10 WWE Pay-Per-View Shocks Nobody Could Predict

10. Rookie Sheamus Beating John Cena To Become WWE Champ

Sheamus WWE Champion TLC 2009
WWE.com

Part of a talent initiative designed to shake up the main roster in WWE, the call ups of men like Sheamus from developmental to the ill-fated ECW brand were welcomed in 2009. That doesn't mean anybody could have predicted that the red-headed Irishman would be WWE Champion by the end of the year.

Only making his Raw debut in October by attacking Jamie Noble, Sheamus then turned his attention to the WWE Title after Survivor Series and won a 'Break Through Battle Royal' for the right to face John Cena at December's TLC pay-per-view.

No-one could have guessed that he'd leave that show with the title around his waist.

Pushing Cena backwards off the rope and through a table, the Irish star won the Tables bout and became new WWE Champion. There was a hushed feel to the live crowd's reaction; as much as many had grown tired of Cena's character, they really didn't expect to see a rookie dethrone him right at the end of the year.

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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.