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WWE has been dominating the professional wrestling industry since the days of the Attitude Era - and even earlier. Though the ratings of the company aren't very good as of late, Vince McMahon’s wrestling empire still has a plethora of die-hard fans worldwide.
We can broadly classify the WWE Universe into two types - one is the bunch of casual fans, who turn up for shows like WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam and matches involving legendary superstars. Whereas, the second group of fans love to learn about wrestling rumors online and have the foresight of what will happen next in WWE.
These fans are always excited to see the rumored storylines take place on WWE TV. However, not always have the reported rumors come to fruition. Given the unpredictable nature of WWE’s business, last-minute changes are inevitable and very frequent.
In this article, we will have a look at the 5 WWE feuds that were heavily rumored to take place but did not happen -
5 The Rock vs Roman Reigns
Cousins in real life, Roman Reigns and The Rock have been rumored to battle against each other at the Grandest Stage of ‘em All not once, but twice. This rumor first emerged in the year 2017, when the rumor mill reported that WWE wanted Roman Reigns vs The Rock at WrestleMania 33. But, the same plans did not transpire because of the Brahma Bull’s tight schedule and injury issues.
Two years later, when Roman Reigns won the Universal Championship, the rumor mill was abuzz once again with rumblings that the Rock would return and win the 2019 Royal Rumble match to set up an epic clash at WrestleMania 35. However, WWE had to alter the plans because of Roman Reigns’ shocking Leukemia revelation.
4 John Cena vs Jinder Mahal
The Modern Day Maharaja, Jinder Mahal enjoyed a long reign as the WWE Champion of SmackDown Live in mid 2017. Mahal had defeated Randy Orton to capture his first ever WWE Championship. The first ever WWE Champion of Indian descent even emerged victorious in the feud against The Viper. Therefore, he needed a new opponent for his title defense at SummerSlam.
While there was a lot of talent waiting for this coveted opportunity, the rumor mill stated that the 16-time WWE Champion, John Cena would emerge as Mahal’s next rival. The WWE Universe witnessed a match between Cena and Mahal on SmackDown Live but WWE decided to book Shinsuke Nakamura as the next challenger for the WWE title, instead. John Cena, meanwhile, indulged himself in mini-feuds with Rusev and Baron Corbin during that period.
Given that Vince McMahon wanted to expand WWE’s reach in India, it would have been a great idea to pit an Indian origin superstar against a superstar who has an enormous fan following in India, like Cena. But, it didn't happen.
3 Luke Harper vs Sami Zayn
Luke Harper has been in troubled waters since his controversial release request statement that the superstar posted on Instagram. Harper had been absent from in-ring action for a long time due to an injury before he asked for his release. Though the former Wyatt Family member’s wish was not fulfilled, the rumor mill revealed that he would have had a feud with Sami Zayn.
Speaking about Harper’s WWE status, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio had stated that -
He’s been told that not only is he not released but his contract is being extended. The gist is that he was coming back and he was going to be in a program with Sami Zayn and, for whatever reason, they canceled it and he just felt they don’t have anything [for him].
The WWE Creative team cancelled their plans for Sami and Harper with no specific reason. Harper vs Zayn could have been a decent feud if WWE had gone forward with their original plans.
2 John Cena vs Lars Sullivan
WWE’s backstage officials were very high on Lars Sullivan, airing vignettes hyping up his arrival on the main roster during Raw and Smackdown. The dirt sheets stated that Lars would clash with, of all people, John Cena at WrestleMania 35. However, Sullivan suffered a panic attack in January, which forced the writers to alter their plans.
The seeds for this match were set to be planted before the Royal Rumble event, where the NXT graduate would attack John Cena brutally to rule him out of the 30-man Rumble match. This altercation would have led to a showdown between the two mighty superstars at the Show of Shows.
As mentioned ahead, The Freak could not recover in time for this feud, thus he missed WrestleMania 35 and then, battled with Lucha House Party in a meaningless feud. On the other hand, Cena returned as the Doctor of Thuganomics to beat the heck out of Elias at WrestleMania 35.
1 Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose had established himself as the top baby-face superstar of the company by battling the likes of Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, Triple H and many more stars. The Lunatic Fringe injured himself badly during that time, an injury kept him out of action for months. Ambrose worked on his physique during his time off and returned with a jacked up look, which many said screamed a heel turn.
As per the rumor mill, WWE had plans to turn him heel upon his return before he facing his long-time friend, Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 35. These two Shield brothers had never had a full-fledged, one-on-one rivalry before - hence, it would have been a refreshing WrestleMania feud for the fans.
However, Roman Reigns relinquished his Universal Championship in October 2018, a move which had a major impact on WWE’s booking plans. Brock Lesnar regained the Universal title soon thereafter, while Ambrose had one of the most disastrous runs in WWE history. The Creative team had messed up his character thus, the Lunatic Fringe opted to leave WWE in April 2019.
No one knows if Dean would have left Vince McMahon’s company had he been booked to main event of the grandest WWE pay-per-view stage. But, it looks like the fans will never a get a feud between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose now.
Although, never say never.
What are some other feuds that were meant to take place but, for whatever reason, didn't? Let us know in the comments section.
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