The Greatest Swerve that you never saw coming?

[Atrue1onewo1f]

There have been alot of swerves In wrestling some hit home runs and some have failed flat but there are some that left you speachless,

With that being said...

For me, It would have to be the 1998 "Deadly Game" Tournament held at the Survivor Series. This "Double Swerve" was genius.(Spoiler for those who haven't seen it. Mainly Cena fans) Austin got fired at the conclusion of the 1998 Judgement day:IYH PPV, He was then rehired & signed to a 5 year deal and garunteed a title shot by Shane McMahon. At the same time, Vince McMahon was Grooming Mankind to be his "Coorperate Champion." while trying to derail The Rock.

During the Semi-Finals, It seemed like Mankind was in the driver's seat to the vacant WWF Championship. Shane McMahon screwed Steve Austin but that was just the beginning. In the Finals, It was The Rock and Mankind and The Rock seemed to have The odds Stacked against him ...and Mankind seemed to be destined to win the title until The Rock put Mankind in the sharpshooter. and Vince Well...I am sure some of you Remember The Montreal Screwjob Right? Well it wasn't the ringing of the bell. For me it was the embrace between the McMahons and The Rock... The one moment that solidified the fact that the McMahons had knew all along of who their Coorperate Champion truly was.

So tell me, What was the swerve that you never saw coming?

 

[theBusiness]

Off the top of my head, the one night I think of right away is No Way Out 2009. No one expected Edge to be eliminated from the Chamber a couple minutes into the match and on top of that, enter the Raw Chamber later that night. I wasn't watching wrestling when he cashed in the first MITB at New Year's Revolution but that has to be one of the most shocking swerves of all time.

 

[sTyLnK]

When Vince brought out Eric Bishoff as the new GM of Raw. That was 100% completely unexpected by probably everyone. From what I understand, Vince reached an agreement with Eric earlier in the day, he hustled his butt to the arena and that was it. No one knew about it, not even the announcers. Unfortunately, the crowd reaction was terrible, but that swerve is at the top of my list of many others.

 

[CM Steel]

The biggest swerve to me would have to be when Edge got hurt and had to retire from the ring while WWE world heavyweight champion and the E helped put the world strap on Edge's BFF Christian for the first time in his WWE career. It was just a great feeling to see Christian as a world champion in the WWE, because it was something that you thought would NEVER happen but it did due to Edge's injury and retirement.

I enjoyed seeing Christian winning the WWE WHC two years ago this month at the Extreme Rules PPV. WOW!

 

[Headman]

There have been alot of swerves In wrestling some hit home runs and some have failed flat but there are some that left you speachless,

With that being said...

For me, It would have to be the 1998 "Deadly Game" Tournament held at the Survivor Series. This "Double Swerve" was genius.(Spoiler for those who haven't seen it. Mainly Cena fans) Austin got fired at the conclusion of the 1998 Judgement day:IYH PPV, He was then rehired & signed to a 5 year deal and garunteed a title shot by Shane McMahon. At the same time, Vince McMahon was Grooming Mankind to be his "Coorperate Champion." while trying to derail The Rock.

During the Semi-Finals, It seemed like Mankind was in the driver's seat to the vacant WWF Championship. Shane McMahon screwed Steve Austin but that was just the beginning. In the Finals, It was The Rock and Mankind and The Rock seemed to have The odds Stacked against him ...and Mankind seemed to be destined to win the title until The Rock put Mankind in the sharpshooter. and Vince Well...I am sure some of you Remember The Montreal Screwjob Right? Well it wasn't the ringing of the bell. For me it was the embrace between the McMahons and The Rock... The one moment that solidified the fact that the McMahons had knew all along of who their Coorperate Champion truly was.

So tell me, What was the swerve that you never saw coming?

I'm not sure why "Cena fans" would not have seen Survivor Series 98 and it's obvious swerve. Everybody with a computer knew the Rock was turning heel that night. Even us future Cena fans!

