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While almost everything is scripted in professional wrestling, you still need a plan for when things don’t go as you expected them to. This could be due to unexpected visa issues, injuries, wrestlers having a personal emergency, etc. In a lot of these scenarios, there’s often time to pivot to a different plan. But what about the matches themselves? If a wrestler gets injured during a match, they will usually try to finish their bout if they can work through the injury. A prime example of this would be Finn Bálor defeating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016. Bálor knew he was injured, but Seth still advised him to go ahead with the original finish.
Although there have been many instances in the past where things didn’t go as planned, and the wrong wrestler ended up with a title, that’s how things sometimes work in the unpredictable nature of professional wrestling. One could say that these stars got lucky and ended up as champions, but you don’t have to rely on luck when you can maximize your winning potential by looking for enhanced odds.
On his Phenomenally Retro podcast, AJ Styles confirmed a long-standing rumor about his United States Championship loss to Kevin Owens at Battleground 2017. Styles lost the title to Owens that night, and it was reported that this was not supposed to happen.
The Phenomenal One shared more details about this night and explained that his shoulders were supposed to be up during a pinfall attempt. But he didn’t realize they weren’t. The referee shoot counted the pin, and the title ended up with Owens instead.
“I will say this. When me and Kevin Owens were wrestling for the United States title, there was some flip-flopping. Here’s something that people don’t know. When I lost that one to him, I wasn’t supposed to lose; my shoulder was supposed to be up. And I thought it was, and I was pissed.”
The Prizefighter would go on to have a brief reign, as he would lose the belt back to AJ just two days later on SmackDown (July 25, 2017).
House shows aren’t canon in professional wrestling. In the past, wrestlers would run loops during live events before they even started their rivalry on screen to get some practice. Over the years, WWE has started doing fewer and fewer house shows.
Unlike a television taping, there’s usually nothing important that comes from a live event. Most wrestlers work the same match at multiple live events, and they often end similarly. Every once in a while, a title change takes place at a house show, and it’ll make headlines for days.
One time in Paris on April 24, 2007, Melina defended her Women’s Title against Victoria and Mickie James in a triple threat. James attempted a pin on Melina, and she forgot to kick out. The title ended up changing hands, but by the end of the night, Melina had regained it.
This one is a little different because Kaitlyn didn’t accidentally win a title. What happened was that she accidentally won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the WWE Divas Title. Eve Torres was supposed to win that match, but a botched clothesline ended up eliminating Torres instead.
She would challenge for the title at Night of Champions 2012, where she lost. But she did end up defeating Torres in early January to become the champion.
R-Truth faced Shinsuke Nakamura in January 2019 for the US Title. There was a miscommunication from the referee, Mike Chioda, in this bout, which led to Truth winning the title even when he tried to get his shoulders up.
Truth was always supposed to win this match, but not during the first roll-up, as he did during the match.
On December 16, 2025, during an episode of NXT, Thea Hail defeated Blake Monroe to become the new NXT Women’s North American Champion. At that time, it was reported that the title change was unplanned.
Hail would go on to keep the belt for three weeks before losing it to Izzi Dame at NXT New Year’s Evil 2026.
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