5 Times WWE abruptly canceled a storyline

When one talks about the most important aspects of WWE or the pro-wrestling industry as a whole, the in-ring contests and the storylines that lead to these matches always take the top spot. WWE is like a soap opera that presents storylines that advance over several weeks and culminate in big-time matches between Superstars on PPVs.

Over the course of the past several decades, the WWE Universe has witnessed a string of engaging and intriguing storylines that have been etched in their minds forever. The Austin vs McMahon feud, The Undertaker's path of destruction at WrestleMania, and The Summer of Punk are just a few such storylines that wowed the WWE Universe back in the day.

On the other hand, WWE has canceled a bunch of storylines abruptly, either due to unforeseen circumstances, or simply because the company felt the need to do so.

In this list, we will take a look at five such storylines that WWE abruptly dropped.

#5 Bobby Lashley and Lana vs Rusev

Back in 2019, Lana and Bobby Lashley made their returns to WWE TV after short breaks and stunned Rusev by revealing that they had fallen in love with each other. Rusev couldn't believe what he was witnessing and thus the feud kicked off and it would last for months on end.

Lana eventually divorced Rusev and got married to Bobby Lashley on an episode of WWE RAW. The segment saw Liv Morgan making a return and professing her love for Lana.

Lashley speaks with SK:

The majority of matches that this storyline produced were won by Lashley, and it didn't sit well with the WWE Universe one bit. On the February 17 edition of RAW, Rusev teamed up with Humberto Carrillo in a losing effort against Lashley and Angel Garza, and the storyline was dropped altogether after this outing.

Fans had been wanting a payoff to the angle for months, but they were disappointed in the end. Rusev didn't appear in a storyline again and was released by WWE in April.

#4 Ali being revealed as The SmackDown Hacker

On the Road to WWE WrestleMania 36, fans were shown several clips signaling the arrival of a mysterious entity. This person was dubbed as The SmackDown Hacker and played a major role in Mandy Rose and Otis' storyline.

When the hacker revealed that Sonya Deville had plotted with Dolph Ziggler to keep Mandy away from Otis, she turned on Deville and got together with Otis at WrestleMania.

It was reported on several occasions by reputed sources that Ali was going to be revealed as the hacker. The high-flyer hadn't competed in a WWE ring since earlier this year. Ali recently moved to WWE RAW and it seems like the plans to reveal him as the mystery hacker have been dropped altogether.

Tom Colohue recently stated that it's "extremely unlikely" that Ali will be revealed as the hacker, but that doesn't mean that the angle has ended.

Although the hacker hasn't been active for a while now, reports state that WWE might use the gimmick in the future, with someone else donning the character.

#3 Plans for Rob Van Dam's WWE title reign

WWE legend Rob Van Dam is one of the most beloved characters in the history of the company. After dangling in the mid-card for years on end, RVD was finally given his chance to shine at One Night Stand 2006. The main event saw RVD defeating John Cena for the WWE title after Edge interfered in the final moments of the match.

The original plan for RVD was for him to keep the belt for a long period of time, but a real-life incident forced WWE to drop the plans. RVD was soon arrested for possessing drugs.

Mere days after the news came out, RVD lost the WWE title to Edge in a Triple Threat match which also involved Cena. RVD has stated in the past that it was entirely his fault and he messed it up even after WWE gave him chances, one after the other. He was also given a 30-day suspension. This was the only time in RVD's decorated WWE career that he won the top prize.

#2 Muhammad Hassan's path to the World title on SmackDown

Muhammad Hassan will always be remembered as one of the most hated heels in WWE history. His main roster run lasted mere months, but he managed to turn into one of the biggest bad guys in the company in a short amount of time. Hassan's character was that of an Arab-American who felt that the country and its people were holding him back. He feuded with the likes of Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and The Undertaker.

On an episode of SmackDown, Hassan brought in a bunch of masked men who attacked The Deadman, in one of the most controversial segments in SmackDown history. The angle's timing couldn't be worse, as it coincided with the London bombings and led to severe backlash.

Hassan was written off WWE TV at The Great American Bash 2005. WWE's original plans for him were to crown him the youngest World Champion at SummerSlam 2005 with a victory over Batista. Randy Orton held the record at the time, with his World title win against Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004.

#1 CM Punk's feud with Kevin Nash didn't lead to a match

The Summer of Punk kicked off when CM Punk delivered the Pipebomb on an episode of RAW and turned the wrestling world upside down back in 2011. Punk went on to win the WWE title from John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011, in one of the greatest endings to a PPV.

Punk "left the company" with the WWE title, but came back soon to continue his feud with Cena. Punk and Cena collided again at SummerSlam, with the former coming out victorious again.

Moments later, Kevin Nash made his WWE return and attacked Punk, leading to Alberto Del Rio coming out and cashing in his MITB briefcase to defeat Punk for the belt. Punk kicked off a rivalry with the WCW veteran and the storyline saw Punk making fun of Nash on live TV.

The two were set to have a match at Night of Champions, but Nash was later taken out of the match and was replaced with Triple H. It was reported that Nash had a physical test and it was decided that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to have a full-fledged match against Punk.