5 storylines WWE abruptly cancelled
Over the course of the past several decades, the world of professional wrestling has given us its fair share of incredible storylines and legendary matches. WWE, under Vince McMahon's supervision, has gone onto becoming a globally recognized brand and is growing with each passing day.
Hulk Hogan vs Andre 'The Giant', Austin vs Mr. McMahon, and Shawn Michaels vs Bret 'The Hitman' Hart are just a few of the greatest storylines WWE has produced. But things don't always turn the way they are intended to be. There's no telling when an unfortunate circumstance would creep up and shatter down months and months of immaculate planning.
Here are 5 WWE storylines that had to be abruptly stopped, courtesy of a bunch of unforeseen situations.
Also read: 5 times WWE Superstars forgot the script
#5 The Undertaker vs Mordecai, WWE WrestleMania 21
The summer of 2004 saw an incredibly weird and disturbing villain come onto the mid-card scene on SmackDown. Mordecai was a white-cloaked figure, carrying a post with him that signified him being a savior to the masses. The religious undertones to the character made him all the more intriguing and controversial.
Mordecai went on to defeat fan-favourites Scotty 2 Hotty and Hardcore Holly in two successive PPVs. The original plans for him included a long-lasting rivalry that would culminate at The Grandest Stage Of Them All, WrestleMania 21, in a match against The Undertaker.
In terms of publicity, this feud could have been explored from a lot of angles. The Undertaker's dark persona pitted against the pure white persona that Mordecai portrayed made for good television viewing and would have kept fans intrigued. Both superstars had similar traits as well, which included wearing cloaks and having elaborate entrance routines to the ring accompanied by heavy pyrotechniques. WWE could have also employed vignettes to smartly build up this rivalry heading into WrestleMania.
The feud unfortunately didn't go through as planned, as the man behind the Mordecai character, Kevin Fertig, got into a bar brawl. When Vince McMahon heard this, he was irate to the core. The push was immediately canceled and Mordecai never appeared again on TV. A mistake on the part of Fertig cost him possibly a full-fledged Hall of Fame career.
After being written off TV for a couple of years, he was repackaged as Kevin Thorn and returned, portraying a vampire gimmick on ECW. It was a shortlived stint as WWE soon released him.