10 Biggest Swerves WWE Made Before WrestleMania
2. Mick Foley Returns From Retirement (2000)
There will always be regrets over the convoluted storytelling heading into WrestleMania 2000, not to mention the fact that a heel Triple H retained his title to close out the card (the first villain to do so at WrestleMania). In retrospect, Mick Foley's rivalry as both Mankind and Cactus Jack would have been perfect for 'Mania had it not already been finished just beforehand.
As Cactus, a brazen Foley put his entire career on the line against Triple H's WWF Title inside Hell In A Cell. That No Way Out match remains a classic to this day, the kind of encounter with storyline weight that really belonged on a bigger platform such as WrestleMania. Instead, the WWF had other plans.
Built around the 'McMahon In Every Corner' idea, 'Mania 2000's main event became a 4-way elimination affair when Linda McMahon brought Mick back out of retirement on the 20 March episode of Raw. Although fans were undoubtedly delighted to see Foley, the offered excuse of 'this is just a one night thing' from Linda tarnished the impact of that No Way Out loss.
Still, this was a momentous swerve no-one saw coming, that can't be forgotten.