Some of the best kept secrets in WWE wrestling.
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00:00Taking advantage of contract blunders, only making decisions final at the very last second,
00:06or simply doing everything humanly possible to keep a huge impending moment under wraps,
00:11have all led to some of the most astonishing happenings in wrestling history.
00:16So I am Gareth, this is What Culture Wrestling, and here are the 10 Best Kept Secrets in Wrestling
00:22History.
00:2310.
00:24John Cena's Royal Rumble Return A return so deeply shocking and exciting,
00:2820,000 folks briefly forgot it wasn't cool to love John Cena during the late 2000s.
00:34Wonderful stuff.
00:35After going down injured in October 2007 with a pectoral tear, most expected to not see
00:41the face that runs the place for around six months to a year.
00:44But this freak of nature isn't your average human being, folks.
00:48About a month before his sensational comeback inside of Madison Square Garden during the
00:522008 Royal Rumble, folks within the company were already aware one of the most unlikeliest
00:57of comebacks was on, according to Bruce Prichard on his Something to Wrestle pod.
01:02And then when the time came to execute this monumental surprise at their pay-per-view,
01:06Cena was hidden all day, and even marched through the hallway covered when the time
01:11came to finally blow the roof off of MSG.
01:14All that effort to keep this rumble return under wraps paid off, and then some in the
01:18end.
01:199.
01:20Malakai Black is Suddenly All Elite It may not have led to the sort of consistently
01:24mesmerising run folks were hoping for, but Malakai Black's first night as an All Elite
01:29menace is still one of the most surprising and captivating Tony Khan's company has
01:34ever seen.
01:35And what made Black's arrival on the night of July 7th, 2021 so legitimately stunning
01:40was the fact not a single soul honestly thought the former NXT champion had a chance of appearing
01:45on AEW TV for at least a few more months.
01:49You see, in the wake of being released by WWE on June 2nd, most assumed Black would
01:53have to stick to the typical 90-day non-compete clause the sports entertainment company stick
01:58in their contracts.
01:59However, with Black working on the Black and Gold developmental brand for a time before
02:03being called up to the main roster, it was eventually revealed that WWE had stupidly
02:08failed to update the star's NXT 30-day non-compete clause to the usual main roster 90-day one
02:14after he hopped over to Raw and SmackDown.
02:17What came next was one of the coolest debuts in AEW history.
02:21A blackout led to the amazing reveal of the former Aleister Black secretly signing with
02:25the company, before Arn Anderson was utterly pulverised with a spinning heel kick at that
02:29year's Road Rager.
02:30Now I've got a quick question for you, what do you think's been the best ever AEW debut?
02:36Was it Malakai Black's spinning heel kick to The Arn?
02:38Or something else?
02:39You let me know in the comments section down below baby.
02:428.
02:43Christian Cage is cleared for a Rumble comeback
02:45Returning to the greatest multi-person match in all of wrestling now, and yet another moment
02:51nobody ever thought could actually be a possibility heading into a Royal Rumble event.
02:55Now sure, the prior year's Men's Over the Top Rope epic had seen the unlikely comeback
03:00of a certain Rated-R superstar, folks also once thought they'd never see bumping again.
03:05But rumours of Edge's impossible return becoming a reality were very much doing the
03:09rounds before the 2020 Rumble.
03:12The same could not be said for the WWE Hall of Famer's best pal though.
03:16Though he had technically taken part in an unsanctioned fight with Randy Orton in 2020,
03:20away from that one-minute squash, Christian hadn't been involved in a match since retiring
03:25due to concussion issues.
03:27That all changed on the night of the 2021 Men's Rumble however, with Christian and
03:31a few others actually being made aware of the fact he'd been cleared to return a few
03:35months before the event.
03:37After then managing to keep that vital information a secret in the time leading up to the Thunderdome
03:42show, Captain Charisma was finally given the thumbs up to make a jaw-dropping comeback
03:46to action on the Friday before the PLE.
03:49And with that, the once unthinkable visual of Edge and Christian competing in a WWE match
03:54together, soon unexpectedly warmed the hearts of genuinely stunned fans around the globe.
03:597.
04:00No one knew Pat McAfee was going to be calling the Rumble 2023 action
04:04It wasn't just those watching the 2023 Royal Rumble inside of the Alamo Dome and at home
04:09that were caught entirely off-guard by Pat McAfee's unannounced arrival that night.
