10 Most Shocking Wrestling Unmaskings

Vince McMahon was the top heel in WWE in 1998 and early 1999, but after WrestleMania, The Undertaker began to supplant him. The once-beloved babyface had added an evil edge to his character, assembled a Ministry of Darkness around himself, and begun to pick feuds with some of the company's popular babyfaces. Even Vince McMahon seemed like a sympathetic character when threatened by the increasingly-erratic Phenom.

At Backlash, The Undertaker kidnapped Stephanie McMahon, and the following evening, he tried to marry her in an occult ceremony. Steve Austin saved "The Billion-Dollar Princess," earning the gratitude of her father (and his archnemesis) in the process. When Shane McMahon joined up with The Undertaker to form The Corporate Ministry, Vince became an out-and-out babyface.

Soon, though, Undertaker revealed that he wasn't the mastermind behind The Corporate Ministry's ultimate goal - there was a higher power (whom he appropriately refered to as "The Higher Power"). On the May 31, 1999 episode of Raw, The Corporate Ministry beat Austin down and tied him up in the ropes, then held him as a robed figure came down to the ring. The figure exposed his face to Austin (and only Austin) as the episode ended.

Speculation ran rampant as to whom The Higher Power could be, with fans guessing names of former superstars like Jake Roberts. The following week, The Corporate Ministry took the ring on Raw with The Higher Power in tow. They invited Vince to come down and unmask the mysterious character, but Vince appeared on the Titantron to refuse. At that point, it became obvious what was happening, and McMahon whipped off his hood, infamously shouting "It was me, Austin! It was me all along!"

The payoff was considered a disappointing ending to an interesting angle, one which sent storylines right back to the status quo.