10 WWE Wrestlers Who Won Matches They Weren't Booked In
2. Edge - Survivor Series 2008
Art imitating life is a double-edged sword in WWE. Sometimes it becomes endearing and exciting, though most of the time it comes off disturbing and somewhat distasteful. The latter half of this occurred at Survivor Series 2008.
The WWE Championship match was scheduled to be Triple H defending against Vladimir Koslov and Jeff Hardy. The Charismatic Enigma was well known for his history of substance abuse at this point, and when WWE announced that Hardy was discovered earlier that night unconscious in his hotel, the audience at home and in the arena became very concerned for Hardy's welfare since it wasn't clear at the time whether the situation was kayfabe or not.
The match took place as a normal singles bout between Koslov and Helmsley. After it looked like Triple H was about to win the very dull match, Vickie Guerrero appeared and announced that the third participant had arrived to take part, only for Edge to appear for the first time since that years SummerSlam and usurp both Jeff Hardy's spot and the WWE Championship.
Hardy would eventually make his presence known during the match, attacking Edge and inadvertently striking Triple H, helping the Rated-R Superstar get the win, rendering the stairwell incident fairly gross. But this is once again another instance of the Ultimate Opportunist living up to his nickname.