There’s often complaints thrown WWE‘s way that their booking is inconsistent at best. Fans complain incessantly about various storylines not making sense, plot points being glossed over, and various events and angles just being completely dropped with no mention of them ever again. It’s the last of these points we’ll be focusing on today.
More often than not, an interesting hook is enough to drive wrestling fans over to at least the next televised show because we have a burning desire to find out what happens next. A hot angle or an unexpected moment can shock people, and leave them wanting more in the shows to come. Which makes it all the more frustrating when an angle like that is forgotten, dead and buried.
Sometimes it’s a case of WWE backtracking, sometimes it’s misreading a situation, and sometimes they don’t have a choice. Regardless of the reason, it doesn’t stop the fans feeling like they’re being treated like children. Let’s take a look at ten, and only ten because there could be another seventeen lists dedicated to this, times WWE forgot their own storylines.
1. Charlotte Turned Heel…Right?
Let’s start with the most recent entry in the list. At Survivor Series 2018, Charlotte Flair turned heel in the match of the night against Ronda Rousey. After a very solid bout, Flair snapped, both figuratively and literally with kendo sticks. She assaulted Rousey with various foreign objects, bruising and cutting the entirety of Rousey’s body. She even went as far as to wrap a chair around Rousey’s neck before stamping on it, which is kind of attempted murder a little bit. Not exactly the actions of a good person.
And yet, on the following episode of SmackDown, Charlotte came out being her usual smiley self, talked about the other women and empowering them or something, then beat down two separate heels back-to-back to stand tall as the championing babyface. So she…didn’t turn heel?
Huh?
2. Stone Cold Thieved Austin
King of the Ring 1999 pitted Stone Cold Steve Austin against the duo of Vince and Shane McMahon in a handicap ladder match. Suspended above the ring was a briefcase containing a controlling stake in WWE, so it was all to play for. Depsite the odds, it looked as though Stone Cold had the match won, because he was facing two non-wrestlers. (That’s how storylines involving Shane should be booked!)
But just as Austin was ascending the ladder and reaching out for the briefcase, it was raised out of his reach. Who could possibly have done such a dastardly thing? They must have been McMahon endorsed of course, because whoever was controlling it then allowed the McMahons to win afterwards. Speculation ran rampant, and the reveal of the culprit was sure to be a huge deal in the McMahon/Austin storyline.
Unless it didn’t happen of course. To this day, no reveal has been made as to who raised the briefcase. Many speculated it was Big Boss Man, but that was shot down pretty quickly by WWE. As to who could have done it, it’s anyone’s guess at this point. Probably Hornswoggle.
3. Owens Is Owed The Universe
One of the more infuriating norms in WWE these days is that of the automatic rematch clause. This allows any champion who loses their title in invoke a rematch, seemingly whenever they like. I won’t get into the problems with this, that’s an article for another day [foreshadowing], but let’s just say that getting an automatic rematch is more certain than death or taxes in WWE‘s world.
Unless you’re Kevin Owens. After dropping the Universal Championship to Goldberg at Fast Lane 2017 in order to set up Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33, Owens never got his rematch for Raw’s top title. Never. Like, not even to this day. I guess they just forgot that it was supposed to happen. Owens is currently out with injury, so maybe upon his return he’ll get the match he’s been yearning for.
4. Hade Vansen: Serial Absentee
Hade Vansen is one of the more curious characters and stories in WWE history. He had been signed to FCW in May 2007, and was set for a SmackDown call-up towards the tail end of 2008. Not only was he due to be called up, but he was pencilled in for a feud with The Undertaker. Not bad for a newbie in the WWE system. On December 12, 2008, a video package aired hyping Vansen’s debut. He spoke in cryptic speak (I’m sure he and Bray Wyatt would get on well) but he mentions obtaining immortal power, which also points to The Undertaker feud.
Two weeks later however, the idea was dropped, and on January 9, 2009, Vansen was released from WWE. No one who wasn’t present is really sure what happened, but something sure did. Vansen was never mentioned again on WWE programming.
5. The Best Wrestler In The World vs The World
Shane McMahon, yet to be crowned The Best Wrestler in the World, vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 was a very strange feud. Shane, The Best Wrestler in the World, made his very well-received return to the company on an episode of Raw, and in the same episode, the match between him and The Undertaker was also set up. Oh and also it’s inside Hell in a Cell, The Undertaker is representing Vince McMahon for some reason, fans should cheer Shane because he’s Shane, but also don’t boo The Undertaker because he’s The Undertaker but he’s representing a heel so maybe boo him? If Shane, The Best Wrestler in the World, wins he gains control of Raw, if he loses then…something about a lockbox? Shane helped Vince out with something in the past? I don’t know, the details are hazy. But the important thing to remember is that if Shane, The Best Wrestler in the World, beat The Undertaker, he would obtain control of Raw.
