Forgotten Storylines WWE and AEW Can Resurface During Summer

Both WWE and All Elite Wrestling are doing the best they can to produce compelling content during these unprecedented times, even without crowds in attendance.

Not every show has been electrifying, but there have been a fair share of highlights between the two promotions both inside and outside the ring in recent months.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some promising storylines to come to a screeching halt due to unforeseen circumstances, including travel bans and performers contracting the virus. There have also been Superstars such as Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn who have chosen to self-quarantine.

Thankfully, WWE and AEW have been able to bring back a majority of its roster due to travel restrictions being eased and others choosing to return safely. Raw, SmackDown, NXT and Dynamite have all seen an increase in quality as a result but could still be better.

Even with the summer season already halfway over, there is still time for WWE and AEW to resurrect forgotten feuds and potential plans that had to be put on hold earlier in 2020 and give them a proper payoff.

Few things are worse in wrestling than an engaging angle being dropped without getting an actual ending. That doesn't need to be the case with the following six storylines across Raw, SmackDown and AEW TV that were all capturing the audience's attention before being unceremoniously cut short.

Kenny Omega and Adam Page Teasing Tension

The Elite isn't fine and hasn't been for a long time, but the cracks in the foundation of the group have especially started to show recently.

Between Cody's mannerisms in his matches and Kenny Omega attacking Marko Stunt for no apparent reason following a win in six-man tag team action, it's clear the faction won't be a cohesive unit for much longer. Then again, that would suggest they have been on the same page up until now, and that certainly hasn't been the case.

Kenny Omega and Adam Page, for example, didn't originally enter the tag team ranks with intentions of dominating the division. Rather, they jelled as partners only after teasing tension with each other for several weeks.

At one point, Page cemented his split from The Elite to pursue his own goals, but he's been a full-fledged member of the group since the beginning of the pandemic because of his involvement in Blood and Guts (prior to it being delayed indefinitely). They've gotten along lately, but seeing as how they've beaten almost everyone as AEW world tag team champions, that shouldn't stick beyond All Out on September 5.

Page betraying his brethren and branching back out on his own seemed to be the direction they were headed in after Revolution, but the roles being reversed would work exceptionally better.

AEW is taking small steps toward turning Omega heel, so it appears this storyline from a few months ago is on the verge of playing out after all—albeit in a different form.

Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose's Rivalry

The angle involving Otis, Mandy Rose, Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville earlier this year was easily among the strongest storylines WWE had on the road to WrestleMania 36.

The Deville vs. Rose rivalry coming out of it proved to be equally entertaining before it abruptly ended in June.

Everything about the angle was pure perfection. Rose played her role as the sympathetic babyface well, Deville was doing her best work ever in the ring and on the mic, and the story made sense because of how far their friendship dates back to.

The one and only match they had against each other on the May 8 edition of SmackDown was excellent while it lasted and ended in a win for Deville. More matches should have followed, but nothing was booked for the Backlash or Money in the Bank pay-per-views, oddly enough.

The storyline never had a proper conclusion, not to mention there was more they could have done. It's safe to assume the current COVID-19 situation and several WWE Superstars testing positive for it is likely why we haven't seen either of them on TV in many weeks, but when they do eventually resurface, WWE would be foolish to not keep their bad blood going.

Outside of Bayley and Sasha Banks, SmackDown's women's division is in shambles and having Rose and Deville around again will be a huge help. It speaks volumes that their story was strong enough to not need the SmackDown Women's Championship, and it should stay that way.

The Lucha Brothers vs. Best Friends

The pandemic—and its subsequent cancellation of events—couldn't have happened at a worse time for AEW.

The company was forced to start running empty arena shows mere weeks before it was supposed to hold its highly anticipated Blood and Guts edition of Dynamite, which was set to feature a stacked card from top to bottom.

Among the advertised matches was a parking lot brawl between The Lucha Brothers and Best Friends.

The teams were embroiled in an intense rivalry in the weeks following February's Revolution pay-per-view. At that event, PAC defeated Orange Cassidy and formed an alliance with Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix, making enemies out of Trent and Chuck Taylor in the process.

The trio collectively known as The Death Triangle was just hitting its stride together before COVID-19 left all of AEW's international wrestlers stranded and unable to travel. Several of its stars from Canada and Mexico (including The Lucha Brothers) have since resurfaced, but there has been no update on when PAC can return.

