12 Wrestling Twists Nobody Ever Saw Coming

Forget terrible M. Night Shyamalan movies, the real twists that no one ever sees coming are in pro-wrestling angles.

You see, over the years us poor, gullible fans have been swerved and shocked to our very cores numerous times by crafty wrestling bookers.

We've seen it all: beloved babyfaces abandon everything they believed in and shockingly turned heel, shocking reveals, surprise Royal Rumble winners, and even discovered that Hornswaggle was Vince McMahon's illegitimate offspring (and that isn't even the wackiest thing that has happened to the troubled McMahon family on WWE television over the years). It's a wonder wrestling companies can even manage to shock us anymore!

With this in mind, here is the ultimate list of wrestling twists that no one saw coming...  

John Cena Returns to WWE and Wins the Royale Rumble in 2008

After suffering a torn pectoral muscle in a match with Ken Anderson in October 2007, it was widely expected that John Cena  would be out for many, many months. Some reports even figured he could be out up to a year. The WWE star even making WrestleMania in March the next year looked to be a remote possibility.

So, of course, no one expected a healthy Cena to show up just two months later at the 2008 Royal Rumble as the No.30 entrant and win the whole thing...which is why it left most fans reeling when it he did. 

Impressively, no spoilers whatsoever leaked out about Cena making his his shock return in the days up to the event (unlike the "It Begins" reveal, in which everyone and their grandmother knew it was Chris Jericho making his return).  It may have been the most closely guarded secret in wrestling history. 

Nexus Invades Raw

No one in wrestling saw the shock emergence of rookie stable Nexus on the June 7 2010 coming. During the CM Punk/John Cena The former stars of NXT season 2, led by Wade Barrett. and clad in black arm bands, ominously surrounded the ring and proceeded to unleash hell and take out everyone in sight in one of the most brutal and violent WWE segments ever filmed.

Indeed, the beatdown was deemed so violent that Nexus star Daniel Bryan was famously fired for choking announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie, a move which WWE brass deemed inappropriate (Daniel was later brought back when the heat had died down and has since enjoyed a credible career in WWE, even winning the World Heavyweight Championship last month). 

The Nexus angle never reached the high of that Raw ever again, and fizzed out over the next few months, mainly due to the group continually getting dominated by tough guy Cena. The firing  of Bryan and injuries (to Skip Skeffield and Michael Tarver) also helped stall their momentum.

Nonetheless, despite how badly the Nexus invasion angle went on to be handled, the initial beatdown still remains one of the finest moments of WWE television ever.

Vince McMahon Is Revealed to Be the Greater Power

"IT WAS ME, AUSTIN! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, AUSTIN!" bellowed an insane-looking Vince McMahon into the mic, as he revealed himself to be the greater power behind the corporate ministry in 1999, and delivered one the greatest, campiest wrestling performances ever. Seriously, he was only a notch below pantomime villain here. JR's disgusted reaction on commentary, "Aw, son of a b****" was the icing on the cake.

The unveiling of Vince as the hiring power was considered a shock because, in many ways, Vince was the last person you would expect to be aligned with The Undertaker and his son Shane McMahon  You see Vince had been positioned as the face in the months prior, as he sought to protect his daughter Stephanie (then playing a goody-two-shoes babyface) from The Undertaker's lecherous intentions and even made amends with enemy Steve Austin. 

But, alas, it all turned out to be a ruse. Vince presented himself as being victimised by the ministry simply to lure Austin into a false sense of security, so he could take his WWF Championship.

Of course, this twist had most than a few annoying questions (like, if Vince was so intent to screw Austin out of the title, why did he actually help Austin retain his belt once or twice while pretending to be a good guy?), and seeing Vince, who was already all over television at this point, hog up even more airtime made many roll their eyes.

But nonetheless, this twist has become so iconic in wrestling Zack Ryder even spoofed it on his Youtube show as Scott Stanford was revealed as the mystery assailant who attacked Ryder's friend, Chiappetta.   

Hulk Hogan Turns Heel at Bash at the Beach

Long-time babyface Hulk Hogan shocked the wrestling world when he turned heel at WCW's Bash at the Beach event in 1996. Hulk siding with the Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) against WCW and formed the New World Order is generally considered the turning point for the Atlanta-based promotion and what led them into their boom period in the late '90s.

The drastic change in Hogan's character, who up until that point had been considered a virtuous babyface, is still talked about till this day, often when people talk about potential positives of controversial babyface John Cena turning heel.   

Steve Austin Turns Heel at WrestleMania 17

After Steve Austin's return in 2000 from serious neck surgery, many expected "The Rattlesnake" would be going heel sooner or later. The WWE landscape had changed drastically in Austin's time away: quick-witted, charismatic guys like The Rock and Chris Jericho were now he top babyfaces and Austin's grizzled redneck character seemed slightly dated. 

