5 WWE storylines that were canceled in 2020

WWE have a huge roster and it is next to impossible to accommodate all of the talents all the time. This means that some stories may be dropped if they aren't going anywhere, fan interest is low, or due to injuries or other reasons for a Superstar not being able to feature in it.

2020 has been quite a turbulent year for WWE and pro wrestling in general. The pandemic has hurt the pro wrestling business which has resulted in massive changes that have taken place.

There have been plenty of occasions when WWE abruptly canceled or put on hold storylines in WWE in 2020. Here, we take a look at five WWE storylines that were canceled in 2020:

#5 Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn after WrestleMania 36

Sami Zayn defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 36

Daniel Bryan and Sami Zayn had an entertaining feud on SmackDown when the latter held the Intercontinental title. The two even had a match at WrestleMania 36 where Zayn defeated the former WWE Champion to retain his Intercontinental title.

And, Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported a few weeks ago that the feud between Bryan and Zayn was supposed to continue after WrestleMania 36. But Zayn opted to stay at home during this ongoing pandemic, which is an option that WWE have given their Superstars.

The report also said that WWE were always going to include Bryan in the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and that his participation in the match didn't come about due to Zayn's absence from television. Zayn was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship earlier this week.

Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue has revealed that WWE had asked Zayn if he was willing to return, and with Zayn uncertain of when he will be able to return, he was stripped of the title.

#4 Lana-Bobby Lashley-Rusev-Liv Morgan storyline on RAW

The Lana-Bobby Lashley-Rusev love triangle on WWE RAW was much criticized by fans, and even by some in the WWE itself, but it stayed on television for a long time. Looking at the numbers on social media, which were quite high, it seemed that there was some interest in this storyline.

The storyline got some more drama when Liv Morgan interrupted Lashley and Lana's wedding to reveal that she was Lana's former lover. That was an interesting twist to the tale.

But, WWE altogether dropped the storyline, with even Rusev being released by the company last month.

Last month, there was some speculation as to why WWE dropped the storyline, especially the one involving Lana and Liv Morgan. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer revealed that RAW Executive Director Paul Heyman had Liv Morgan in the storyline just to give her a push and get the fans behind her.

The storyline was one that did not resonate with some fans, while some others loved it. With Rusev no longer with WWE, there's obviously no chance of WWE doing it again.

#3 Rey Mysterio vs Andrade at WrestleMania 36

Andrade won the United States title from Rey Mysterio in December

Rey Mysterio has feuded with Andrade on a few occasions. The WWE legend feuded with Andrade on SmackDown two years ago, and in December last year, Mysterio lost the United States title to him.

Rey Mysterio had two more chances at winning back the title in January this year, but Andrade got the better of him.

Andrade was reportedly set to face Rey Mysterio once again at WrestleMania 36, which was dropped by WWE, due to Mysterio being in quarantine.

Here's what Dave Meltzer said about that match which never happened at The Show of Shows earlier this year:

"This came out of nowhere. So it was, there were a lot of different ideas. Multiple different ideas for US title matches but from last week, the main idea if you watched last week’s show was probably going to be Andrade and Rey and Rey is also in quarantine, so he’s off the show. Yeah, you got to be safe rather than sorry for sure."

#2 Major storyline canceled

Vince McMahon's infamous limo explosion storyline

The pandemic has caused WWE to make numerous changes and due to the social distancing norms and lockdown orders issued by governments, they have had to hold their shows in front of no audience at the Performance Center.

Putting on shows in the empty Performance Center has also resulted in WWE scrapping or changing a few storylines. WrestleVotes recently revealed that WWE scrapped a major storyline, which would have been like the Vince McMahon limousine explosion storyline, or the Nexus invasion. This is what WrestleVotes revealed recently:

"FWIW: I’ve been told there was a long major storyline that was to unfold over the span of weeks during the spring & summer, similar to the McMahon limo explosion or the Nexus invasion debut, that was put on hold due to no fans in attendance. Crowd reaction plays a major part."

Perhaps WWE can circle back and do this "major storyline" once audiences begin to return to WWE shows. There was a report earlier this month that stated that WWE could operate with a live crowd sometime in June, although it hasn't been confirmed yet.

#1 Roman Reigns vs Goldberg at WrestleMania 36

One of the major storylines heading into WrestleMania 36 was the match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns for the Universal title. The match was set up for Roman Reigns to win the title from the WWE Hall of Famer after the latter had won it from The Fiend Bray Wyatt earlier in the year.

It was believed that Reigns pulled out because he was immunocompromised due to his previous history battling leukemia. But, The Big Dog recently revealed that he did so because he wanted to protect his family, especially his two newborn babies. This is what Reigns said:

"A lot of people, they think that it was based on my health and the history of my fight against leukaemia. But just talking to my doctors and stuff, I actually am fine and my immune system is good. We just had two newborn twins, twin boys. They’re eight weeks old so I had to make a decision for them."

Braun Strowman is the current Universal Champion, who had a match with Bray Wyatt at Money in the Bank. We don't know when Reigns will return and when he will win the Universal Championship once again.

Edited by Zaid Khan