10 WWE Bait And Switches Which Actually Worked
9. Batista Ruins JBL's Party (SmackDown 2005)
Back in 2005, John Cena had just ripped the WWE title away from John Bradshaw Layfield and his cronies at WrestleMania 21. Then, before SmackDown knew what had hit them, their new Champion was suddenly drafted to Raw.
This left the blue brand without a world champion for a few weeks. So, with it looking unlikely that Teddy Long would be able to acquire a new world champion, the General Manager instead opted to put on a six man elimination match with the winner being crowned SmackDown's new champ.
JBL, Chris Benoit, Booker T, Muhammad Hassan, The Undertaker and Christian would all go at it in the main event.
JBL eventually won the bout after delivering a picture perfect clothesline from hell to Christian and had seemingly just earned himself the 'SmackDown Championship'.
That was until Teddy Long revealed that JBL hadn't actually won a title at all.
What he'd actually obtained was a chance to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Batista, SmackDown's last draft pick.
Cue fans losing their minds as WWE successfully pulled off one of the most satisfying bait and switches in their illustrious history.
Big Dave was here to stay and thank god. Fans were spared nine more months of JBL squirming his way through a title run.