10 Surprising Last-Minute WWE WrestleMania Card Twists

5. The Hardys Make A Splash

WWE WrestleMania 38 Cody Rhodes Seth Rollins
WWE

If this were an article about “biggest pops in WrestleMania history,” Chris Jericho would be clicking his pen and informing the Hardy brothers that their Mania 33 return just made the list.

Matt and Jeff had been away from WWE seven and eight years, respectively, when they made a surprise return as the fourth entrants in an announced triple threat tag team ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

The circumstances surrounding their return were nothing short of spectacular. The duo defended – and lost – the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship to the Young Bucks at Supercard of Honor 11 the night before, meaning they were in town, but also had just competed in a gruelling match.

Then at WrestleMania 33, hosts the New Day teased that they were joining the fray as a fourth team before they gave way to Matt and Jeff. Naturally, the Attitude Era pioneers managed to win the tag titles, driving whipped-up fans into even more of a frenzy.

It truly was a “WrestleMania moment” and one hell of a surprise addition to a match.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.