Of course, few expected him to go heel as early as WrestleMania 17, an event in which he took on The Rock for the WWE Champion. Towards the end of the gripping bout Austin was nearly out of options, having done everything he possible could have to keep The Rock down for the three count and come up short every time, until Vince McMahon strolled down the ring with a steel chair. Austin then sided with his old enemy and the two proceeded to beat Rock mercilessly after with Austin, finally, got the three count and became champion. Jim Ross going crazy at ringside in horror and disgust also helped sell the angle greatly. 

Surprised as many were though after the match, going into WrestleMania, all the signs were there. Indeed, Austin had made it clear to everyone he was determined to regain the gold, whatever he had do.       

Rikishi Being Revealed as the Man Who Ran over Austin

Many wrestling fans were stunned when charismatic, dancing babyface Rikishi was revealed as the assailant who had ran over Steve Austin in a car in 1999 (this was the storyline explanation for Austin needing time off for his neck fusion surgery). Up until wrestler-turned-detective Mick Foley's revelation on Raw than he had worked out it was Rikishi's behind the dastardly act, there had been no hint whatsoever on WWE screens of the pudgy babyface having any sort of darkside. 

Rikishi's explanation? "I did it for The Rock." This skit may have been the most memorable moment of the Samoan's entire WWE run. Indeed, his heel turn and main event run flopped soon after. 

ECW Joins WCW to Form the Alliance

After the dismal, shambolic Booker T/Buff Bagwell main event on Raw a week earlier, the WCW led invasion angle in the summer of 2001 was in a lot of trouble.

Thankfully, Paul Heyman's ECW (which had disbanded months earlier due to financial issues) was then thrown into the mix, to help make the fumbling WCW appear more of a threat to the all-powerful WWF. The hardcore group, including ECW names Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam, debuted on Raw in a truly shocking angle which got everyone talking.   

TNA's Reveal of "THEY"

In late 2010, TNA storylines were dominated by an angle in which heel monster Abyss continually claimed "THEY" were coming at Bound For Glory to take away the company from TNA owner Dixie Carter.

Come the event it was revealed that "THEY" were, in fact, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who turned on Dixie and announced they were now in charge, having tricked the TNA President to sign some fraudulent paperwork giving Bischoff total control over the company in the iMPACT prior to the show (how this managed to hold up in court, especially with Bischoff admitting on-camera he knew what he had done was patently illegal, is beyond me).

To make the twist even more shocking, Bischoff and Hulk even had new TNA World Champion Jeff Hardy on side and those three, along with numerous others including Jeff and Karen Jarrett, all formed major heel group Immortal. 

Steve Austin Turns Heel and Joins the Alliance

While WWF Champion Steve Austin had, as mentioned, spent a large part of 2001 as a dastardly heel, by the time the invasion angle rolled around, "The Rattlesnake" had seemingly turned face again, as it was clear the WWE desperately needed their old hero if they had any of hope if fighting back against the evil ECW/WWF alliance. After a motivational speech by his boss Vince, also now  a face, it appeared as if the old Austin was back, dedicated wholly to WWE and its fans, and more than ready to unleash hell and to stun every alliance member in sight!

But it was a set up all along. At the Invasion pay-per-view (which saw a 5 on 5 tag match between the two groups), the untrustworthy WWF Champion turned heel for the second time that year and shockingly sided with the alliance, much to the chagrin of JR on commentary. 

You should know you can never trust a rattlesnake, JR.

Kane Being Revealed as the Man Who Put the Undertaker into a Coma

In the spring and summer of 2010, Kane was on a rampage to discover who had beaten his brother, The Undertaker, in a vegetative coma on Memorial Day weekend. Vowing bloody revenge, the mourning wrestler went after and victimized everyone, from Jack Swagger to Rey Mysterio, in a bid to find out who had attacked his beloved brother.

But this being WWE, things weren't so simple and it was revealed at Summerslam that it was in fact "The Big Red Machine" who had attacked The Undertaker on that Memorial Day weekend, after "The Deadman" showed up at the event and attacked Kane. 

So, despite claiming to be on a serious mission to find the culprit, Kane himself was actually the culprit all along. What a twist!

Robert Roode Turns Heel on James Storm

Many were shocked when Robert Roode turned on his best friend and Beer Money tag team partner James Roode to win the TNA World Champion on the November 3 iMPACT. Especially since Roode had been built up as a major babyface in the months prior with video packages showing him training and spending time with his close family members.

Had Roode's heel turn been the plan all along, as many claimed, or was it more short-sighted TNA booking? This was never made clear, but thankfully the talented Roode has came into his own as a heel champion performer. 

The Montreal Screwjob

Well, this one deserves a mention mainly for the fact that it managed to not only shock the fans, but one of the wrestlers in the match itself. Yes, Bret genuinely had no clue Vince McMahon had instructed referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell as soon as HBK put Bret in the sharpshooter, even though Bret had not submitted, crowning Michaels the new WWF Champion.

Now that is the swerve to end all swerves.