10 Most Shocking Things That Happened On WWE SmackDown Post-WrestleMania

8. Paige Becomes New SmackDown GM (2018)

Shane McMahon Paige
WWE.com

24 hours before this, a solemn Paige stood in the middle of the ring on Raw and bawled her eyes out. She'd just announced her in-ring retirement, and it seemed a safe bet that the Brit would take some time away from the WWE spotlight to assess her options.

So much for that.

On the following night's SmackDown, Shane McMahon revealed Paige as the new General Manager to replace Daniel Bryan. Then, as he was prone to doing back then, Shane-O chanted, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" along with the fans in attendance. Meanwhile, Paige beamed with pride, showing contrasting emotions to Raw's sadness.

At the time, the announcement felt like a big deal for the show. It wouldn't end up being very progressive, if only because Paige was a more peripheral figure compared to McMahon omnipresence, but at least it gave her something to do for a while.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.