Unquestionably, the WWE has had a resurgent couple of months. It is the Summer of Punk, after all, and thanks to that we have a lot to hang our proverbial hats on as wrestling fans.
With that said, the reappearance of Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley on our TV sets and the reemergence of Kevin Nash as a difference-maker has led to some speculation this week as to whether or not the “Anonymous GM” role will factor into that “Domino Effect” of a power shift that has been unfolding for the past few weeks.
It’s an interesting thought and still a relevant one if for no other reason than WWE still sets up the GMail’s podium and laptop as part of the Monday Night Raw broadcaster’s area. However, in my personal opinion, I believe that the Anonymous Raw General Manager is one of those situations where WWE painted themselves into a corner, and they really haven’t figured out a way to LOGICALLY get out of it.
For example, if Kevin Nash was revealed as the GMail, I would immediately question how Nash could possibly have filled those shoes when he was still working for TNA. Granted, WWE probably wouldn’t care about that plothole, but to me that would just be another sign of WWE thinking their fans will just go along with anything when (hopefully) that’s not the case.
As for Stephanie, I would hope that this whole Raw Anonymous GM situation was simply something more than going back to the McMahon well, but since they are now doing that anyway, it could work from a logic standpoint even though I would absolutely *HATE* it.
Therefore, I am here to officially proclaim the Anonymous Raw GM angle as one of the Lost Storylines of Professional Wrestling, something that WWE must have had ideas for at first, but then it just didn’t work out.
On a sidenote and before I move on, it’s kind of ironic that Triple H said Vince McMahon was “relieved of his duties” on that fateful night after Money in the Bank, since Vince used the same exact language when firing Bret Hart and instituting the GMail in the first place:
Digressions aside, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to offer brief moments of remembrance for other Lost Storylines in Professional Wrestling, and please feel free to share your own memories and thoughts in the Comments section below.
Lost Storyline – GTV, WWF:
Oh, the memories. GTV was an angle run by WWF where hidden surveillance cameras would show backstage footage filmed in black and white of the WWF roster in precarious situations. One example is below, featuring Val Venis and the Big Show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yViNskfDZbw
Even though these videos aired for weeks, it was never revealed who was behind them. Therefore, GTV is definitely deserving of being labeled a lost storyline. Also of note is that one rumor bandied about years ago was that comedian Tom Green — who had a candid camera-like MTV show at the time — was WWF Creative’s possible celebrity pick for being the person behind these videos.
Lost Storyline – Room 814, WWF:
On August 27th, 2000, WWF SummerSlam saw one of the best Triple Threat matches I ever remember seeing between Kurt Angle, Triple H, and The Rock for the WWF Championship.
That match was truly a classic, and it was also filled with all of the drama you could want as Kurt Angle basically got into Triple H’s head by becoming “friends” with Stephanie McMahon. Of course, the rumors that swirled after that were off the charts, and it all came to a head during that epic SummerSlam match, when Hunter accidentally struck Stephanie with a right hand that was seemingly meant for Kurt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K21iueZN228
While The Rock wound up winning that match and retaining the WWF title, the biggest storyline intrigue was left for the next night on Raw, when Kurt Angle confronted Triple H after spending the night with Stephanie to protect her from Hunter’s “brutality”. At the end of this segment, Kurt intimated that he spent the entire night after SummerSlam at the hotel, with Stephanie, in Room 814.
And, just like that, after that ONE mention in a prominent spot on Raw, Room 814 was NEVER referenced again. We never found out exactly what happened between Kurt and Stephanie on that summer night in that hotel room, even though Angle and Triple H did continue their feud.
Lost Storyline – Samoa Joe’s Abduction/Kidnapping, TNA:
Not that we really need this lost storyline to be found, but this one is just a shining example of how Samoa Joe has been completely misused and awfully mismanaged over the years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMk0JmlGr6c
I’ll just let that one speak for itself.
Lost Storyline – Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg, WCW:
This one is a Lost Storyline for a different reason, one that Chris Jericho discusses at length in his Breaking the Code DVD.
When Jericho was in WCW, he started a feud with Goldberg — who was hotter than hot at the time and in the middle of his legendary undefeated streak — by cutting often-brilliant heel promos on big Bill.
The only problem with this was that Goldberg himself just wasn’t keen on actually having a (competitive) match with Jericho to culminate weeks and weeks of the Lionheart calling him out in various ways, and so instead of Jericho wrestling Goldberg for real at the 1998 Fall Brawl, we got this turn of events:
There was also one other moment when I believe Goldberg simply beat up Jericho and speared him on the WCW stage to “end the feud”, but even with that I still classify this one as a Lost Storyline for not being as brilliant as it could have been.
By the way, they did wrestle later on in WWE, but it was just too late in terms of striking while the iron — or Goldberg — was hot.
As I said above, I’d love to hear everyone else’s comments about Lost Storylines in Professional Wrestling, so feel free to share your own and I look forward to the discussion.
That’s all from me — CB.
