5 WWE Storylines Scrapped Without Resolution

After a long period of inactivity, the ongoing angle of the mysterious SmackDown hacker looks to be kaput. Recent news indicates that with purported mastermind Mustafa Ali moved to Raw (reportedly due to distaste with showrunner Bruce Prichard), the angle looks to have completely flatlined. For all of the intrigue WWE had created with the story, to have absolutely zero payoff sucks for anyone that invested even a granule of energy into following it.

But this is hardly new ground for WWE - they've dropped angles with the suddenness of an aneurysm before, though that doesn't make it better. Certainly they're not alone, as WCW and TNA have both abandoned projects before they'd even applied all the glue (which, judging by the quality of some of those works, like Samoa Joe's kidnapping at the hands of ninjas, creative may have been sniffing said glue).

From the WWE end of things, there exists a rather deepened tomb filled with the lost storylines from eras past. Here are some of the ones remembered most.

After a long period of inactivity, the ongoing angle of the mysterious SmackDown hacker looks to be kaput. Recent news indicates that with purported mastermind Mustafa Ali moved to Raw (reportedly due to distaste with showrunner Bruce Prichard), the angle looks to have completely flatlined. For all of the intrigue WWE had created with the story, to have absolutely zero payoff sucks for anyone that invested even a granule of energy into following it.

But this is hardly new ground for WWE - they've dropped angles with the suddenness of an aneurysm before, though that doesn't make it better. Certainly they're not alone, as WCW and TNA have both abandoned projects before they'd even applied all the glue (which, judging by the quality of some of those works, like Samoa Joe's kidnapping at the hands of ninjas, creative may have been sniffing said glue).

From the WWE end of things, there exists a rather deepened tomb filled with the lost storylines from eras past. Here are some of the ones remembered most.

5. Hade Vansen's Army Of Freaks

Now THIS was random. British vet Vansen appeared in a rather eerie promo vignette in December 2008, in which he foretold his own arrival into the WWE realm, but he wasn't coming alone. We were to learn that Vansen had a group of mutant-like followers coming with him.

And then, nothing. The vignettes were scrapped, never mentioned again, and Vansen was released a month later. Apparently, this was supposed to lead to Vansen facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25, but I think we're all satisfied with the match we got instead.

5. Hade Vansen's Army Of Freaks

Now THIS was random. British vet Vansen appeared in a rather eerie promo vignette in December 2008, in which he foretold his own arrival into the WWE realm, but he wasn't coming alone. We were to learn that Vansen had a group of mutant-like followers coming with him.

And then, nothing. The vignettes were scrapped, never mentioned again, and Vansen was released a month later. Apparently, this was supposed to lead to Vansen facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25, but I think we're all satisfied with the match we got instead.

4. Shane McMahon's Lockbox

David Lynch movies make more sense than the entire Vince-Shane-Undertaker-WrestleMania 32 kerfluffle, where control of the company, and Undertaker's career (for some reason), hung in the balance. The only actual curious element was Shane blackmailing his dad.

Apparently, Shane possessed some lockbox that contained damning information about Vinnie Mac, and Vince desperately wanted to get his hands on it. We can only speculate as to its contents, because before long, WWE stopped bringing it up as a plot point.

3. Million Dollar Mania

Quite a blunt way to induce viewership - entice viewers with the chance at boatloads of cash, as long as they’re within reach of their phone. The unintentional comedy of Vince trying to operate a run-of-the-mill telephone was priceless.

Sadly, it wasn’t meant to last. A few weeks into the ongoing giveaways, the set for Million Dollar Mania collapsed on Vince, indicating that foul play was afoot. The incident was never followed up on, and the contest was never mentioned again.

2. GTV

Maybe a teenage Mustafa Ali was behind this one as well? This was a similar deal to the mystery hacker angle, as no inhabitant of the Attitude Era locker room was safe from the voyeuristic eye of GTV. Which begged the question of what the "G" represented.

Apparently, the payoff was supposed to be comedian Tom Green (in the heyday of his then-popular MTV series), but the WWF decided against using him. The incriminating videos still popped up here and there around the turn of the century, before fading into oblivion.

1. Vince's Exploding Limo

Tasteless as it may have been (especially the 10-bell salute), this angle had some intrigue: Vince McMahon apparently died when a limousine he stepped into suddenly exploded, and the suspects were anyone and everyone associated with WWE. It was the ultimate whodunnit.

But real-life events ended the angle, as the Benoit double murder-suicides left WWE with absolutely no alternative but to move on from the story. The ostensibly char-broiled chairman returned to TV, dismissed the angle as him faking his own death for reasons, and WWE pivoted onward.

1. Vince's Exploding Limo

Tasteless as it may have been (especially the 10-bell salute), this angle had some intrigue: Vince McMahon apparently died when a limousine he stepped into suddenly exploded, and the suspects were anyone and everyone associated with WWE. It was the ultimate whodunnit.

But real-life events ended the angle, as the Benoit double murder-suicides left WWE with absolutely no alternative but to move on from the story. The ostensibly char-broiled chairman returned to TV, dismissed the angle as him faking his own death for reasons, and WWE pivoted onward.