4 Swerves WWE could pull at WrestleMania 36

Modern-day WWE has been infamous for changing conclusions to storylines at the last minute. Vince McMahon and his team receiving negative reactions to big angles can be one reason for a change, but sometimes it's a little more random. The outcomes of matches have reportedly been changed at the very last minute, even if the result isn't extremely important. In recent years, Vince McMahon has built a reputation (based on some reports) for throwing out scripts made by his writing team and making them scramble to create new ones from scratch. He has reportedly re-written scripts for an entire episode of RAW and SmackDown just hours before the shows were set to go live on international television.

Some of the most insane examples from the past few years feature a lot of questionable decisions. Triple H beating Sting in the latter's debut match in WWE was one of the first signs of Vince losing faith in his writing team. He flipped the storyline from Triple H abusing his power as an authority figure to another WWE vs. WCW rivalry. Granted, Vince has always been guilty of gloating about his victory over WCW. Restating the fact that he won the war almost 2 decades later was an unneeded way to treat a legend.

Outside of last-minute changes, WWE has been known, for many years, to eschew an obvious, logical outcome just in order to "swerve" the audience. This was most prevalent during the Attitude Era of the late 1990s, but it continues to this day. One of the most questionable decisions was denying Roman Reigns his title victory at WrestleMania 34. WWE had spent a few years building the F5 as a deadly move, so the obvious conclusion was that Reigns would kick out at least once from Brock Lesnar's strongest maneuver, thus making him look strong, crowning him as Universal Champion, and bringing him full circle from their match 3 years prior. That didn't happen, and instead of the logical conclusion, the two men had more matches that garnered a lot of scrutiny.

Another surprise came in the form of a big change to a WrestleMania 33 title match. Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho had split up and were involved in one of the most exciting long-term storylines in years. The men were heading for a clash for the Universal Championship at The Show of Shows, Goldberg returned and challenged Owens to a match for his title. Owens lost at the next pay-per-view, and the Jericho/Owens story, which had hinged upon Jericho helping Owens hold on to the Universal Title at all costs, suddenly no longer had the belt involved.

This year, there is a possibility that WWE will change some of the match outcomes in order to extend the storylines. As WrestleMania 36 will be held in the Performance Center with no audience in what we expect to be some regular in-ring matches along with some out-of-this-world cinematic experiences, WWE may want to hold off on conclusions to some ongoing storylines. A big fan reaction is always important for the coronation of a new champion, which can't be achieved inside an empty Performance Center. With that in mind, let's take a look at 4 results that may be different from what would have happened if WrestleMania wasn't turned on its head this year.

#4 Becky Lynch retains against Shayna Baszler

A loss on the cards for the Queen of Spades?

Baszler has been on a roll ever since arriving on the main roster. She had an impressive outing in the Women's Royal Rumble match but unfortunately didn't win it. The next night she attacked Becky Lynch and "took a piece" of her neck. On that night, it was established that she would be the one to face Becky at Wrestlemania 36. A few weeks later at Elimination Chamber she made it official when she eliminated all 5 of her opponents in the show's eponymous match.

Long before WrestleMania, it was evident that no active competitor in the women's division had the momentum to beat Becky. The most credible opponents would have been a returning Ronda Rousey or a specific call-up from NXT. With Ronda's return extremely improbable, the next best thing would be one of her best friends avenging her loss from the previous year while also making a statement of her own.

Shayna arrived to a lukewarm reaction during her official RAW debut and her subsequent matches against Kairi Sane and Asuka under-performed, as the crowds were unexpectedly quiet during both. It was rumored that Bazsler could lose at Elimination Chamber, as the events may have soured Vince McMahon's opinion on the former NXT Women's Champion. Shayna ended up dominating inside the Chamber, so maybe the reports of McMahon's view on the star were overblown, or maybe he just changed his mind again. Either way, Shayna seems like the obvious winner at this point, but they might hold off on the title switch until there's an audience to witness it.

#3 Charlotte Flair beats Rhea Ripley

One of the most controversial superstars in WWE today is Charlotte Flair. Casual fans love her as a babyface and love to love her as a heel, but the online wrestling community is very divided. Although she has always been a great performer, her booking has left many fans upset, leading people to draw comparisons to Roman Reigns. The vitriolic response to her booking was intensified when she won this year's Women's Rumble match, especially due to the fact that she eliminated Shayna Baszler, the crowd favorite, to win.