Biggest swerve that had me scratching my head with Cena's quick return at the Royal Rumble. This was done in the age of the internet so to be able to swerve the entire IWC was no easy task. The funniest part was that the Madison Square Garden crowd popped like a bunch of little girls at a Justin Bieber concert when he came out. Of course it only took them a couple minutes to remember they're too cool to be anything but snarky and rude at wrestling shows and quickly went back to normal. It's just too bad they blew the Wrestlemania the very next night.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Trish Stratus turning heel on Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 20. NOBODY saw it coming, and it remains one of the best heel turns in wrestling history in my book.

 

[Raptor93]

Its the only one that comes to mind remembering i didn't start watching wwe till 05 so I missed all those great twists of the golden days. Mark Henry beating Ryback, looking back it kinda makes sense what with henry being at the end of his career to get a wm moment after all his hard work but prior I thought the fact ryback was going to be used as a main event and had yet to win it would be a no brainer. Thus i was very surprised. Honorable mentions to dbry turning up to ss and swags winning money in the bank

 

[Wald]

vinny mac!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNgxyL5zEAk

Was going to post this too, but I think it's a good swerve for all the wrong reasons.

In the build up everyone in the fledgling IWC was commenting on how it could be Hollywood Hogan, how it could be Ted DiBiase or Jake Roberts, basically wondering who could be so evil that Taker answers to him. Hell I know people who were convinced that it would be either Paul Heyman or Eric Bischoff. No-one thought it was Vince because it didn't make sense for it to be Vince, he had just turned and come off a character that was basically what he was going back to. Massive disappointment when revealed.

 

[CarlSinclair]

I still think Vince had someone else planned for the higher power deal. It really didn't make sense for it to be him. Maybe there was someone else lined up and it fell through. I don't remember them ever talking about that anywhere? Any shoots from anyone involved etc?

Anyway

It is quite surprising that only one person has mentioned the Hogan turn? That is by far the biggest swerve in wrestling. Hogan turning heel and joining Hall & Nash. That single moment almost lead to WWE going out of business.

Second would probably be Austin joining McMahon, at the actual moment. I remember thinking WTF! then it got really lame, really quick.

Third...hmmm...not for OMG but a moment that always sticks in my mind, a very fond one is when Mr Perfect was Flairs executive consultant etc. Flair was feuding with Savage and had a tag match Flair/Razor vs Savage/?

Savage picked Perfect and Bobby was all over him saying Perfect is a has been and he works for Flair, is Flair's bitch etc. Then Perfect slaps Bobby and called him a weasel (finally). I think he tipped water over his head too.

He then went on to team with Savage. I still get chills of his music hitting a couple of times before he finally showed up to wrestle that match. Man I miss Perfect (RIP)

 

[AAPTSLTS]

I still think Vince had someone else planned for the higher power deal. It really didn't make sense for it to be him. Maybe there was someone else lined up and it fell through. I don't remember them ever talking about that anywhere? Any shoots from anyone involved etc?

Well there's been a longstanding rumor that Mankind was supposed to be the higher power, but Mick Foley didn't think his body could give a Mankind/Austin feud justice at that point. I'm not sure if this has ever been confirmed in any shoot, but it makes more sense than Vince.

For a good swerve, I'd say the NWO's third man. I don't remember anybody seeing that coming until Hogan came down. I was watching with friends, and we were all legitimately shocked that Hogan turned.

 

[berlinbrawler]

There have been very few swerves that I "never saw coming." Even the identity of the "third man" was kinda obvious to me well in advance. Usually when I didn't see it coming it was because an original plan fell apart and the writers were forced to improvise.

Case in point, I didn't see it coming that the Giant would join the nWo. How could anyone see it coming? IT MADE NO F'N SENSE!! Seemed like 5 minutes earlier the Giant was still passionately feuding AGAINST the nWo. From what I understand they had planned to have another ex WWF guy join the nWo (either Bret Hart or Davey Boy Smith, I think), but that person had resigned with the WWF at the last minute.

I also didn't see it coming that Test couldn't marry Stephanie because Triple H had drugged her and married her at a Vegas drive-through church. LOL. That happened because Russo had left the WWF and no one had any idea where that Steph-Test marriage thing was supposed to go in the first place.

Speaking of Russo - under him there were often so many swerves taking place that the only way he could surprise anyone would be if in any given situation no swerve whatsoever occurred.

 

[jameswalsh292]

There has been far better swerves before and since my one but its the one that sticks out most for me.

It was when Austin turned on the WWF to join the alliance during the big 10 man tag. I was about 10 at the time and didnt realize it was scripted. Austin was my favourite wrestler and I was annoyed he aligned with Vince and HHH a few months previously. It seemed he had turned a new leaf and we were getting the 'old Austin' back. I was excited and knew that he was gonna open a serious can of whoop ass on these alliance chancers.

Everything was going great and WWF were making a show of the alliance during the match. Then all of a sudden Austin goes mad and I think he stunners Angle and Booker T gets the pin.

Well, I was very confused. These WCW lads were a bunch of wankers and I couldnt understand why Austin had helped Booker when they had just been feuding .Especially since it looked as everything was going well for Austin and team WWF.

As I said there have been better swerves like the Hogan turn, but this one really got me. Looking back at it now it seems like it should be obvious but hey I was impressionable and didnt know.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

It's been a long time since any swerve has caught me off guard. Survivor Series '98 was the last swerve I didn't know was gonna happen although I should have seen it coming. I didn't have high speed internet back in '98 so I wasn't privy to insider information and I was much younger as well.

The Rock's heel turn that night was a surprise to me. I figured he was going to win that night I just didn't think he would turn heel especially since he was getting such a babyface reaction at the time, I figured they were content with Mankind being with McMahon. Not only that it was a good surprise that had quite a few good payoffs as a result, it was best for Rock to be a heel and it worked in spades.

Since then I can't really think of any big swerves that got me in a big way when it comes to wrestling.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

It's not "The greatest", but you know what I never saw coming? When Kurt Angle started to talk about "they", when Fortune & Immortal ran amok through TNA, I never thought that the "they" would be Fortune. I thought it was a great moment where the team turned on Immortal and it got a great crowd reaction on the night.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Easy... Hogan joins the NwO.... No one saw that coming and it was huge for business.

Survivor Series 97 hasnt been mentioned much... did anyone really see that one coming...

Austin joins with McMahon after WrestleMania... I didnt see that happening

Flair turns on Dusty Rhodes after Dusty saves him from a brutal beatdown at the hands of The Russians after a steel cage match vs Nikita Kolloff, reuniting the Horsemen and breaking Dusty's leg inside the cage... not only did I not see that one coming it was one of the most brutal turns I've ever seen in 30 plus years of wrestling, plus the proceeding fued did huge business for several months.

Bischoff joins WWE was good, although so many ex WCW guys had been brought in by that point it wasnt really as shocking.

Andre turns on the fans and his best bud Hogan, joins, The Heenan Family Stable, and challenges Hogan at WrestleMania. This match drew such intense interest, in part due to Andre's mammoth 20 year undefeated streak, that it helped propel that WrestleMania into the stratosphere of pop culture. Starrcade was doing really good business, milion dollar gates (at a time tickets were a fraction of what they are now) and drawing in the neighborhood of over 50,000 fans watching either live or in closed circuit but this is where WM takes it to a new level that no other wrestling show has ever reached on a consistent basis.

 

[nWo2]

Hogan to nWo is BY FAR the ONLY reason ANYONE bet 10-25 EVER watched WCW and is the GREATEST SWERVE IN WWE HISTORY

The greatest swerve that I never saw coming is undoubtedly the Montreal Screw Job for a few reasons

Some fans may have known Bret was trying to leave or going to leave, but honestly the swerve was real and Bret didn't even see it coming.

• To that point Vince didn't do much to exercise his power on screen in WWE
• EVERYONE thought Vince be loyal and gracious to Bret.
• The original plans were for Bret to WIN in Canada and drop the belt the next night

Its gotta be #1 because not even Bret knew the swerve was coming and that was REAL not a work. You don't spit on a guy and wait 15 years to bury a hatchet if its a work guys

 

[#IndyRules]

I have to say one of the biggest things i couldn't see coming was Benoit winning the WHC title at WM20. To be in a match with such established guys as HHH and HBK and win was amazing certainly because a year before that he was in the tag division.
Also the OP was a big thing.
Finally Undertaker losing to Mr McMahon in a buried alive match was a bit of a shock but i suppose Undertaker does always take some sort of hiatus but i didn't see it coming.