04:14If it wasn't already clear from the way an unquestionably stunned and overjoyed Michael
04:18Cole reacted to the return of his blue show pal, and Corey Graves' hilarious exasperation
04:23at being nudged down the bench, it was later noted that neither man had any clue Pat was
04:28going to be back that night.
04:30The majority of WWE's production crew weren't told about the awesome McAfee secret either,
04:35with WWE's decision to keep the epic return to the booth close to the vest, kicking the
04:39event off in the most unpredictable and joyous way imaginable.
04:43Watching a legitimately giddy Cole then be told in real-time that his mate would be joining
04:47the twosome for the entire night of action was a terrifically wholesome moment too, and
04:52one that wouldn't have been possible had someone let their Pat out of the bag beforehand.
04:566.
04:57Roman Reigns wrecks everybody out of nowhere
04:59Heading into the first crowdless SummerSlam in WWE history, the company promised the folks
05:04locked up in their homes around the world that they would never see it coming.
05:07And in what had become something of a rarity at that point, WWE actually only went and
05:12delivered a truly remarkable shock that no fan on the planet honestly foresaw in the
05:17weeks before the biggest party of the summer.
05:19The Big Dog hadn't been seen on WWE programming since dropping out of WrestleMania 36 and
05:24taking some time away from wrestling during those early pandemic days.
05:28And with there being very few hints at exactly what the future held for the former World
05:32Champion in the months that followed the show of shows, outside of WWE eventually releasing
05:36new merch for the absent figure, most understandably assumed that aforementioned tagline was likely
05:42just referring to even more demented fiend Braun Strowman shenanigans in the main event.
05:47What they didn't expect to see was Roman Reigns not only making a shocking post-match
05:50return to all things sports entertainment, but as a badass heel who ate spooky monsters
05:55for breakfast at the head of the table.
05:57To ensure this monumental show-closing return would come as a real game-changing shock to
06:01much of the wrestling world, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE
06:06didn't even tell a bunch of Roman's fellow superstars that he was about to come back
06:10and kick off one of the most dominant runs in wrestling history either, and he's never
06:14looked back since.
06:15Cheers for watching this video today and if you like what you see then go and hit that
06:19subscribe button down below!
06:205. Shane O'Mac Brings Back The Money Long before he strutted out as one of WrestleMania
06:2539's best-kept secrets, and unfortunately limped back out again a minute or so later,
06:30Shane McMahon found himself in the middle of an even bigger shock return in 2016.
06:35It had been announced that someone was going to be handed the most prestigious award that
06:39WWE will ever present on the night of February 22nd, that being the Vincent J McMahon Legacy
06:45of Excellence Award of course.
06:47But just before Vince could hand the award over to the on-screen heel with a quote-unquote
06:51warm good-hearted soul known as Stephanie McMahon, a rather familiar tune blasted through
06:56the speakers.
06:57The money was back baby!
06:59And a crowd that had just spent much of the last few minutes groaning and watting their
07:02way through another soul-crushing start to Raw, suddenly erupted in stunned euphoria.
07:07Nobody had a Shane O'Mac comeback on their 2016 WWE bingo card, that's for sure.
07:12Vince would later tell the Orlando Sentinel that the big reveal was kept a secret, thanks
07:16to Shane being locked away on a bus until the moment Stephanie's music hit that night.
07:20And when Shane O did eventually show up in gorilla moments before shaking things up a
07:24little, the folks sat around reportedly said they couldn't believe what was happening.
07:28They were likely saying something similar back in April, after watching Snoop Dogg drop
07:32a surreal People's Elbow to cover for the destroyer of the 2022 Men's Royal Rumbles
07:384.
07:39It's Sting in AEW Returning to an era most folks understandably
07:43don't have the fondest memories of, AEW also managed to give their audience a much-needed
07:48shot of completely unforeseen joy during their first-ever Dynamite Winter is Coming event
07:53in 2020.
07:54Now, sure, folks were aware that the legendary Sting had quietly parted ways with WWE midway
07:59through the year, and it did feel like AEW was a logical destination for the icon at
08:03some point in the future.
