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WWE tries their best by booking matches that fans would love to see. It has also led to them booking many dream matches over the years - mostly during the WrestleMania season. Sometimes they go all out pushing a Superstar to the summit but, of course, things change when the fans are against the idea.
WWE, under Vince McMahon’s umbrella, has nixed various storylines and matches at the last moment. Let it be a dream match fans wanted to see or a program Vince didn’t like. The result: the alleged encounter didn’t happen. Speaking of which, we'll recall five times when Vince McMahon scrapped a WWE match despite planting seeds for it.
#5 Dean Ambrose vs. Nia Jax
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Taking R Truth’s place, Nia Jax entered this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match and eliminated Ali before getting wiped out by Rey Mysterio.
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Later on Raw, WWE teased an intergender match between Ambrose and Jax. The match was scheduled to happen on February 20, during a house show, but plans were canceled at the last moment. As per sources, it was a sponsor’s call to cancel the match as they were not in favour of it taking place. Jax, however, provided a different reason why this intergender fight didn’t happen:
"Unfortunately my schedule was messed... they didn't have the schedule right," Jax claimed. "And I have Total Divas work that I had to go to. So, it was more of like, the scheduling was off and we couldn't make it work."
She then joked that it was Ambrose who didn’t want to face her:
"He's the one who asked for it to be scrapped, just kidding”
While we don’t know which reason caused the cancellation of this match, it’s evident that WWE was interested in booking a male vs. female bout.
#4 Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens
As a WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston is enjoying every bit of his career. After all, it took 11 years to get that title. Kofi’s rise is similar to Bryan’s during 2014, where the fans demanded WWE put him in the main event of WM30.
This time, the crowd was behind the Ghanaian Superstar, and WWE fulfilled our wish by handing the WWE Championship to Kofi Kingston, although they hadn’t planned this match for WrestleMania 35.
"Yeah, Bryan vs. Kingston is scheduled for Fastlane, while a company source told me Tuesday evening that The Beard's opponent for WrestleMania will be Kevin Owens; those videos of KO hanging out with his family and eating bad food make a lot more sense now,” as per Jeremy Botter of Bleacher Report
Since the crowd only cared about KofiMania, WWE capitalized on it and changed their plans to Kingston vs. Bryan for ‘Mania 35.
#3 Lars Sullivan vs. John Cena
Debuting on Raw after WrestleMania 35, Lars Sullivan took out a retired Kurt Angle. The Olympic Gold Medalist was giving his final speech to the WWE Universe but Sullivan, having (kayfabe) anger issues, assaulted Angle in front of his fans, and thus, establishing himself as a monster heel.
However, WWE had started showing vignettes of his arrival in late 2018. So what caused the delay? Various sources confirmed that Sullivan suffered an anxiety attack and it had created a delay on his main roster debut. Otherwise, he would have faced John Cena at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
WWE didn’t find a suitable replacement for Sullivan at WrestleMania, and it resulted in Cena sitting out without a match, though he did appear at ‘Mania as the Doctor of Thuganomics, to interrupt Elias’ musical performance.
#2 Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar
From getting released to becoming a world champion in WWE, Jinder Mahal had many ups and downs throughout his career. A few years ago, he was a jobber – with a comedic gimmick – but since getting through some severe body transformations, he gained WWE's attention.
The next thing we knew was that Jinder was the new WWE Champion after defeating Randy Orton at Backlash. Months went by, and Survivor Series came. WWE booked Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar for the show – a match where Mahal’s loss was inevitable. However, last-minute changes resulted in AJ Styles beating the former WWE Champ and facing Lesnar in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series instead.
In 2018, WWE drafted Jinder to Raw, where he is stuck in the lower mid-card. Some fans expected that Jinder would become a champion again, but considering the current situation, it seems unlikely.
#1 Natalya vs. Ronda Rousey
Natalya vs. Ronda – a match between two best friends – could have changed WWE’s history. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed an exciting story regarding The Rowdy One. As per Meltzer, WWE had planned a different match for Ronda at WrestleMania 35, which was going to happen against her friend Natalya – possibly in the main event.
The plan was to turn Natalya against the former Raw Women’s Champion which would have booked a match between the two at ‘Mania. However, Jim Neidhart's unfortunate death caused WWE to change their plans and cancel this heel turn. Otherwise, she would have won the Raw Women’s Championship from Ronda – considering The Rowdy One had plans to leave WWE after WrestleMania.
This match would have also changed WWE’s history as there wouldn’t have been any triple threat program for the Raw Women’s Title. It means that Becky Lynch and Charlotte wouldn’t have main evented ‘Mania alongside The Baddest Women on the Planet.
Which one of these matches would you have loved seeing? Have your say in the comments below.