Shane, The Best Wrestler in the World, lost to The Undertaker. The following night on Raw, out came Vince McMahon. And he put Shane McMahon, The Best Wrestler in the World, in charge of Raw. Okay then? I guess that whole WrestleMania feud and match was…entirely pointless?
6. Can I Have Your Attention Please…But Not All Of It
This is one of the most infamous storylines in all of WWE. Mainly because it never truly concluded until they suddenly remembered about it and decided to shoehorn in something that made absolutely no sense. The Anonymous Raw General Manager (henceforth shortened to ARGM) reigned over Raw following The Nexus’ debut on the brand. It was a nice story touch as they didn’t feel comfortable doing their job while The Nexus were running loose, putting the group over more.
The story built for months, with little teases as to the GM’s identity peppered in throughout the ongoing stories. “Ooh, they don’t like Bret Hart? Bet it’s Shawn Michaels!” said the foolish, naive boy. That was me, I said that. With no explanation, and no reveal as to who this mystery character was, the ARGM was phased out and replaced with COO Triple H and John Laurinaitis.
They suddenly remembered they never revealed who the GM was on the build to Raw 1000, so when WWE had them appear on a build-up episode, they decided Hornswoggle would be a good idea to be revealed as the ARGM. Hornswoggle. Yep. It was as awful as it sounds.
7. Feel The Glow? More Like: Feel The Nope
WrestleMania 34 saw the debut of the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal, later renamed to the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, and there was no doubt from the off that it would be a female counterpart to the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which has had such illustrious winners as Cesaro, The Big Show, Baron Corbin, Matt Hardy, and let’s not forget, with an assist from that one character from The Emperor’s New Groove, Mojo Rawley. In other words, we knew it would essentially mean nothing.
However this battle royal was advertised to have a defining stipulation. The winner of this match was owed a women’s championship match at some point down the line. How fancy and new. Naomi was the winner in the debut match, which main evented the pre-show (is that a thing that I can say?). However, no title shot has since been given to her, a fact she brought up when the same stipulation was advertised for the battle royal at Evolution.
Sooooo when I win this historic #battleroyal like i did at Wrestlemania will I get 2 championship opportunities bc y’all never shipped my trophy nor did I get a title opportunity 😁 https://t.co/lusAKD0WkA
— Trinity (@TheTrinity_Fatu) October 16, 2018
8. No Kofi No Cry
It’s always a risk portraying a character who’s nationality is not that of your own. You could end up displaying the character in an unintentionally offensive way, or you could just sometimes forget the accent they have. Both Kofi Kingston and Lana have suffered from this in recent memory, with Kingston remarkably forgetting his Jamaican heritage, and Lana becoming ‘The Ravishing…American’ I guess?
There was no particular story reason for either of these, they just kinda happened. Lana was already being shown to not really be Russian from her appearances on Total Divas, so it was only a matter of time before her accent dropped. Kofi though, he just stopped being Jamaican, for reasons unknown.
9. Cool Guys Don’t Die From Explosions
This is an unfortunate one that WWE didn’t really have a choice on. But I’m still going to include it because I’m a terrible person. Vince McMahon was involved in a storyline that would see him killed off of TV. Because nothing says pro wrestling like a fake death story, right? This isn’t one of those crazy stories you hear and think “wow, boy am I glad that never made it to TV” because amazingly, this did. On an episode of Raw in 2007, Vince McMahon came down to the ring to cut a promo, but never said a word, dropping the mic with a shaking hand. An odd sequence played out where the chairman walked through the backstage area and the entire roster of that time were all standing in a corridor, watching him pass. Eventually Vince made it to his limo and once he shut the door, the limo exploded. Well, Vince is dead I guess.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?), this angle never made it further than this. Due to a very real tragic incident involving the double homicide and suicide of Chris Benoit, McMahon was forced to scrap the angle and reappear on WWE programming in order to address Benoit’s passing. The entire death angle was scrapped, never to be mentioned again.
10. What’s A Powerbomb Between Friends?
For a long time, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss were bezzie bezzie best friends, on and off-screen. The duo were inseparable, and nothing could come between them. Except for the glory of the Raw Women’s Championship. On an episode of Raw in August 2017, Alexa Bliss was celebrating a victory by sitting on Nia Jax’s shoulders, when Nia suddenly turned on Alexa, dropping her backwards in an almost Electric Chair Drop-type fashion. The turn had been set, and the battle lines had been drawn.
Until next week that was, when everyone acted as if it never happened. Nia and Alexa hastily tried to cover their tracks on Twitter, saying something along the lines of they’re like sisters because they fight but they love each other or something? It was bad, basically. It was as if the turn never happened. And instead of that, they went with the “Mickie and Alexa have said mean things about me” angle for their WrestleMania feud. Alrighty then.
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