 

[Jesus]

 

[D_Feds]

When Shawn Michaels gave Hulk Hogan the sweet chin music in 2005 to set up their feud. It felt at the time that Michaels was in the Cena like un-Heel-able zone and it just caught me completely off guard in that moment.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

The greatest swerve I didn't see coming was definitely Hogan and the NWO. I don't think many at the time considered that Hogan would go heel again in his career.

Another great swerve that I didn't anticipate was the Hogan-Andre match where DiBiase paid off Hebner...who was actually the "evil twin brother!"

I mean, you knew "something" was gonna happen, but the way it all broke down was just amazing at the time. It was really perfect booking. Seriously...a referee with a bonafide twin?? ROFL, awesome!

 

[StraightEdge]

How can anyone forget this one?

HHH and Chyna joining the Corporation at WM 15.

Before it happened Chyna was already in the corporation after turning on HHH. Chyna (in Kane's corner) then helped HHH beat Kane, and it appeared that they both reunited with DX. Then X-Pac faced Shane for the European title and HHH did the unthinkable and pedigreed his friend X-Pac and both HHH and Chyna joined the Corporation.

 

[MWRedskins]

there's 3 things. i dont know if i can call them swerves (except 1 of them), but the other 2 things i didnt see coming, these arent in any order..
1) Chris Benoit winning the WCW World title, then leaving the company. that was kinda surprising to me as i never thought a World Heavyweight champion would walk out on holding that title, but he did, so it was surprising when i seen him on WWE after he was the WCW champion. i dont think/know if that's a swerve, but it wasnt something i saw coming.
2) Bret Hart being screwed out of the WWF Title, in REAL LIFE. i dont know if i call that a swerve (as it wasnt one that was planned with all parties involved in the match), but it was one that i dont think anyone seen coming. most people knew he would go to WCW, but i dont think anyone thought he would lose that way. people likely thought he would either have a no contest or DQ then drop the title the next night or just give in, but i dont think anyone guessed a real life screw job.
3) the nWo third man. that is a swerve and that's one i dont think many saw coming at first, Brain may have spoiled it when he said, "who's side is he on" but i dont think even him saying that caused anyone to change their minds that Hogan wasnt the third man, him turning heel shocked the world.

so those are my top 3, if the first 2 dont categorize as swerves, then the Hogan swerve is the biggest one i didnt see coming, but if the 2nd one is a swerve, then it's the Montrel Screwjob that is my top one.

 

[Da Solo]

Definitely would be Bischoff becoming GM. I knew from the quick Booker T segment before that that something really odd was about to go down, but I never imagined Vince having the gall to march him down the aisle and hug him, no less.

 

[HBsam31]

The biggest swerve I never saw coming was of course Hogan being the third man. It took me by complete surprise. HBK hitting Sweet Chin Music on Hogan was another one. Been trying to think of one that hasn't been mentioned, and I really can't so for my third one I would have to say the Montreal Screwjob. I mean who and the hell saw that one coming?

 

[cawsnallthis]

Curt Hennig turning down Arn's "spot" and turning on Flair and the Horsemen and joining the NWO. Flair and Hennig had been joined at the hip for awhile by then and just never saw it coming. As far as the NWO's third man swerve, I didn't so much see it coming as I was rooting for it desperately. As he was walking down the aisle, I was saying over and over, "Please let him turn heel, please let him turn heel", because I knew the crowd would go nuts on him. I had despised Hogan for years at that point and watching them rain garbage down on his head had me literally rolling on the floor, cackling with joy. I laughed so hard, I couldn't breathe and my sides hurt the next day. The shot of that little boy crying at the fall of his hero is one of, if not the greatest thing I've ever seen in wrestling and I saw Ric Flair win the strap twice live.