7 Most Infuriating Last Minute WWE PPV Changes
A WWE card is always subject to change.
Even during creatively barren spells of WWE programming, it's hard not to get excited in the hours leading up to a pay-per-view.
Kevin Dunn might be persona non grata amongst some circles of the wrestling fandom, but he has a lot to do with it. His peerless hype videos on otherwise cautious go-home shows strip away the dreaded filler and repetition synonymous with modern WWE feuds, and he re-contextualises what were obvious soundbites into marquee moments.
Wrestling fans in the United Kingdom especially are whipped into anticipatory frenzy as a result of the 1:00AM start time. We convince ourselves, in a state of considerable fatigue, that something momentous is about to occur. Why else would we caress our red eyeballs in an attempt to keep them open until 4:00AM?
Sleep deprivation is an effective method of torture. WWE have, on occasion, exacerbated this by slowly dripping water on the foreheads of fans by removing beloved wrestlers from premium shows - even when they knew damn well in advance that they'd have to reshuffle the deck.
More gallingly, sometimes an advertised match gets changed when there is absolutely no on or off-screen reason for it...
7. The Big Show Replaces Steve Austin - Survivor Series 1999
Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Triple H were the three biggest stars of WWE's Attitude Era, and the first-ever Triple Threat match between the trio was WrestleMania-worthy. Sadly, it never happened.
Onscreen, Austin was run over by a car at the hands of a mystery assailant. In reality, his injuries - particularly, issues with his neck - had caught up to him; he needed to take several months off to recuperate from surgery.
The WWF knew about this a week in advance, but in a cynical and misleading push to maintain PPV buys, withheld the truth from the paying audience and ran (no pun intended) the hit and run angle on the night as a storyline explanation for his absence.
His replacement was The Big Show, who was a monumental disappointment in the months following his WWF debut as "Big Nasty" Paul Wight. The Triple Threat match was the typical interference-laden Attitude Era-style main event, which made it passable enough, but WWF fans were consciously and unfairly conditioned to expect a classic.
Astonishingly, despite being a unanimously unpopular substitution, Show was booked to win the title, which he defended against Big Boss Man at Rock Bottom in one of the worst PPV championship matches ever. It lasted just 3:11.
The decision was so bad that it had a karmic effect on future storylines. Rikishi was latterly and infamously unveiled as the man behind the wheel, despite engaging in comedy dance routines on WWF television at the time. His heel run would torpedo his promising career, which took years to launch.