5 WWE surprise reveals that lived up to expectations

Every WWE fan loves a good surprise reveal, when weeks or months of build and expectations are paid off with a satisfying result. Over the years, WWE has produced several storylines involving a big reveal at the end, for better or for worse. There is one currently going on, involving the new faction called RETRIBUTION.

It remains to be seen how this one pans out. The impending reveal surrounding RETRIBUTION could go either way, as WWE's track record with mystery angles has been hit-and-miss. There has still been a multitude of reveals that lived up to the expectations of fans.

Ranging from big debuts to WrestleMania hosts, WWE has had a variety of such reveals. Some of these were legendary, standing the test of time as some of the greatest moments in WWE history. Hopefully, the RETRIBUTION storyline pays off in a similar way to these angles.

Here are five surprise reveals in WWE that lived up to expectations.

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#5 Daniel Bryan as the final member of Team WWE (WWE SummerSlam 2010)

Nexus took WWE by storm in mid-2010, launching attacks on various Superstars and personalities on a weekly basis. It was a fresh angle, one which could have led to the creation of multiple main event stars. However, Nexus' early days saw one casualty.

Daniel Bryan was fired from WWE for taking things too far during the initial Nexus attack, leaving only seven members in the group. The angle still worked and the stage was set for a big 14-man Elimination Tag Team Match at SummerSlam. Nexus took on John Cena's team of WWE Superstars.

Names like Edge, Chris Jericho, and even Bret Hart were part of the team. One of the members, The Great Khali, ended up being written out of the match. This led to Team WWE scrambling for a seventh member. It seemed to be The Miz, who was offered the spot by Cena, but he did not decide until the day of SummerSlam.

So while The Miz came out, he was shunned in favor of the actual seventh member, a returning Daniel Bryan. This was a great moment on so many levels, kickstarting one of the greatest WWE careers in recent history. Despite the questionable booking of the match, Bryan's return made for a lovely surprise here.

#4 Triple H's Plan B against The Shield (WWE RAW 2/6/2014)

The Shield was at top of WWE back in 2014. After over a year of being villainous mercenaries, they were over enough to become top babyfaces. The transition was seamless and the WWE fans loved all three members. Their initial run as good guys would be a short one, but it was definitely a memorable one.

After a convincing squash victory over Kane and the New Age Outlaws at WrestleMania, the Hounds of Justice went after a reunited Evolution. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose won consecutive pay-per-view matches against their legendary opponents, with the second one being a clean sweep in an Elimination Match.

The next night on RAW, Batista quit WWE. This led to Triple H leaning towards a "Plan B" against The Shield. At the end of the night, the fans found out what that plan really was. Seth Rollins turned heel on his brothers and joined the Authority, shocking the world and breaking the hearts of fans in an instant.

It was one of the greatest heel turns in WWE history, one which came out of nowhere. This moment was brilliant and created three bonafide singles stars. A little over two years after this moment, all three members of The Shield would be WWE Champions within a five-minute span at Money in the Bank 2016.

#3 Kane's WWE Debut (WWF Badd Blood: In Your House 1997)

The backstory to Kane's character in WWE was incredible, as Paul Bearer set the stage for an epic debut. After The Undertaker won the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 13, his former manager wanted to reunite with The Phenom and threatened to reveal his "biggest secret" to the world.

That secret was about his "long-lost brother", Kane. Undertaker was implied to have killed his family by burning down their funeral home, but Bearer continuously mentioned that Kane was alive. 'Taker did not buy it at first, but things would quickly change during the first-ever Hell in a Cell match in WWE history.

As The Undertaker was about to put Shawn Michaels away, the arena went dark. Then came a red light and some pyro as Bearer revealed to the world, the Big Red Machine. And in one of the greatest commentary calls ever, Vince McMahon shouted, "THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE! THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!". It was better than anybody could have imagined.

A masked mountain of a man, basically "Undertaker in Red", Kane stood toe-to-toe with the Deadman after ripping the Cell door off. He hit 'Taker with a Tombstone Piledriver, and allowed Michaels to pick up the victory. Debuts don't come much better than this in WWE.

#2 Chris Jericho's WWE Debut as the Millennium Man (WWF RAW 9/8/1999)

The new millennium brought about a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in the world. WWE's take on it led to a mystery, with a countdown clock occasionally interrupting programming during the summer of 1999. But instead of ending on New Year's Day in 2000, it stopped in the middle of August.

The reveal came during a promo from The Rock on Monday Night RAW, with the clock counting down from 10. The eventual lights and darkness intrigued fans even more. After a shot of pyro, the titantron read 'JERICHO'. And thus, a legend was born.

This was one of the greatest WWE debuts of all time, as Chris Jericho walked out and introduced himself to the world. He was the 'Millennium Man' that WWE had hyped up for a while, donning the nickname of Y2J in the process, as a reference to the Y2K scare at the time.

Jericho would end up having a fantastic career, winning Championships all over the place. As memorable as some of his moments in WWE have been, very few have topped this iconic debut.

#1 The Rock as the Host of WrestleMania 27 (WWE RAW 14/2/2011)

On a February 2011 episode of Monday Night RAW, Vince McMahon announced that WrestleMania 27 would be receiving a special guest host. This immediately got the WWE fans excited for potential options for the gig, with legendary names like The Rock and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin coming up.

There were also some fears among fans that Justin Bieber might be the host of WrestleMania. That would have been a terrible swerve from WWE if there ever was one. It eventually turned out to be The Rock, whose entrance electrified the entire arena of fans. This was his first proper WWE appearance in seven years.

The Great One called WWE his "home" and went on to cut a promo that only he can, ripping John Cena to shreds following hints of real-life heat between the pair. This was a huge shot in the arm for WrestleMania, which instantly became much more exciting.

Of course, the event did not go well and The Rock's involvement at the show may have hampered the quality of the main event. That being said, it was done to set up a bigger match for next year's WrestleMania between The Rock and Cena.

Very few returns even come close to this one. The Rock was an unlikely choice to be the host of WrestleMania and when he showed up, the outpouring of joy and energy from the WWE fans was incredible. This might possibly be one of the greatest surprise reveals in WWE history.