Before getting a chance to challenge for either the RAW or SmackDown Women's Championship, she was called out by NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley. It was a surprising decision, and the initial setup to the storyline suggested that Ripley would ultimately defeat Flair to retain her title, thus becoming a far bigger Superstar in the process.

Charlotte has nothing left to do on the main roster. She has beaten almost every other main event star multiple times, including Asuka, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Bayley. She's already a 10-time champion, which she accomplished in under 5 years. Her future remains unclear -- unless WWE decides to make a massive change. Charlotte could defeat Ripley and make a full-time move to NXT much like Finn Balor. The Queen plays the role of a heel brilliantly and her condescending promos could result in interesting television. A loss at this stage in the game could be a big setback for Rhea, but it could also help her stock rise, as she would logically chase Charlotte for the title and take it back, this time in front of a wild sold-out crowd.

#2 John Cena beats "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt

For years, Bray Wyatt has consistently been one of the most poorly booked characters on WWE television. Over time his appeal and crowd support became diminished, but that all changed when he made his return to WWE TV as a friendly figure akin to Mr. Rogers. Fans were intrigued by Wyatt for the first time in a long time, and when he finally revealed "The Fiend", the crowd was once again on fire for the enigmatic Superstar.

Sadly, as soon as it began, it started to come crashing down. The Universal Championship match at last year's Hell in a Cell event was panned by just about everybody, and was a sour moment for many fans. He would go on to win the title in a rematch against Rollins in another underwhelming match very soon after the original, this time in Saudi Arabia. Whatever the circumstances, at least he was Universal Champion and the pieces were being put back together again.

Enter Goldberg. At Super ShowDown, the 53-year-old semi-retired star defeated The Fiend in mere minutes, thus unceremoniously ending his Universal Championship reign. His momentum was once again halted, but WWE appears to have had a plan all along. Bray Wyatt's first WrestleMania match was a one-on-one contest against John Cena in 2014. It was the biggest match of his career, and while a victory for the young, new, undefeated Superstar seemed obvious, he took the loss. His aura took a big hit that night, and the slow spiral out of the spotlight began.

WWE has a chance to fix that perceived mistake, as Wyatt will be taking Cena on once again, 6 years later. Because it won't be contested in front of a live crowd, WWE might decide to hold off on the big redemption for Bray, as a pinfall or submission victory over the fan-proclaimed "SuperCena" would be a cathartic moment that may be better off being held in front of a live audience.

#1 Brock Lesnar beats Drew McIntyre

The build for Drew McIntyre's WrestleMania moment has been perfect. Art is mirroring life, as Drew is really getting his redemption story. He was introduced as the "Chosen One" over a decade ago, but quickly fell out of favor and years went by with him falling further and further down the card, until he was eventually released from WWE.

Drew then returned to the indies and reinvented himself. He became the Scottish Psychopath, gained some muscle and was ready to return. After a brief run in NXT, he returned to the main roster to a great reaction, and it was clear that from the start, Drew was ready to become a champion. For some reason, however, he ended up stuck. Again. He was positioned as a glorified bodyguard to Dolph Ziggler upon his return, and then did the same for Shane McMahon for almost a year. The crowd started reacting to Drew in a grassroots sort of way, and soon he was being cheered to the point where he needed to become a babyface. It happened, and before we knew it, WWE actually pulled the trigger and had him win the Royal Rumble match. It looked like he was not only going to become WWE Champion, but he was going to do it in quite possibly the most incredible way imaginable. He was going to defeat Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania in front of 70,000 fans. And then the fans disappeared in an instant.

One of the most important components of wrestling is the reaction of the live crowd. A lack of audience engagement can result in underwhelming matches and unsatisfying moments. One of the biggest victims of that could be Drew McIntyre, and it wouldn't even be his fault. If the crowd isn't there in the first place, he's not being put into the position to potentially receive a lax reaction -- he's being put in the position to literally receive no audible reaction whatsoever. Due to this, WWE could decide to postpone his victory until the time comes that can wrestle in front of a packed arena and give him the proper coronation that he rightfully deserves.

Edited by Nicholas A. Marsico