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Good Feuds/Storylines That Fell Off A Cliff


JaymeFuture

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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

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Luger vs nWo/Hogan in 97, you had Luger, the guy who had turned so many times over the years and had shown no trust in his loyal best Friend Sting, finally stepping up as a Leader for WCW and attempting to redeem himself by fighting the nWo, he was the first WCW guy to beat an nWo member on PPV(Jericho/Nick Patrick doesn't count) and he was the first WCW guy to trust the Giant again(no jokes, Giant stayed loyal until the crazy Apr/May 98 period when everyone turned)

 

Luger beats Hogan on a Nitro in a Non Title match, beats him at the BATB 97 Tag and then wins the Title on Nitro 100 to finally become "The Man" and the entire WCW roster comes out to celebrate with him in a great moment(unless your Dean Malenko wanting a high five)

 

5 days later he loses it back and not one of those selfish bastards from the celebration interfere, not even The Giant who was presumably exhausted after his 5 minute match with Randy Savage.

 

I know he couldn't have a long run with the Title as Hogan had 2 PPV matches with Piper and Sting coming up that drew huge business but couldn't we have had at least a Fall Brawl/Nitro in Sept match for Hogan to get the Title back? a successful Title defense against Hogan on PPV would have been a first and something that might have saved us from Luger in the Wolfpac wearing those Shitty Black Jeans and FUBU Jerseys trying to act Cool behind Nash and Konnan

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CM Punk vs. John Cena - After the "Pipe Bomb" promo and the MITB match people were genuinely hooked and it was getting mainstream attention with various articles from lapsed fans that are big names outside of the industry. WWE rushed it and put Punk back on the roster rather than keeping him an outsider holding the title hostage and THEN had HHH be the guy to beat him. Speaking of HHH.....

 

Kurt Angle vs. HHH - I can't remember all the specifics but again the story was good and resonating beyond what WWE thought so it got screwed up. I thought it was because HHH was making a stink but I could be wrong.

 

Now I'm also thinking about HHH vs. Booker T......I just need to go do something else for a bit.....LOL

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CM Punk vs. John Cena - After the "Pipe Bomb" promo and the MITB match people were genuinely hooked and it was getting mainstream attention with various articles from lapsed fans that are big names outside of the industry. WWE rushed it and put Punk back on the roster rather than keeping him an outsider holding the title hostage and THEN had HHH be the guy to beat him. Speaking of HHH.....

 

Kurt Angle vs. HHH - I can't remember all the specifics but again the story was good and resonating beyond what WWE thought so it got screwed up. I thought it was because HHH was making a stink but I could be wrong.

 

Now I'm also thinking about HHH vs. Booker T......I just need to go do something else for a bit.....LOL

 

The Triple H/Kurt Angle/Stephanie love triangle is a great shout - it may not have been to everyone's tastes but that was fantastic soap opera. As it's wrestling it was campy and over the top at times, but it managed to play off real emotions, and got to the point where the crowd was on HHH's side, as even though he had been the No. 1 heel in the company for the past 10 months or so, everyone saw Angle as this guy trying to have an affair with his wife. They'd even, whether intentional or not, set the table way back in Dec 99/Jan 00 where Steph was looking out for Kurt when HHH kept trying to end his unbeaten streak, in little back stage bits which were really subtle.

 

There were lots of twists and turns which were able to be weaved into wider storylines involving the title and where you could identify with what was going on. It also worked in that you had lots of other characters involved that would come in and out of the story with people like Foley, Trish, Lita, Vince, Shane, The Rock, The Hardys, Jericho all playing a part. Indeed it had all been built so well that Unforgiven 2000 should've been a really intense grudge match where Stephanie turns on HHH, and joins Kurt who then becomes an incredibly hot heel to feud with a face HHH, which the fans were ready to jump on board with.

 

Of course, none of that ever happened and the angle fizzled out to where Steph ended up managing Angle when he won the title, but then not for very long and she was back with HHH by the end of the year. Massively disappointing.

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Rick Martel v Tito Santana - still irks me to this day that we never got to see this in all its glory across TV and PPV....the point it fizzled out was the beginning...it could have been super hot and they did almost nothing with it.

They did have a long run on the houseshows. They worked Houston twice in 6 months having good matches.

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Another one for me (and I might be in the minority) but Daniel Bryan's ascension to the top of the WWE really sticks out to me. Bryan is getting himself over despite being stuck with Kane and the crowd wants to see him and the top so what does WWE do? The TOTAL opposite! They do this despite the fact that the "YES!" chant is going totally mainstream (I remember watching SportsCenter and seeing the ENTIRE Michigan State basketball arena doing the chant.). This culminates with Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble with the fans almost rioting while also getting The Rock booed as well. One would have thought that they learned their lesson the PREVIOUS YEAR when Bryan got thrown out and the crowd took a dump on that!

 

I know in the end Bryan "won" but WWE bungled this in every imaginable way and then had the audacity to claim that this was "all a part of the plan". This was just insulting from WWE and showed how bad a wrestling monopoly could be, IMO.

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Rick Martel v Tito Santana - still irks me to this day that we never got to see this in all its glory across TV and PPV....the point it fizzled out was the beginning...it could have been super hot and they did almost nothing with it.

They did have a long run on the houseshows. They worked Houston twice in 6 months having good matches.

 

 

I am envious - being in the UK, we never got a chance to see this which is a real shame.

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I would argue that Bryan got over in WWE to the extent he did because of Kane. Sure, he was always a smark god, but he became a big-time mainstream guy during the Team Hell No run.

 

 

I would argue it wasn't so much because of Kane but because the Team Hell No skits allowed Bryan to show his personality more than the lame "vegan nerdy guy" material he was working with before.

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WWE debuting a hit angle on Raw around the summer months then having no idea how to follow up on it has been pretty common.

 

2007: Cool Vince limo explosion that got dropped for shit son storyline

 

2008: McMahon's millions angle that went nowhere and cool Regal authority figure angle that got droppped

 

2010: Nexus

 

2011: CM Punk pipe bomb

 

2012: Lesnar returns to massive excitement then jobs to Cena and is stuck into a Triple H feud no one wanted

 

2014: Botched Daniel Bryan reign

 

2015: Botched Seth Rollins reign and diva's revolution

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You can add Donald Trump "buying" Raw and bringing in the Guest Hosts in 2009.

 

The 2016 US Presidential elections.

 

Who knows, maybe it's still the same storyline. From buying Raw to buying presidency.

 

 

I can see it now. "It's me America! It was me all along!"

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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!

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