The Magnificent Seven: The Seven Best WrestleMania Surprises

WrestleMania is the biggest annual wrestling show in the world and more often than not, it produces PPV of the year contenders. When we look back at the history of wrestling, though, one of the less expected realities of the show is how few meaningful surprises it has included. On the contrary, ‘Mania historically tends to focus on arriving at inevitable, satisfying conclusions—Hulk Hogan slamming and pinning Andre the Giant; first world title wins for guys like The Ultimate Warrior, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, John Cena, Batista, and Rey Mysterio; kayfabe underdog celebrities like Lawrence Taylor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. beating the odds.

But WrestleMania has featured some truly special, surprising moments. So, this week, I’m looking back at the seven best WrestleMania surprises.

#7. Trish Stratus Turns Heel on Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 20

This WrestleMania surprise tends to get overlooked for a number of reasons. First of all, it centers on a woman and, sad as it is to say, pro wrestling is still a male-dominated enterprise in the US. Second, it took place in the mid-card. Third, it happened in the mid-card at a stacked show out of which Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit are always going to be the iconic figures, with Evolution, John Cena, and The Undertaker taking the next best-recognized spots.

But let’s look at this moment more critically. Yes, it centered on a female performer, but this was Trish Stratus, the greatest female performer of her generation. And the mid-card talents? Two guys who each won world titles at different points in their careers—and, more to the point, Jericho who not only held the strap but defended it at WrestleMania just two years earlier. And yes, this match is overshadowed by higher profile bouts, and I’m not going to argue that it’s as good as the WrestleMania 20 main event. Just the same, it is a pretty great little back and forth match between two excellent in-ring performers who had an excellent storyline to work with that pivoted in Stratus.

And then there’s the climax. Creepy Little Bastard Christian stealing the pin and stealing the girl when Stratus slapped Jericho in the face and proceeded to make out with his arch-rival. It’s a truly unexpected and masterfully executed little piece of business worthy of much more recognition.

#6. The Ultimate Warrior Returns at WrestleMania 8

The forces of good in the WWF are reeling. Hulk Hogan is retiring to make movies. Sid Justice turned heel. Randy Savage may be the lone bona fide main event face in the locker room.

Then the WrestleMania 8 main event not only results in a poor match, but ends with Hogan getting beat down by Justice and newcomer Papa Shango. Things look bleak.

Cue the music.

The Ultimate Warrior came charging down the aisle after a seven month absence and stormed the ring and beat back the heels. In one fell swoop, he allowed Hogan to stand tall at the end of one more WrestleMania and reinserted himself at the top of the card to shore up things for the good guys. It was an electric moment that seemed to redefine the course of where the WWF would be headed in the years to come.

History has not been kind to this moment. Warrior would be gone from the WWF the following fall. The supposedly retired Hogan would be back inside a year, and, though I’m not checking the statistics, I think it’s safe to say that he would go on to wrestle more matches for the WWF/E than Warrior over the course of their remaining careers. Perhaps more importantly than any of that, neither Warrior nor Savage would carry the company over the years to follow as the WWF, instead, rebuilt itself on the backs of Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Diesel.

So, given its long-term ramifications—or perhaps more accurately its lack of long-term ramifications, Warrior’s surprise turn can’t rate any higher on the countdown than the number six spot. Just the same, the electricity of the moment itself is deserving of a nod.

#5. Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant Suffer a Double Elimination at WrestleMania 4

As a child of the 1980s, going into WrestleMania 4, I had no doubt in my mind that Hulk Hogan would recapture his WWF World Championship by running through the tournament at that show. And on the unlikely chance Hogan didn’t win, I had to assume it would be Andre the Giant—his only truly credible challenger—who would win.

One might think that the WWF was setting up Hogan or Andre for an extended run in the tournament by giving them a bye to the second round, saving them an appearance.Thus, I was shocked when their match ended in a double DQ schmozz, meaning that neither man would advance to even the semifinal round.

In hindsight, maybe this isn’t all that shocking. Andre was in no physical condition to work multiple matches in one night, and a double disqualification was one of the few options to both keep the belt off of and fully protect Hogan. In any event, this match’s surprising outcome set up an unlikely main event for that era, between two non-super-hero-sized technical virtuousos, Randy Savage and Ted Dibiase, and, of course, paved the way for the epic Hogan-Savage rivalry to follow.

#4. Triple H and Chyna Join The Corporation at WrestleMania 15

One of the biggest blessings and curses of the Monday Night War era is that wrestling promoters discovered the sheer electricity that can come with a true surprise. Yes, there were face and heel turns before that time, but in the late 1990s the turns started coming more quickly, more severely, and often with more profound storyline ramifications. There were plenty of times both during and after the Monday Night War when the plot device was abused—when there were turns for the sake of turns with little logic, build, or meaningful movement in storylines, or when a turn came across as more of a tired device than a revelatory moment (Curt Hennig turning on the Horsemen to join the NWO always sticks out to me in that sense).

But here we arrive at a complex turn that made sense, yielded major change, and for which the performers had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands. Heading into WrestleMania 15, Triple H was the face leader of DX, and his long-time ally Chyna had abandoned the crew to back Vince McMahon’s heel Corporation. Things seemed to take a turn when Chyna helped Triple H pick up a win over Kane and seemingly rejoined DX. As it turned out, Triple H and Chyna had renewed their alliance—but under a heel umbrella, as they proceeded to cost X-Pac his European Championship bout against Shane McMahon.

