the event producing one of the most authentic sounds of unfiltered shock you'll ever hear on a wrestling show.