With Pentagon Jr. back from quarantine and Fenix cleared to compete after sustaining an injury in May, there's no reason AEW can't rekindle the rivalry between Best Friends and The Lucha Brothers in the meantime and finally deliver on that parking lot brawl from Blood and Guts.

The Young Bucks and The Butcher and The Blade had a fun Falls Count Anywhere match this past week on Dynamite, so a tag team parking lot brawl is certainly feasible. AEW could also go the cinematic route with it and make it more of a spectacle than it would be under normal circumstances.

The Hurt Business Attempting to Recruit Apollo Crews

The Hurt Business is still in recruitment mode at the moment, and once Apollo Crews is cleared to compete again, he should be the next person to join their ranks.

That was the original idea behind their storyline over a month ago. MVP was scouting Superstars left and right before settling on Crews, who was fresh off winning the United States Championship from Andrade in late May.

This followed reports that WWE was planning to turn Crews heel upon his return to the ring a few months ago, which never came to pass. MVP attempting to recruit Crews into his newfound faction led to them feuding over the star-spangled prize instead, though their scheduled one-on-one bout at Backlash never actually happened.

Crews' current whereabouts are unknown, but he is expected to be back soon. He remains the United States champion as of this writing, and although he will likely resume his rivalry with MVP once he returns, an alliance between the two would be much more interesting.

With Ricochet and Cedric Alexander around and Mustafa Ali making the move to Monday nights, Raw has a plethora of babyfaces right now. Therefore, Crews isn't needed in the role and would be better off siding with the heels as has been teased for several months.

Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara Journeying to the Hardy Compound

Matt Hardy's long-awaited AEW debut was spoiled due to the coronavirus pandemic causing the first episode of Dynamite he appeared on to not have a crowd.

However, the former WWE Superstar was adamant about turning the negative into a positive by filming content from The Hardy Compound while feuding with Inner Circle.

His various exchanges with Chris Jericho made for tremendous television. On the April 8 edition of Dynamite, he challenged Inner Circle member Sammy Guevara to an Elite Deletion match, which presumably would have been similar to his Final Deletion and Ultimate Deletion matches from Impact Wrestling and WWE, respectively.

Hardy was doing cinematic matches before it was cool, so the circumstances would have been ideal for him to bring back one of his greatest match types on his home turf. Although he continued to feud with Inner Circle in the weeks that followed going into Double or Nothing, Elite Deletion was never spoken of again.

It didn't help that Hardy and Guevara's storyline post-Double or Nothing was interrupted by the latter's legitimate suspension. Hardy has been serving as the manager for Private Party since then, but he has a lot more to offer than just that.

Guevara made an unannounced return to AEW TV on Wednesday night, so there's a chance he and Hardy can revisit their rivalry in the coming weeks and give the audience what they want. For the fans' sake, Elite Deletion needs to happen at one point or another.

The Hacker on SmackDown

WWE is notorious for doing "mystery man" storylines and hyping up the grand reveal for many weeks only to not deliver an appropriate payoff.

GTV was one of the first instances of that in the early 2000s, followed by the infamous Anonymous Raw General Manager in 2010. So, it should come as no surprise that The Hacker has also been completely forgotten about after months of buzz and attention.

The Hacker was exclusive to SmackDown and responsible for interrupting the show's feed on Friday nights every week for a time earlier this year. The unidentified individual then started showing up in cryptic vignettes teasing that there would be a big reveal of some sort, which ended up being footage of Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville conspiring against Mandy Rose and Otis.

It would have been perfectly acceptable for the angle to end there, but The Hacker maintained a prominent presence on the program all the way through Money in the Bank in May. Since then, they haven't been heard from whatsoever, leading fans to believe the storyline has been abandoned all together.

The reason for that could be that Mustafa Ali, who was heavily rumored to be behind the whole thing, was quietly moved to the Raw roster in June. He had been inexplicably left off WWE TV in 2020 until recently, so it would have made perfect sense for him to be The Hacker.

Even with Ali now on Raw, The Hacker can still be brought back and continue to wreak havoc on SmackDown. They could further drive a wedge between Bayley and Sasha Banks or possibly The Miz and John Morrison before revealing their true identity to the world.

As for who it should be, no one person stands out as being a great fit for the role, but Xavier Woods would work considering he's been out of action since October last year. Regardless of who The Hacker is, though, it's important the angle gets the closure it deserves.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.