08:05But very few predicted precisely when that debut was going to go down, and that was largely
08:09due to the likes of The Young Bucks and Tony Khan keeping Sting's incredible arrival
08:13under wraps for months.
08:15Matt and Nick Jackson would also confirm to Living the Gimmick that they used the old
08:19hide-your-massive-surprise-in-a-trailer trick on the day of the event, and when it was finally
08:23time for the Stinger to wander into position, the EVPs recalled watching the genuinely shocked
08:28talent inevitably mark out around him.
08:31Similar reactions were no doubt happening all over the planet, when Tony Schiavone let
08:35out an iconic IT'S STING for the first time on AEW programming, as All Involved pulled
08:40off one of the finest surprise arrivals of the modern era.
08:433.
08:44Mark Henry was far from finished
08:46After being a part of the WWE system since 1996, lifting world championship gold and
08:51enjoying a terrific Hall of Pain run, most fans were quick to believe the once-unstoppable
08:56Mark Henry was done when he began teasing retirement on Twitter in June of 2013.
09:01And right up to the moment the Emotional Powerhouse had his arm raised by John Cena after telling
09:06those watching on that he was retiring from the active roster, there wasn't a person
09:11out there who didn't fully believe they were watching the end of the lovable big man's
09:15in-ring career.
09:16Then, in a move that left millions of jaws banging off the floor, Henry only went and
09:20revealed the entire thing was one big swerve, nailing Cena with a world's pinkest slam
09:25in the middle of the ring.
09:27Henry would later admit down the road that he was actually considering retiring around
09:31this time.
09:32But after Vince McMahon talked him out of it, the committed star then spent months tricking
09:36folks into believing the end was near.
09:38And after successfully keeping the real plan to have him actually attack Cena, and set
09:43up a match for Money in the Bank over the WWE Championship, a secret, through his brilliant
09:48retirement teases and moving speech, Henry masterfully completed one of the greatest
09:52shock turns of all time.
09:542.
09:55Brock Lesnar beats the streak
09:57The Undertaker's streak shockingly coming to a heartbreaking end at WrestleMania 30
10:01was a call that very few outside of the key players involved had any idea was about to
10:06rock the Superdome.
10:07In fact, it was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter around the time that referee
10:12Chad Patton was actually told Taker would be walking out of New Orleans with a 22-0
10:16record.
10:17But with the rule being for WWE officials to ref the contest as a shoot, Patton simply
10:22brought his hand down for the incredible three.
10:24It would also later be revealed by Taker himself in an interview with Ariel Helwani
10:28that the original plan up until the day of the show was actually for the Deadman to go
10:33over the beast on the grandest stage.
10:35But early that afternoon, Vince made his way into the Phenom's dressing room and secretly
10:39changed wrestling history forever, altering the old finish to the one that ultimately
10:44involved the concussed icon being F5'd to smithereens for the Brock win.
10:48And just a few hours later, the entire wrestling world was left feeling utterly shook by a
10:53first-ever Taker-mania-el that came completely out of left field.
10:571.
10:58CM Punk Comes Back Home To WWE
11:01It still feels rather surreal to be living in a world where this chip magnet is once
11:05again strutting around Monday Night Raw with a potential pipe bomb in his back pocket.
11:09But after arguably the best kept wrestling secret of all time, well, here we are.
11:13After months of speculation and many a report debunking the idea of CM Punk making a shocking
11:18return to WWE, the unthinkable became a deafening reality inside of the all-state arena in 2023.
11:25This wasn't a case of simply lying about what was on the horizon for months, though.
11:29It was reported that WWE and Punk only made a deal together around 10 days or so before
11:34Survivor Series, with the wise decision then being made to keep the whole thing a secret
11:39heading into the WarGames show.
11:41Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer even noted how certain TKO group executives were
11:45not told about the incoming Best in the World.
11:48With the folks in the WarGames main event being among the few who actually knew Punk
11:52was in the building, and this genuinely shocking return being kept from almost everyone, all
11:57this secrecy resulted in a noise unlike anything you're ever likely to hear again, as The
12:02Punkers shocked the world one more time in Chicago.
12:05Did you enjoy this best kept secrets in wrestling history list today?
12:09If so, then check out this 10 Secret Conversations That Changed Wrestling History Forever video
12:14too then.
12:15It is Ace, bye bye!