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WWE is an ever-changing company, be it the Superstars that walk in and out of the door, or the storylines that they use. A lot of it is down to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and his bevy of writers.
But, storylines often also change due to what fans demand to watch on WWE's weekly programming, as well as the champions that they want to see.
Take Becky Lynch, for example, who was lost in the mid-card a few years ago. The Man spoke passionately about how she wasn't getting opportunities, which the fans seemed to agree, and backed her. Lynch, who made history by being one of the three women to main event WrestleMania for the first time, was not even supposed to be in that match.
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But the fans pushed Becky Lynch and forced WWE to change the storyline, and add The Man to that match.
Here, we take a look at six times fans demanded WWE to change their plans in recent years. Let us know the other times' fans demanded to change WWE's plans in the comments section below.
#6 Naomi
Naomi is one of the most experienced women Superstars currently in WWE, having debuted on RAW eight years ago. She has been a part of the women's evolution but has been in the shadow of the likes of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.
The two-time SmackDown Women's Champion has not been used properly in the Blue brand lately, and a recent incident on SmackDown riled fans. Naomi lost a match to Lacey Evans, which fans thought wasn't the right call. Fans quickly took to Twitter to send a message to WWE with the "#NaomiDeservesBetter" hashtag and highlighted her achievements and praised her.
Although it's too early to say if WWE have decided to push Naomi, WWE quickly put her and Lacey Evans in a segment on Miz TV this week, and made Naomi look strong. This could very well be the start of a big push for the former SmackDown Women's Champion.
#5 Drake Maverick
WWE released several Superstars and backstage personnel earlier this year to cut costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the Superstars that was let go was Drake Maverick, and following his release, he posted an emotional video on social media. Fans empathised with Maverick and demanded that WWE re-sign him.
Maverick, who had entered into the NXT Cruiserweight Title tournament, continued to wrestle even after his release as WWE could use him because of the 90-day no-compete clause. The former 205 Live manager put on a great showing and reached the final of the tournament, only to lose to El Hijo Del Fantasma. But that was not his last match in WWE as Triple H offered him a contract following his loss, and he was re-signed with the company.
Drake Maverick revealed to BT Sport that he had no idea that Triple H was going to offer him a new contract, and thanked the fans for their support.
Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue reported that WWE eventually re-signed Maverick due to the overwhelming fan support that he received:
"Multiple sources have confirmed that on April 15th, the intention of the company was very much to have Drake Maverick pick up multiple losses and essentially act as an enhancement talent for other wrestlers in the tournament."
"I have been told that as fan support grew, WWE began to change the bracket, offering Drake Maverick a new contract at the same time."
#4 Kofi Kingston
Another experienced WWE Superstar who didn't get his due until last year was Kofi Kingston. Kingston was a solid mid-card player, as well as a very successful tag team wrestler as part of The New Day. But, he hadn't come anywhere close to winning a WWE world title.
Kingston achieved that last year at WrestleMania 35 when he defeated Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship. The New Day member was initially not supposed to be a part of the WWE Championship, as Kofi himself confirmed that Daniel Bryan was set to face someone else at WrestleMania 35. Bryan pushed for WWE to put Kofi in the match, while the fans played a huge role in bringing Kofi to that position.
“I haven’t said this on any interviews before, but he [Bryan] pushed for that to happen, because the plans weren’t for me to be at WrestleMania. I’m not sure who it was for Daniel to face, but it wasn’t me. Daniel went in and went to bat for me and for the situation, for the title match between us to happen, so he had a big part in it too.”
The WWE Universe backed Kofi to the hilt in the lead up to WrestleMania 35, with Kofi Kingston having to cross numerous hurdles before getting his big shot at the title, and the WWE fans pushing him at every step.
#3 Bobby Lashley-Lana storyline
Fans not only play a part in pushing Superstars to get better opportunities on WWE television, but also to demand WWE to end storylines that are uninteresting. One storyline that has drawn the ire of fans - and even some in WWE - is the love triangle between Bobby Lashley, Lana, and Rusev.
Fans perhaps felt that this story belonged in the Attitude Era and in the mid-2000s, rather than in 2020. There have been numerous romantic triangle and affair storylines in WWE over the years, and this didn't seem much different.
WWE abruptly put an end to this storyline, and then Rusev was released, which ended a potential to continue it further on down the road.
WWE may have listened to the fans, who disapproved the storyline vehemently on social media, some who even sent death threats to Lana. Bobby Lashley also admitted that fans "hated" the storyline, in an interview with Mirror:
"I've gotta be brutally honest, they hated it, and they hated me."
WWE commentator Corey Graves also criticised the storyline and that the crowd were not enthused by what they were seeing:
“This is not their fault. But the shows, as a whole, have just been lacking. And this segment has really set me off. Because I noticed they went to a wide shot; in the middle of a match in this heated rivalry, that has been brewing for months and months in a small eternity. And the entire crowd was silent.”
#2 Drew McIntyre
A long time ago, Drew McIntyre was chosen by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to be a future world champion. And that seemed like a prophecy that was never going to happen when McIntyre was released by WWE a few years ago.
But, the Scottish Psychopath returned to the WWE with a newfound determination and took the company by storm, first winning the NXT Championship, before being called up to the main roster.
McIntyre won the men's Royal Rumble match earlier this year, and he was now chosen by the fans. The current WWE Champion was not the original choice to win the men's Royal Rumble match as Roman Reigns was lined up to win the match.
But overwhelming fan support for McIntyre was the reason he won the match, as per Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue:
"So I'm being told by a WWE source that McIntyre was a moderately late but very popular choice and that's why so many changes were made to the announced lineup. Change was apparently fan driven. I have no issue with that. Very happy with the decision."
McIntyre eventually went on to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, and defeated The Beast to win his first-ever world title in WWE.
#1 The Fiend
Bray Wyatt's Fiend character is one of the most innovative and fresh ideas in WWE for quite a while. The gimmick quickly won over the fans since being introduced to WWE television in 2019.
The Fiend attacked Seth Rollins after The Architect's win over Braun Strowman at Clash of Champions. This feud resulted in a match between the two at Hell in a Cell. Going into this feud, Rollins was a babyface, but following the Hell in a Cell match, fans had turned on him.
The Fiend was incredibly popular with the fans, and the WWE Universe wanted to see him win the match at Hell in a Cell. The match, though, ended in a referee stoppage as Rollins brutally attacked The Fiend and the latter was under various objects. Fans turned on the result and booed loudly.
WWE righted that wrong by putting the title on The Fiend at the following PPV, Crown Jewel, where Rollins' 81-day reign as WWE Universal Champion ended. Rollins eventually turned heel a month after his loss to The Fiend.
Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE
