“Card subject to change” is one of wrestling’s most common disclaimers, used on promotional materials to warn fans that the matches advertised may not always happen exactly as billed. Injuries, travel issues, company exits, storyline shifts, or even death can force promoters to shuffle the deck at the last minute. Over the years, some of these replacements have been sensible… and others have been downright bizarre.
Here’s a deep dive into some of the weirdest “card subject to change” moments in wrestling history.
Nikita Koloff – Starrcade 1986
In the run-up to the NWA’s biggest PPV event, Starrcade 1986 looked set to be the coronation of Magnum TA. With his mullet, thick moustache, leather jackets, and motorcycle entrances, Magnum had the classic ’80s babyface look and was hugely popular. He’d recently dropped his US Title to Nikita Koloff after a memorable Best of Seven series, and his planned main event against Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was expected to usher in a new era.
Then disaster struck. A month before Starrcade (which, in its early years, was held on Thanksgiving), Magnum was involved in a serious car accident. Driving at the speed limit in rainy conditions, his tyres lost grip, causing him to collide with a telephone pole. The crash ended his in-ring career and left him requiring mobility aids.
With their biggest match in jeopardy — and Starrcade at the time arguably bigger than WrestleMania — the NWA acted fast. They turned Magnum’s former rival Koloff into a babyface almost overnight, scrapping his planned feud with Ronnie Garvin. As the still-reigning US Champion, “The Russian Nightmare” aligned with Dusty Rhodes and was slotted into the main event against Flair.
Because Koloff’s face turn was so fresh, the company didn’t want him losing cleanly, but they also weren’t ready to take the belt off Flair. The result was a double disqualification — a flat ending to the promotion’s biggest match of the year. Oh, and in a very ’80s detail, during the match Koloff’s “Russian Sickle” weapon fell out of his trunks, forcing the referee to quietly point it out so he could tuck it away.
It’s a classic case of “card subject to change” saving a main event — but not necessarily the show.
Jack Victory – Chi-Town Rumble 1989
The lone NWA Chi-Town Rumble is remembered for the first bout in the legendary Flair vs. Steamboat trilogy. But the show also featured a scheduled six-man tag: the original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Randy Rose) with Paul E. Dangerously vs. the newer Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) with Jim Cornette — and yes, Cornette was the babyface here.
Backstage issues with NWA management led to Rose and Condrey losing a Loser Leaves Town match to Eaton and Lane. Rather than stick around for the official firing, Condrey simply walked out — just as he had done three years earlier — leaving the company scrambling for a partner.
In stepped Jack Victory, a journeyman best known for stints in UWF and WCCW, and very much not a Midnight Express member. He filled the role for one night, took the loss, and later worked in WCW under various guises before having a notable ECW run from 1998–2001.
Victory’s one-off teaming with the “old” Midnight Express remains one of the strangest and most random “card subject to change” replacements in tag team wrestling.
Vader – Halloween Havoc 1992
Halloween Havoc ’92 had US Champion Rick Rude challenging Masahiro Chono for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Instead of pulling double duty like Seth Rollins at Night of Champions 2015 or Terry Funk at ECW’s Barely Legal, Rude’s US Title defence was handed over to his ally Big Van Vader in a storyline where an “injunction” prevented Rude from wrestling twice.
The arrangement was odd: Vader defended a championship he didn’t hold and couldn’t win, proudly displaying the belt throughout the night as if it were his own.
During the match, challenger Nikita Koloff suffered a hernia while attempting to slam the 400+ pound Vader. A stiff clothesline then herniated a disc in Koloff’s neck, forcing him into retirement. It’s widely speculated that if Rude had been in the match, these injuries wouldn’t have happened — and Koloff’s career may have lasted years longer.
This “card subject to change” decision didn’t just alter a match; it may have permanently changed the trajectory of a major star’s career.
Tom Zenk – Slamboree 1993
Billed as “A Legends’ Reunion,” Slamboree ’93 was a mix of nostalgia acts and curious booking decisions. But perhaps the oddest came in the NWA World Tag Team Championship steel cage match.
Shane Douglas was supposed to team with Ricky Steamboat against The Hollywood Blonds (Steve Austin & Brian Pillman). Days before the event, Douglas left WCW for Eastern Championship Wrestling. Tom Zenk was brought in as a replacement — but WCW decided to pretend nothing had changed.
Zenk and Steamboat entered in sombreros and masks as “Dos Hombres,” claiming their outfits were “lucky.” Zenk, billed as Douglas, never unmasked during the match (Steamboat eventually did). The cage and full-body costumes helped conceal his identity, but the ruse was transparent to many fans.
Bizarre disguise aside, the match had a fantastic finish, with a chaotic sequence leading to the Blonds hitting a perfectly timed Stun Gun. Still, it stands as one of WCW’s more peculiar “card subject to change” cover-ups.
Shawn Michaels (and Others) – Survivor Series 1993
Survivor Series matches are tailor-made for substitutions, but 1993’s event took things to the extreme: every single elimination match on the card featured at least one change.
The opener swapped out Mr. Perfect for Randy Savage without explanation. Another match advertised four Doinks… but none were Matt Borne, who had been fired. Tatanka’s absence saw The Undertaker — dubbed “the world’s most patriotic corpse” — reveal an American flag lining inside his coat.
The biggest shake-up came in the Hart Family vs. Jerry Lawler & his three “knights” match. A real-life court case saw Lawler accused (and later cleared) of sexual assault, forcing the WWF to pull him. Shawn Michaels, fresh off insulting the Harts on TV, was slotted in — despite having no connection to the knight gimmick.
Even the knights themselves weren’t as planned: original names included Terry Funk (who backed out because, allegedly, his horse was sick), Jimmy Snuka, and a pre-Kane Glenn Jacobs. Instead, the final trio was Greg Valentine, Barry Horowitz, and Jeff Gaylord.
It’s a prime example of “card subject to change” turning a coherent feud into a patched-together oddity.
Booker T – Uncensored 1996
Uncensored ’96 was already infamous for its Doomsday Cage main event, but the undercard also had a notable replacement. Sting was scheduled to team with Lex Luger in a Chicago Street Fight against The Road Warriors.
Thanks to a storyline involving Jimmy Hart’s “manager’s rights,” Luger was pulled from the match and replaced by Booker T — then exclusively a tag team wrestler in Harlem Heat. Booker agreed on the condition that Harlem Heat would receive a tag title shot.
Despite the mismatch in styles and attire, Booker got the winning pinfall over Hawk (with an assist from Stevie Ray). While logical within the storyline, it was still a strange “card subject to change” that saw a tag specialist thrust into a makeshift main-card pairing.
Mass Transit – ECW House Show 1996
The “Mass Transit” incident is one of the most infamous examples of an unplanned substitution going horribly wrong. When Axl Rotten missed an ECW house show due to a family emergency, 17-year-old Eric Kulas — wrestling as Mass Transit — volunteered to take his place in a tag match against The Gangstas.
Kulas lied about his age, claiming to be 21, and asked New Jack to blade him during the match. New Jack did — but cut far too deep, severing two arteries. Kulas passed out, his father screamed for the match to stop, and the crowd learned the truth about his age.
Caught on camcorder, the incident led to a lawsuit, damaged ECW’s reputation, and caused Request TV to pull the promotion’s first planned PPV, Barely Legal. Paul Heyman eventually convinced them to reinstate it, but with heavy restrictions on blood and language, plus a multi-month delay.
This “card subject to change” didn’t just alter a match — it shook the entire company.
Savio Vega – No Way Out of Texas 1998
At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels injured his back badly enough to take him out of action for over four years (minus WrestleMania XIV). His absence forced WWF to reshuffle the No Way Out of Texas main event: an eight-man tag featuring DX against Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Cactus Jack, and Chainsaw Charlie.
A mystery partner for DX was teased — and revealed to be Savio Vega. The reaction? Mostly silence. While Vega had helped DX in the past during the “Gang Wars” era, he was firmly a lower-card talent at the time.
Although logical on paper, it’s one of those “card subject to change” reveals that fell flat with the live crowd.
Big Show – Great American Bash 2006
The Great Khali was set to debut the Punjabi Prison match against The Undertaker at The Great American Bash 2006. Elevated liver enzymes sidelined Khali (as well as Bobby Lashley and Super Crazy), and Big Show was drafted in as his replacement.
The match’s signature element — climbing two massive bamboo structures — wasn’t ideal for two super-heavyweights. Still, Big Show was a better in-ring option than Khali, and the show went on.
The finish saw Undertaker dive onto Show, the impact sending the giant through the cage. Despite Show hitting the floor first, Taker was declared the winner because… wrestling logic. Another strange but necessary “card subject to change” moment.
Kurt Angle – TLC 2017
In 2017, a mumps outbreak forced WWE to shuffle multiple TLC matches. Bray Wyatt was pulled from his bout with Finn Balor (AJ Styles stepped in), and Roman Reigns was removed from the Shield reunion main event.
Raw GM Kurt Angle stepped up, wrestling his first WWE match since 2006. Wearing Shield gear, Angle joined Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins against The Miz, The Bar, Braun Strowman, and Kane. The match featured tables, ladders, chairs, a garbage truck, and plenty of chaos.
It was one of the most surreal “card subject to change” main events in modern WWE — and surprisingly entertaining given the circumstances.
