10 Major WWE Matches That Changed At The Last Second
8. The Undertaker & Nathan Jones vs. The Big Show & A-Train WrestleMania XIX
As revered as The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak is, a healthy percentage of the matches comprising it are quite bad. Most of these aren't even The Undertaker's fault he was just in the ring with stiffs like Giant Gonzales, King Kong Bundy, and Sid. WrestleMania XIX looked to be a similar story. In the Phenom's first-ever tag match at the show of shows, he was scheduled to team with newcomer Nathan Jones to take on the villainous tandem of The Big Show and the newly rechristened A-Train. Jones, for those who don't remember, was a near-seven foot tall Australian who had served time in Boggo Road Gaol. He and The Undertaker had formed a bond, but "The Colossus of Boggo Road's" experience was limited to throwing a few kicks and falling down on TV. At the last minute, WWE decided they couldn't take any chances at WrestleMania. On the Sunday Night Heat immediately preceding the show, the Full Blooded Italians assaulted Jones backstage and took him out of the contest. It became a handicap match, but fortunately, the universal powers that converged every year in early spring (until 2014, anyway) allowed the Deadman to overcome the odds, defeat both opponents, and bring his streak to 11-0. Jones ran in at the end to help 'Taker out, then promptly accomplished nothing else in WWE.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013