5 times WWE was forced to call an audible on Premium Live Event
On her YouTube live stream, WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Ronda Rousey addressed her recent match with Shotzi and the botched DDT during the bout.
Apparently, the match was called for an audible. Rousey was bummed out due to the match being cut short and singled out the spot as a slip on her part owing to her concern to keep her opponent safe.
An audible is a time-honored tradition in wrestling. An in-match audible is sometimes called by the wrestlers themselves owing to an injury, like how Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar improvised the finish of their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania XIX.
The Undertaker once made the call to put The Rock over on an episode of Monday Night RAW, in a match wherein The Phenom was booked to win. Such instances are rare and are only taken by professionals who have a good reason and significant trust in the higher-ups.
Then there are the booking audibles, where the live crowd reaction dictates how the match plays out. It's near impossible to prove it when a booking audible gets called.
On that note, listed below are five such moments that changed the outcome and reception of the match in the process.
#5. AJ Styles gets eliminated from the Rumble match sooner than planned
A thing of beauty. #MensRumble
(via @WWEUniverse) https://t.co/sp4UFXaH27
While there is no concrete proof for this entry, a report at the time stated that in the 2020 Men's Royal Rumble, AJ Styles called for an audible owing to an injury he sustained after receiving a spear from Edge, who made his return to the company after nine long years.
The Rated-R Superstar wound up eliminating Styles after the latter spent a few minutes in the ring, preventing other superstars from fighting him. As witnessed by the crowd and those watching all over the world, Styles was being checked at ringside and was seen limping following his elimination.
#4. Liv Morgan's title defense at SummerSlam
Liv Morgan tapped out and Ronda Rousey was pinned #SummerSlam
I think Liv tapped first https://t.co/99Qss2N9Vl
Survivor Series was not the first time Rousey's match had to be cut short, as earlier this year at SummerSlam, she faced Liv Morgan in a SmackDown Women's Championship bout that lasted all of four minutes and thirty-four seconds.
The post-match angle where the Baddest Woman on the Planet laid hands on the referee cemented her heel turn, and this moment would have been remembered fondly had it not come after an underwhelming match.
According to Bryan Alvarez of The Wrestling Observer, The Miz vs. Logan Paul match went longer than anticipated, which forced WWE producers to cut short the Rousey vs. Morgan bout.
#3. Rated-RKO and DX improvise the finish of their match due to an unforeseen injury
In 2006, DX lacked legit competition after ending their feud with the McMahons and Co. inside Hell in a Cell at Unforgiven. Rated-RKO was formed when both Randy Orton and Edge shared a common enemy in Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The duo handed DX their first loss since reuniting in June of that year at Cyber Sunday.
As their blood feud reached a boiling point, a match was booked for Rated-RKO's World Tag Team Championships at New Year's Revolution.
Mid-way through the match, after landing a spinebuster on Orton, Triple H legitimately injured his right quadriceps. Despite this, The Game continued in the match, with Shawn Michaels keeping the energy alive.
Originally scheduled to win the match, Rated-RKO ultimately found themselves decimated by DX in a finish that saw Triple H deliver the pedigree on Edge and the Heartbreak Kid hit an elbow drop on Orton, both onto the announcer's table.
#2. COVID-19 caused change of plans for the main event at WWE Day 1
Brock Lesnar got it.
#WWEDay1 #WWE https://t.co/zCzMRYI0jn
At the inaugural premium live event, Day 1, Brock Lesnar was scheduled to compete in a match against Roman Reigns. However, on the day of the show, Reigns tested positive for COVID-19, leaving him unable to compete.
Thus, the major predicament led the company to insert Lesnar into the fatal-4-way match for the WWE Championship between Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and champion Big E.
The Beast's victory had massive ramifications in the main event scene. It ultimately led to a title unification match after Lesnar and Lashley played hot potato with the WWE Championship en route to WrestleMania.
Honorable Mention: When Mick Foley called for a finish of his own.
Mick Foley had many monikers during his tenure in WWE. One of them was Cactus Jack, a very violent brawler who often used sharp metallic objects, such as barbed wire and thumbtacks. At the Royal Rumble in 2000, this version of him wrestled then-world champion Triple H in a street fight.
Toward the end of the match, against the wishes of Mr. McMahon, as documented by Foley on WWE Untold, Cactus Jack produced a sack of thumbtacks and laid the contents on the canvas. Triple H threw Jack onto the tacks with a back body drop and seemingly finished him off with a pedigree.
To the surprise of many, he kicked out and called for an audible to be pedigreed onto the tacks.
“I just remember closing my right eye as tightly as I could and, literally, I thought to myself, ‘I could lose an eye… but think of the pop!’”
Foley recalled the ending of the match. The moment turned an already enthralling match into legendary status, turned The Game into a bonafide main event threat, and added another feather to the cap for Mick Foley.
#1. An unsolvable puzzle and WWE made the call mid-way through the show
Perhaps the sharpest decision WWE has ever made in the last decade was the first ever WrestleMania cash-in dubbed "The Heist of the Century." The company had plenty of questions to answer after a lukewarm build-up to the main event bout at WrestleMania 31 between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
First off, Lesnar was still fresh in the eyes of the WWE Universe following a defining moment that was the end of the streak in 2014. Reigns was still green to be the main event player, evident after many subpar promos, including the infamous tug-of-war segment on the go-home edition of RAW.
The Anoa'i family was told Reigns would be coronated as the WWE Champion heading into the show. However, mid-way through the event, possibly on account of the crowd's displeasure over the main event bout, the company solved this seemingly by booking Seth Rollins to cash in on his MITB contract and steal the match and the title.
Can you think of any other moments wherein you would have liked to see WWE call an audible owing to crowd reactions? Leave your opinions in the comments section below.