Thus, Triple H and Chyna claimed top spots in the Corporation. The move clipped DX’s run on top—a controversial decision that was probably for the best—opting not to run the hot faction into the ground like WCW was doing with the NWO. Meanwhile, Triple H’s heel turn paved the way for him to, in many ways, switch spots with heel world champ The Rock, who would go on to lose the strap and turn face before long. Within a year, with Steve Austin out of action, Triple H would be the top heel defending his world title against Rock as the top face.

#3. Hulk Hogan Beats Back The NWO at WrestleMania 18

This may be one of the less surprising surprises on the countdown, but the moment itself was so magical I couldn’t deny it an elite spot on this list.

After WCW had folded, Hulk Hogan came home to WWE. He didn’t come back as his familiar old red-and-yellow-wearing All-American good guy character, though, but rather as the character he was best-known for in WCW—Hollywood Hogan, the leader of the NWO.

Despite playing heel, and actively attacking top faces like The Rock and Steve Austin, Hogan nonetheless got his share of cheers upon his homecoming. WWE set up a dream match scenario for WrestleMania 18 with Hogan and The Rock going one-on-one. By their own account, WWE expected a split crowd, though it seems that no one anticipated the crowd would flat out treat Hogan as its hero, and Rock as the heel. And that’s just what happened.

Fortunately, WWE had a suitable payoff planned. Rock won the match, but when Hogan’s NWO running buddies turned on him after the bout, all of the pieces were in place for Hogan to turn face in a major way, teaming up with Rock to send packing Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, and start one more meaningful run as a main event-level face on the WWE stage. In the pantheon of great WrestleMania moments, Hogan’s turn is a surefire top ten finisher, made all the sweeter for it not being an inevitable outcome, but rather a surprise turn.

#2. Bret Hart and Steve Austin Execute The Perfect Double Turn at WrestleMania 13

I’m sure plenty folks would rank this turn as WrestleMania’s number one surprise, and I can’t blame them. The double-turn came as a capper to what was arguably WrestleMania’s best match, and I’ll be the first to admit ranking number one ahead of number two on this countdown is purely a matter of personal opinion.

In retrospect, Steve Austin turning face feels like an inevitability. His popularity started swelling long before anyone would call him a face and, with the benefit of eighteen years of hindsight, we can see that the WWF had its next Hulk Hogan-like star waiting in the wings.

Bret Hart’s heel turn, while less of a sure thing, nonetheless fit. As a traditionalist, he was a perfect storyline foil for Austin; as workers the two had so much chemistry that it would have been flat out waste not to have continued to promote matches between them.

So the fix was in. Hart and Austin engaged in a heated match that culminated in The Hitman locking in the Sharpshooter. Rather than take the cowardly heel’s way out and submit, Austin, bled, screamed, and ultimately passed out due to the pain. In refusing to admit defeat, Austin cemented his place in the hearts of the fledgling Attitude Era fans. And Hart, rather than doing the noble thing and letting go of a foe who could no longer defend himself, clung onto his hold in the interest of injuring his enemy, and proceeded to kick him when he was down. Then newly arrived Ken Shamrock pulled Hart from Austin and dared him to fight him, and Hart backed down. Meanwhile, Austin refused assistance. He stunned a ref and staggered backstage on his own. The turn was all but complete.

Hart-Austin presented a unique WrestleMania moment that marked a critical paradigm shift for the WWF—an essential choice that helped the company win the Monday Night War.

#1. Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth Reconcile at WrestleMania 7

I was seven years old when WrestleMania 7 went down. And while I still had a lot of childhood left to go, and the era of The Hulkster, The Macho Man, and The Warrior still had another year left in earnest, this match and its aftermath felt like a climax of that period. It was Randy Savage, getting the last mileage out of his heel character as The Macho King, with Queen Sherri at his side. It was Warrior in the aftermath of his world title run, wearing crazy tights painted to sell the gravity of this showdown. And, in an unexpected turn, it was Miss Elizabeth sitting in the crowd.

Warrior and Savage put on an outstanding match with their kayfabe careers on the line. Savage took the loss and then the magic really started. Rather than console her fallen champion, Sherrie started kicking and clawing at Savage. And Elizabeth had had enough.

For the first time, Miss Elizabeth got physical in a wrestling ring, grabbing Sherri by the hair and throwing her from the ring. When he got to his feet. Savage wasn’t sure what to make of Elizabeth. But he ultimately embraced her. Propped her up on his shoulder and paraded her around the ring. And finally, after years of Elizabeth holding the ropes for him to climb in and out of the ring, he got the ropes for her. Thus, over five years of on-again, off-again storytelling were paid off. Randy Savage was redeemed. Miss Elizabeth was back. Fans in the crowd wept openly. No one saw it coming.

And WrestleMania had its greatest surprise.

What were your favorite WrestleMania surprises? Steve Austin’s heel turn at the end of WrestleMania 17, Matt Hardy’s surprise appearance during the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 24, The Rock costing John Cena the WrestleMania 27, and Brutus Beefcake’s face turn at WrestleMania 3 were among my honorable mentions. Let us know what you think in the comments section. See you in seven.

Read from Mike Chin at his website. Follow him on Twitter @miketchin.