Good Feuds/Storylines That Fell Off A Cliff

[hb2k]

So, for this week's podcast, we're looking to discuss rivalries/storylines that had some momentum or major potential, but for whatever reason fizzled out, and would like to get your input. Of all the rivalries in wrestling history from any company, which ONE stands out to you personally as a feud you were into, until a certain pivotal moment that let all the air out of the balloon?

So the questions are - what was the feud, what made you super into it in the first place, and what was the moment that made it fizzle out and stopped you caring?

As always, the best contributions will be read on the show and you'll be credited accordingly. So what gets your vote?

EDIT - Our show discussing Feuds and Storylines that Fell Off A Cliff featuring many of your contributions, is now online and available to listen to at the following link: http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/h32fb8/SCG_Radio_103_-_Feuds_That_Fell_Off_A_Cliff.mp3

[Heyman]

I still think The Shield disbanded way too early (i.e. the WWE 'jumped the gun' on the Seth Rollins heel turn).

The Shield vs. Wyatt Family had a ton of steam back in late 2013/early 2014, and I think a pro-longed feud between the two factions could have been this era's version of The Nation vs. DX. I think all 6 wrestlers could have been elevated had the feud been pro-longed.

[Rammsteinmad]

Miz and Sandow for a recent one.

[Savio]

Miz and Sandow, It fell apart right at Mania. Sandow 'turned' on Miz because he didn't want to double team Bigshow in a battle Royal..... What sense does that make? Honestly I don't understand the logic behind that unless Sandow is just a huge pussy.

One angle I would have done with Miz and Sandow would be to have them entered in a Fatal-4-Way for the IC title They each get an opponent in the figure 4. Sandows gets the win after his guy taps first. Shenanigan ensue.

[KIRA]

R-Truth vs John Cena there was room to build up this heel who though insane had pretty legit grievances in addition he was getting over with fans and they just dropped it.

[Jordan]

Goddamn Triple Threat of dreams, Austin/Rock/Triple H. Fuck Rikishi.

[Jordan]

Also gotta throw in Hogan/Flair from 92'.

[#1-norm-fan]

The Matt Hardy vs Edge feud after Matt got fired. They managed to do a great job of blurring the line. Granted, once they made the match it was gonna be tough to keep that ambiguity going but it just went from white hot to fizzling out so quickly. Not just the storyline but Matt's momentum.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

This one is an old problem WWE has. It is the curse of the Summer storyline. Before other networks started blowing up with Summer Series the WWE was one of the only new televised series with stories. They always seemed to try to have a big storyline when all other shows were in Summer recess. They would usually go with big intentions only to watch it all blow up in their faces for whatever reasons. The Invasion was one of those horrible storylines, Who Blew Up Mr. McMahon in the Limo, Kane's mystery bag. The only successful Summer Storyline have always been the Summers of Punk.

The biggest one of these would be the Nexus. The storyline started with a great moment with the former NXT Winner Wade Barrett led a his former opponents down to the ring to destroy John Cena, CM Punk and everybody else including “Mr. King!” The story was that they were upset that the former NXT show was nothing but a humiliation and they had enough. Daniel Bryan spit on John Cena and got into more trouble by choking former WWE announcer Justin Roberts with a tie. Sadly this meant the end of Daniel Bryan’s involvement with the storyline which seriously undercut it’s potiental. Daniel was also sadly fired because of Mattel or something.

The Nexus would continue on but the problems kept coming. They attacked superstars and legends alike. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat had a small callback after WrestleMania and had a mini feud with Chris Jericho after. Steamboat would then be attacked by the Nexus and he would suffer a brain aneurysm later that night. The Nexus suffered major injuries too with Skip Sheffield had to skip off to feed himself more hospital food with a serious ankle injury.

The feud had its biggest hurdle at Summerslam 2010. The Nexus was defeated by Team WWE in a 7 on 7 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match at Summerslam. Yep, bad timing indeed. Nexus would lose that match because John Cena wanted to single-handedly eliminate the final two Nexus Members Gabriel and Barrett against the advice of legends Jericho and Edge. This is what got me out of the story almost entirely. Probably was the same for everybody else because of how it all changed up after this match.

The story continued but they dropped off. The story just became about Wade Barrett trying and then failing to become WWE Champion. The “We Are One” story about it being about the collective was dropped quickly and it all became about Barrett which is the final death knell of the original Nexus. Wade would fail to get the title in two matches and then would be literally buried under many chairs at TLC 2010 against Cena.

