Major Disasters ruined WWE Wrestlemania
Source: Screenshot, YouTube WWE

Over the years, there were many disasters that could have ruined WWE WrestleMania. Today, we listed the five biggest disasters that almost brought WrestleMania to its knees.

Shane McMahon’s Illness Before WrestleMania 34

Major disasters that could have ruined WrestleMania

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Shane McMahon was a part of a massive match at WrestleMania 34. However, Shane also contributed to one of the major disasters that could have ruined WrestleMania.

McMahon’s son would be a part of a tag match at WrestleMania 34. He would fight alongside a returning Daniel Bryan, facing Sami Zayn and K.O.

However, the run-up to WrestleMania did not go smoothly. A few weeks before the event, Shane ended up with diverticulitis and an umbilical hernia. 

Naturally, the WWE had to come up with a backup plan. And it seems Vince had Chris Jericho in mind as Shane’s replacement.

Chris Jericho later told the story on his podcast.

“A few weeks before WrestleMania, maybe three or four weeks, I get a call from Vince. And he’s talking about Shane and his appendix, or not his appendix, his diverticulitis, and he had an infection in his hand and he had a staph infection and he had a hernia. And he goes, ‘Listen, we don’t know if he can do ‘Mania.’ And he had somehow looked, or got someone to look at my schedule, and we had a Fozzy show that day.”

Fortunately, Shane recovered just fast enough to head to WrestleMania.

Epic Match Shortened

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Some of our major disasters that could have ruined WrestleMania happened right in front of the eyes of the WWE Universe. In fact, one of them even happened between two legends.

John Cena and The Rock were supposed to have a 45-minute match at WrestleMania 29. However, The Rock tore his adductor completely during the match.

“At the 15 minute mark, ‘bang!’ I feel something pop and I’m like ‘What the f—?’ I’m laying there and both of us are out. I said ‘Oh f—, something is going on.’ 85,000 people and I sort of roll over and stick my hand down in my trunks because I wanted to make sure no bone was sticking out.”

The match was eventually shortened to 20 minutes. So, despite tearing his adductor, Rock continued to soldier on for another 10 minutes.

But that is not where it stopped for The Rock. In fact, he annoyed director Michael Bay by missing out on his film premiere in favor of hernia surgery.

More Serious Injuries

major disasters that could have ruined WWE WrestleMania

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Injuries have always been some of the major potential disasters that could have completely ruined WrestleMania. And this is no different for one match at WrestleMania 19.

At WrestleMania 19, Kurt Angle went in with some serious neck injuries. After all, the wrestler suffered numerous neck fractures before the fateful match took place.

Angle broke his neck after Lesnar cracked a steel chair over his head. The second time, he broke bones when he hit a turnbuckle at the wrong angle.

Unfortunately, these neck injuries eventually led to Angle’s addiction to painkillers. Angle would speak about his addiction in various documentaries and on his podcast over the years.

The feud between Lesnar and Angle did not only have consequences for Angle though. Lesnar came out of the WrestleMania match with a serious concussion.

During the match, Lesnar miscalculated his shooting star press. Spectators and production staff backstage actually believed Lesnar had killed himself doing the move.

Despite the serious injuries suffered by both men, Angle as well as Lesnar finished the match and made it into something iconic.

Still, considering their injuries, this could have been one of the major disasters that ruined WrestleMania.

Bray Wyatt’s Ankle Pain

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Another injury that could have ruined WrestleMania is the ankle injury Bray Wyatt suffered before Wrestlemania 31.

At WrestleMania 31, Wyatt was scheduled to face Undertaker. Interestingly, it was also Taker’s first match back after suffering a severe concussion during his Lesnar match.

Since the tremendous loss at WrestleMania 31, Taker was making his return. However, the match was in serious jeopardy due to Wyatt’s ankle injury.

WWE officials were considering cancelling the match completely. In fact, Wyatt was in so much pain on the day, he kept his cast on throughout. 

Wyatt actually injured his ankle during a practice run on WrestleMania day.

To get around, Bray Wyatt had to count on a cart driving him around the stadium.

In spite of being in utter agony, Wyatt still continued with the match. And it still was a decent 15-minute event.

Undertaker eventually took the win with a second tombstone. But we are sure Bray Wyatt was extremely happy when the match was over.

One can recognize those true wrestlers who make insane sacrifices for their job during matches like these.

Bray Wyatt is in fact one of the many WWE wrestlers who struggled with injuries during major matches.

Andre The Giant’s Sacrifices

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The medical issues of Andre The Giant are well known by the WWE Universe. Being 7 foot 4 and a whopping 520 pounds, Andre was in a tremendous amount of pain.

In spite of the pain, Andre still put on some classic matches. One of the them was against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 3.

At the time of the match, Andre had recently had major back surgery. Needless to say, the Giant was still in a tremendous amount of pain.

However, Andre called for Hulk Hogan to body slam him during the match. This is also the moment that transformed the relationship between Vince McMahon and Andre The Giant.

While you may not have noticed at the time of the match, Andre The Giant was actually wearing a back brace. The back brace was hidden underneath his singlet, but he could not have done the match without it. 

Vince McMahon has fond memories of Andre The Giant and the match with Hogan is one of the reasons why. Obviously, this man sacrificed loads for the business, including his own body.

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