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The year 2018 was filled with bizarre storylines and insane matches. This year will be specially regarded as the year of 'The Man'.
We saw some amazing feuds which reached pleasing ends, like the return of Daniel Bryan (as he finally won the WWE Championship), Becky Lynch getting the recognition she deserves, Seth Rollins and AJ Styles dominating their respective brands with their championship runs, Ronda Rousey enjoying one of the best rookie years in WWE history, and many more.
On the other hand, we also had some feuds that either went nowhere, or ended in disappointment. These feuds had so much potential, but somehow writers and management lost the plot, and the feuds never got to reasonable conclusions.
Lets look at 4 of such feuds.
#4 AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura
The match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34 was promoted as a dream match, as both were among the best in-ring wrestlers, and were capable of having 5-star matches on a consistent basis.
However, the match did not live up to the hype, and was mediocre at best. Even then the fans had something to cheer about, as on that same evening Nakamura turned heel and attacked AJ Styles.
Readers who follow NJPW would be aware of the fact that heel Nakamura is the best Nakamura. WWE management had an already finished product in their hands, as they had a mean sadistic heel who has experience of running a whole division, and is more than capable of being the face of SmackDown.
He needed to win against Styles to justify his heel turn. But WWE just let the pair have a couple of average matches in pay-per-views.
Then Nakamura lost cleanly to AJ Styles in the last man standing match at Money in the Bank, which was the end of this underwhelming feud.
A feud that should have been the launch pad of Nakamura's era in WWE, ended up being one of the lowest points in his career. He has still not recovered from the loss, as he does not look like the artist he once was.
#3 Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns
Back at WrestleMania 31, Lesnar and Reigns fought for the WWE Championship in the main event. The match was better than anyone expected, and even though the match ended up with Seth Rollins on top (thanks to his cash-in), Roman came across like he could hold his own against The Beast, and proved his potential for being the top star.
Many expected them to face-off again soon to conclude their rivalry, but it wouldn't be for another three years before they had another one-on-one championship clash, this time for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34.
Like the dream match for the WWE Championship, WWE had a story prepared for the Universal Championship as well. They could have booked it as Roman finally getting to complete his unfinished business by defeating The Beast.
The victory would have also felt sweet, and would have made Roman look stronger, especially after Lesnar's tedious run with the belt. But contrary to what fans wanted, Brock dominated most of the match, and Roman lost cleanly.
Roman did get the last laugh at SummerSlam, as he defeated Brock, but the damage was already done, because after the WrestleMania defeat, Roman lost his credibility as a main-eventer, and thus no one really cared for their match at SummerSlam.
#2 Sasha Banks vs Bayley
Bayley and Sasha Banks’ rivalry dates way back to their NXT days where the two ladies had previously faced off on two different occasions.
Bayley first won the NXT Women’s Championship after defeating Banks at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, and the rematch between them, fought in the main event of NXT TakeOver: Respect, was the first ever 30-minute Iron-woman match.
Both wrestlers have incredible chemistry, and are regarded as among the best wrestlers of the current era. WWE started teasing a match between the duo at Royal Rumble 2018, and later at Elimination Chamber when Bayley was eliminated by her longtime friend, Banks.
It seemed like we were going to get the confrontation between them at WrestleMania 34, but as we know now, this was not meant to be. Writers kept on teasing a match between the duo during early summer, with them turning on each other consistently.
They even laid the groundwork by having them snap and attack each other, for which they attended anger management classes. But after that, WWE threw all the build-up out the window, & instead made them best friends, and tag team partners.
This was just a disappointing end after creating all that hype. Now both wrestlers are stuck in the mid-card, without a meaningful feud. Even if WWE decides to pull the trigger and reignite their feud in the future, they will not get much attention because of the previous outcome.
#1 AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe
This feud was all about Samoa Joe wanting to get AJ's wife and their youngest daughter, and for that, he could go to any limits.
This became the plot of their storyline for the WWE Championship, and it gained massive attention.
Although sometimes it went too far and became creepy, it was so perfectly executed by the best storyteller in wrestling, Samoa Joe, that he came across as a fearless & sadistic heel who was going to destroy Styles' family completely.
This feud was easily the highlight of the summer because of all those promos like 'Night Night, AJ'. Styles also needed this feud, as he was having a series of lacklustre feuds which were degrading his championship run.
But sadly, the conclusion of the storyline ruined this brilliant plan. After laying all the groundwork and playing the mind games, Joe deserved to become the WWE Champion. The victory would have justified his eerie behavior, and he needed that.
AJ Styles completely dominated Joe in their matches, and it certainly damaged Joe's character, as now fans think he's just a talker and not a good fighter. He is now lost in the mid-card, and a feud which could have been the storyline of the year came to an unsatisfying end.