This legacy of failure was later resolved and fixed with the Shield. The Shield (Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns) would win their first major victory against Ryback, Kane and Daniel Bryan at TLC in 2012. They would have an almost undefeated streak in six-man tag team matches for about a year and a half. They dominance was necessary because the Nexus proved new groups have to win at least at first to establish themselves. The Nexus was an idea to get younger talent over but The Shield was the ultimate example where they got every member involved over and into WWE Championship gold.

[Big Vic]

The rebirth of ECW... The concept was quite grand, the "one night stand" pay-per-view was awesome but they fumbled the ball right out of the gate.

Tommy Dreamer should have been awarded the ECW title, not RVD. You could then have a Champion vs Champion at Vengeance where Dreamer goes over and becomes a dual WWE/ECW Champion.

[Bad News Gertner]

The New Blood vs Millionaire's Club seemed like such a great idea on paper and actually started off well. And then WCW realized it was WCW and it went to shit

[The MAC]

Scott Hall Vs Sobriety was going well until DDP interfered.

[Nicky Fives]

The New Blood vs Millionaire's Club seemed like such a great idea on paper and actually started off well. And then WCW realized it was WCW and it went to shit

Very true.

[Lock Jaw]

Was super stoked to get a Christian vs. John Cena feud..... they built to it..... and then the only match they ever had also had Chris Jericho in there, and then Christian went off to a different brand, and then a different company.

Remember being so disappointed in the whole ordeal.......

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Owen Hart vs Steve Austin could have been a feud that went on for years and years. Owen was so good at being a little shit head and an agitator. He didn't need to be a legit main eventer, but much like he was to Bret, he could have always been a thorn in Austin's side. They played off very well together. Owen some how always came across as not afraid of Austin and ready to take him on in the ring, while still being a complete and utter chicken shit. Everyone always knew, Owen had the technical skills to back up his talk. The Summerslam match was awesome until the infamous piledriver botch, and it was almost a metaphor to how the feud fizzled out. They did what they had to do and they moved on. If Owen handled the situation better, those two could have been married to each other for a lot longer than they were.

[Emperor Smeat]

The Invasion.

Even though WCW didn't have all their big stars and quickly devolved into another McMahon family struggle, felt the story itself was still salvageable until Austin turned on the WWE.

Made the Alliance look even weaker since now they were being lead by WWE guys (Angle and Austin) and story itself shifted to being about Austin vs Vince again for the main focus. Also didn't help the group looked like a bigger joke once Angle suddenly double crossed them during the definitive match of the feud.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's become a quiet tradition of mine to submit one that may have had potential within its own bubble, but ultimately doesn't make a shit's lick of difference in the ideal long-term. Remember Test getting his revenge on Triple H for drugging and marrying Stephanie? Me either.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I was pretty excited for Wade Barrett vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27. I mean, after the Nexus attacked The Undertaker at Bragging Rights 2010 and helped Kane win Buried Alive, that had to be where they were heading, right? Barrett was a good talker, with some size to him, and had been the biggest part of the hottest angle in quite some time. And here they were giving the young lion a big shot against the old dragon -- an opportunity to mix metaphors on the grandest daddy of them all.

I've honestly never really cared for The Undertaker. I respect his longevity in wrestling, but I think he gets overrated when it comes to the quality of his work, as your trial against him proved. There have been long periods of time where good matches from Undertaker are the notable exception and not the rule. I also think his loyalty to Vince and the WWE is completely overplayed when you consider that The Undertaker gimmick belongs to Titan. This is pure speculation, but I like to imagine the reason Taker was such a joy-kill to the WCW guys in the Invasion angle was because there were periods of time where he thought he would genuinely have to go down with the WWF ship.

Barrett probably would have lost if he got that match against Taker, but the threat of the Nexus being on hand to aid Barrett would have added some legitimate drama. It's rare that I would have been able to say I had something resembling emotional investment in an Undertaker match. Well, at least piqued interest. We might have been forced to see Barrett as an emerging full-time main event star. But what did we actually get? The plan. The Same. The King of Status Quos. The Cerebral Asswipe, son. I had ZERO interest in Undertaker vs. Triple H at WrestleMania. Okay, I get it -- Taker beat his buddy and now there is alleged drama in Triple H going after what Shawn Michaels couldn't; but it hurt feelings I didn't know I had when they compared Triple H to HBK. It was like an insult to my intelligence that didn't really make sense -- like if someone called you a "slutty virgin cocksucking frigid no-cock wanker" in school. But of course you can't deviate from "the plan."

I'm not going to say that Taker/Triple H from Mania 28 was shit. It had a pretty cool false finish and I remember that melodramatic ending. But I do think that this is an interesting exhibit in how the streak could possibly be considered detrimental. Guys like Triple H feel that they have to be a part of it, and as a result, fresher stars are kept back to allow for an Attitude era ego-fest. You can't count money left on the table, but if they had put Undertaker against younger stars and possibly ended the streak a lot earlier, maybe the business would be in overall healthier shape today? It's easy to call something a draw or an attraction when you get to write the dominant history, and create a timeline in which the streak is the biggest thing they have because they've killed off everything around it.

And Triple H would go on to wrestle Undertaker again, becoming the only three-time opponent of Taker at WrestleMania. "End of an Era," right? Fuuuuuuuuck.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Scott Hall Vs Sobriety was going well until DDP interfered.

Wow, you're a cunt. Fuck off.

[Mr. Nerfect]

People generally talk about Edge vs. John Cena as being one of, if not the best programs John Cena has ever been involved in. With that being said, I think it should have been more. I grew tired of John Cena before most other people did (before it was cool). I think the tipping point for me was during the John Cena/Booker T Best of Five Series, where John Cena beat someone who, in my mind, was a misused WCW legend that deserved better, and basically won the US Title off himself. Then he lost the US Title to Carlito and promptly won it back from him, and the catchphrases were getting hokier and hokier. A good match with Angle at No Way Out 2005 though.

Cena's "Real Recognizing Real" reign, going against guys with more than twice his experience bothered me. I know wrestling's a work, but I hated how everybody just threw themselves at the feet of this action figure come to life and wouldn't call him out. I was in full-fledged smark mode, and it was a dark year of Cena dominance for me.

Needless to say, I almost jizzed in my pants when Edge -- whose heel run had actually be underwhelming me a little bit -- beat Cena and won the title. I envisioned him cashing in Money in the Bank somewhat like that, but remember the days when we didn't know it could have happened like that? Seems like a glitch they would have fixed in subsequent years, like the Royal Rumble stipulation being loosely worded in 2004.

I didn't pay attention to business metrics much at the time, but I've learnt from you gentlemen at SCG that ratings actually went up. So what's the logical thing to do? Why, maybe we should take this gentle reprieve to ease the fan revolt against John Cena, build him back up and run with a hot heel champion for a while? No, fuck that, let's have John Cena -- the babyface challenger -- come down on a giant fucking spaceship and win the belt back. I mean, sending him down on a giant fucking spaceship won't make him look overproduced, surely? It's not like we've spent years educating our fans to believe that the management system at WWE is corrupt; it's not like the fans will see the strings if we send out the man we want to be our top star out on a giant fucking spaceship, like it's a big neon sign saying "Please love this man, please love this man -- you're stuck with him forever."

For me, that was the moment John Cena jumped the shark. It would take years for him to get destroyed by Brock Lesnar and ease the tension against his position. Sometimes I like to imagine a happy place where John Cena doesn't get an immediate rematch against Edge, but rather wins the 2006 Royal Rumble and headlines WrestleMania 22 against Edge. But no, we had to stick to "the plan." Edge and Cena would have great matches and exchange the belt a few times, but I do think that the quick turnaround in 2006 puts a barrier up between it being as amazing as it could have been.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I was too young to truly appreciate it, but coming out of WrestleMania X-7, I remember there being some sort of buzz about an Eddie Guerrero/Raven feud over the European Title. The mark I was at the time was elated when Matt Hardy won the European Title out of nowhere, and did nothing with the belt, except defend it against K-Kwik that one time, but I am now old enough to be pissed off at the company for depriving us of that, and at myself for not appreciating the potential there at the time.

[XL]

This one is an old problem WWE has. It is the curse of the Summer storyline. Before other networks started blowing up with Summer Series the WWE was one of the only new televised series with stories. They always seemed to try to have a big storyline when all other shows were in Summer recess. They would usually go with big intentions only to watch it all blow up in their faces for whatever reasons. The Invasion was one of those horrible storylines, Who Blew Up Mr. McMahon in the Limo, Kane's mystery bag. The only successful Summer Storyline have always been the Summers of Punk.

The biggest one of these would be the Nexus. The storyline started with a great moment with the former NXT Winner Wade Barrett led a his former opponents down to the ring to destroy John Cena, CM Punk and everybody else including “Mr. King!” The story was that they were upset that the former NXT show was nothing but a humiliation and they had enough. Daniel Bryan spit on John Cena and got into more trouble by choking former WWE announcer Justin Roberts with a tie. Sadly this meant the end of Daniel Bryan’s involvement with the storyline which seriously undercut it’s potiental. Daniel was also sadly fired because of Mattel or something.

The Nexus would continue on but the problems kept coming. They attacked superstars and legends alike. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat had a small callback after WrestleMania and had a mini feud with Chris Jericho after. Steamboat would then be attacked by the Nexus and he would suffer a brain aneurism later that night. The Nexus suffered major injuries too with Skip Sheffield had to skip off to feed himself more hospital food with a serious ankle injury.

The feud had its biggest hurdle at Summerslam 2010. The Nexus was defeated by Team WWE in a 5 on 5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match at Summerslam. Yep, bad timing indeed. Nexus would lose that match because John Cena wanted to single handedly eliminate the final two Nexus Members Gabriel and Barrett against the advice of legends Jericho and Edge. This is what got me out of the story almost entirely. Probably was the same for everybody else because of how it all changed up after this match.

The story continued but they dropped off. The story just became about Wade Barrett trying and then failing to become WWE Champion. The “We Are One” story about it being about the collective was dropped quickly and it all became about Barrett which is the final death nail of the original Nexus. Wade would fail to get the title in two matches and then would be literally buried under many ladders at TLC 2010 against Cena.

This legacy of failure was later resolved and fixed with the Shield. The Shield (Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns) would win their first major victory against Ryback, Kane and Daniel Bryan at TLC in 2012. They would have an almost undefeated streak in six man tag team matches for about a year and a half. They dominance was nessisary because the Nexus proved new groups have to win at least at first to establish themselves. The Nexus was an idea to get younger talent over but The Shield was the ultimate example where they got every member involved over and into WWE Championship gold.

Think you'll find it was 7 v 7 in that SummerSlam match. Also, you'll have meant "death knell" or "final nail in the coffin", not "death nail". And it was chairs that Barrett was buried under at TLC, not ladders.

#NeedlesslyCorrecting

[Mr. Nerfect]

I don't think Nexus was dead after SummerSlam. I think they were dead after Survivor Series.

[Stickman]

Tazz in wwe.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Think you'll find it was 7 v 7 in that SummerSlam match. Also, you'll have meant "death knell" or "final nail in the coffin", not "death nail". And it was chairs that Barrett was buried under at TLC, not ladders.

#NeedlesslyCorrecting

Thanks. I quickly threw it together. Edited out the errors.

[Nicky Fives]

It's become a quiet tradition of mine to submit one that may have had potential within its own bubble, but ultimately doesn't make a shit's lick of difference in the ideal long-term. Remember Test getting his revenge on Triple H for drugging and marrying Stephanie? Me either.

For sure. Test is one of those guys where I scratch my head and wonder why he never got more of a push....

[Juan]

The Invasion angle definitely comes to mind

[Mr. Nerfect]

After CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy in 2009, he moved into a program with The Undertaker. I looked like Punk was going to be Vince McMahon's Straight-Edge Champion, given that Vince had Teddy Long screw The Undertaker at what I recall must have been Breaking Point. Well, that didn't go anywhere.

[KIRA]

Raven's Playground on Sunday Night heat ended up going nowhere I was genuinely interested to see what he had up his sleeve.

[Mr. Nerfect]

This one is a bit obscure, as it's barely a storyline, but Cody Rhodes & Goldust as Tag Team Champions should have lasted a bit longer than it did. Goldust was the best babyface-in-peril in the business, and Cody Rhodes was explosive off the hot tags. I thought that they would plow right through The New Age Outlaws en route to a WrestleMania Tag Title match, but nope. I imagined that the belts would eventually go to The Usos, but The Real Americans were a team emerging on the scene and would have been my personal preference for next champs.

[Lock Jaw]

I thought the Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs. Shield vs. Usos three way feud ended too soon around that time too...... I remember it being "great"..... and it was "so close" to the TLC PPV that I thought "for sure" they were going to go "vintage" and do a three way tag team TLC match for the belts (where The Usos would win their first tag team titles)........

Never happened, though.......

[Mr. Nerfect]

I have fond memories of The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family from later in 2014 too, but they never got the belts either. Weird year for tag teams.

[Lock Jaw]

When The Usos finally won the belts for the first time, it ended up being so "anti-climactic".......

[Maluco]

Jericho crying/silent promos.

As a guy who always reinvented himself, I was intrigued about what was happening, were we going to get an unstable Jericho, or maybe there would be some weird explanation or motive that led to something with someone?

In the end, he just started talking and it was never explained and it went on to be one of those sub-par short term returns he had been doing.

I don't watch anymore but from everything I have read/seen on YouTube, this return has been great for him, and i think that is a big deal, because I felt he was in danger of ruining his legacy before this longer term run

[Evil Vito]

Seeing Test mentioned in this thread brings another one to mind: they completely wasted his win in the Immunity Battle Royal at Survivor Series 2001. Under the stipulation of the match, he had a guaranteed contract for one year no matter which company won at the end of the night.

By Survivor Series 2002, I bet nobody remembered that he had immunity in the first place because the storyline got dropped within a matter of weeks. I remember him Big Booting refs a few times but that's it. It never got referenced again after that and he would go back to being a nondescript hoss heel before joining the Un-Americans.

I just think he could have been booked as the biggest asshole imaginable during that one year run, he likely would have seen some success in the midcard title picture for the early part of 2002.

Then after the initial brand split happened rather than join the Un-Americans and move to Raw he could've stayed on SmackDown and been a great foil for face GM Stephanie McMahon as they could play off of their previous history. She can't fire him, and so he could have just continued to be an insufferable prick. By Survivor Series 2002 he could have been in a marquee match, and since that would have marked the expiration of his immunity his job could have been put on the line.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I agree with you in theory, Vito, but I'm not sure if Test had the personality to pull that off.

[Stickman]

Yeah, Test looked like a chipmunk and was average on the mic and in the ring. He didn't have world champion written all over him during that era. In today's era he'd be unstopable.

[Bad News Gertner]

Test was awful aside from killing people with his big boot

[KIRA]

I agree with you in theory, Vito, but I'm not sure if Test had the personality to pull that off.

He didn't.

[KIRA]

Test was awful aside from killing people with his big boot

That's why years later god apologized by gifting us with Luke Harper.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Test was awful aside from killing people with his big boot

I remember there being a swell around the guy. I liked him when I first saw him as a babyface after T&A ended. There was a particular charisma around the guy, but it was a quieter, more human charisma. He was never a monster despite his size. I remember a lot of people calling for him to beat The Undertaker at SummerSlam 2002.

He was just not the "total package" you needed to be unless you were fitting into some sort of niche.

[hb2k]

I want to thank everybody for the contributions, we got to read many of them on the show, which is now available at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/h32fb8/SCG_Radio_103_-_Feuds_That_Fell_Off_A_Cliff.mp3

Join us as we discuss Feuds and Storylines That Fell Off A Cliff! Taking your suggestions, we spitball a litany of times when a company had something with major potential in the palm of their hands but dropped the ball. Including discussion of The Summer Of Punk, Nexus, Angle Vs. Joe, The Invasion, The Ending of the Streak, Daniel Bryan against The Authority, Matt Hardy Vs. Edge, Luger Vs. Hogan, Taker Vs. Shane, and many many more, we look for the common threads that bind feuds that were once so promising and yet fell short. A fun show this week, check it out and let us know what you think!

[The Condor]

I'm late to the party here, but I was a Jerichoholic in 97/98, so when he showed up in WWF I was into it big time. The immediate Jericho-Shamrock feud was excellent on all levels, and I was engrossed. Then Unforgiven comes around and XPAC faces Jericho and Shamrock's name is never mentioned again on WWF programming. I don't know what ever happened, but I was crestfallen as a mark for both guys.

[Big Vic]

Storyline reason was Shamrock had to retire due to internal injuries suffered by the hands of Chris Jericho.

[Evil Vito]

A really fun listen as per usual. :y:

[Lock Jaw]

Storyline reason was Shamrock had to retire due to internal injuries suffered by the hands of Chris Jericho.

Was he BLEEDING INTERNALLY

[Ruien]

Lol. He beat Shamrock so bad he had to retire so they through X-Pac at him? Whow. Talk about a downgrade.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Shamrock returning for revenge against Jericho would be money. Well, not money, but a good time.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The Summer of Punk is probably the most glaring and obvious example. I don't know how a feud about how edgy and cool CM Punk is becomes Triple H vs. Kevin Nash, but it happened.