7 WWE and AEW Storylines That Are Past Their Expiration Date

Professional wrestling as an entertainment medium is constantly moving. There are no weeks off. If WWE is forced to do a recap episode, it is only because the company has no other choice.

This is what makes this sport like no other, but it also can be a great pitfall. Without an off-season, stories can quickly grow stale if not handled properly. However, those same stories need to continue to keep the product moving.

It is important that every promotion—whether it be WWE, All Elite Wrestling or other smaller companies—knows when enough is enough. Otherwise, fans will turn on even the most interesting of angles.

Both WWE and AEW have stories that have most certainly run past their expiration date. The companies may be ignoring them or overusing them, but it is time for them to end.

Whether it's the never-ending rivalry of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, the forgotten run of Shinsuke Nakamura or the unnecessary continuation of The Inner Circle, these are seven stories that should have ended months ago.

The Street Profits vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode

Credit: WWE.com

It could be argued that New Day vs. The Usos should be on this list, but luckily, for the moment, those teams look to be done with each other. It also helps that those two teams always deliver in the ring, even if it's a story that has run its course.

The Street Profits vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode was a tired story almost right after it started. After floating around each other, the heels found they could not defeat Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins straight up. Instead, they resorted to injuring Ford to get ahead.

It worked, and Ziggler and Roode won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. However, with no real direction, the champions kept waiting for The Street Profits to get their titles back.

These teams have crossed paths again and again with no purpose once the titles were out of the way. Both teams moved to Raw, where the rivalry has simply simmered because WWE cannot figure out how to keep the tag team division moving outside of the title picture.

The two teams need to be quietly separated by brand, or Ziggler's temporary arrival in NXT needs to become more permanent so that The Showoff and The Glorious One can both branch out of the division.

Dan Lambert's Involvement with Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page

Dan Lambert could be the single most annoying character in AEW. While he has talent on the mic, his shtick is stuck in a time before most people cared to respect women. He is insufferable, yet AEW has him pulling double duty on multiple shows, working as a heel and a face.

While his angle with Brandi Rhodes is dead-on-arrival, at least that can lead to Paige VanZant joining the AEW women's division, who will be a potential star if she finds her footing in the ring. His angle with Lance Archer makes little sense, but it is too fresh to be old just yet.

However, on top of these stories, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page are also stuck riding Lambert's heat rather than doing much of anything. At first, it seemed to be a chance to get the duo on TV and working the crowd, but now it just feels like they are the lackeys for Lambert who actually want to show up weekly.

The Men of the Year have serious talent, both solo and as a team, but a loaded tag division may not be the right spot for them to shine. Sky has been waiting for another shot at the TNT Championship, and he has been for months. Page has gotten multiple big shots in the same time frame.

Sky should especially be let loose. He is ready to prove himself, and his win-loss record is proof that AEW sees enough in him to shine. He should be the next TNT champion, but at Lambert's side, he is just a forgotten man in a trench coat and sunglasses drowning in heat that is not his.

24/7 Championship

Credit: WWE.com

The 24/7 Championship was a welcome gimmick when it arrived in WWE. An alteration of the WWE Hardcore Championship at its most wild, the gold is more gimmick than aspiration, but it had a chance to create a fresh division of roaming challengers.

Many underused stars got a chance to be 24/7 champion. Akira Tozawa, Drew Gulak, Reginald, Shelton Benjamin, Drake Maverick, The Singh Brothers and the most dominant champion of them all, R-Truth, all got their moment briefly.

However, Truth is the only one who has truly benefited. Over his record-breaking 52 reigns, his goofy persona defined the title that he found new and ridiculous ways to defend.

The problem was that no one else could define it. Many had goofy moments with the 24/7 Championship, but it was always fleeting. Dana Brooke has been champion over 80 days only because it does not feel like anyone has the will to dethrone her anymore.

It's tired. A lot of good wrestlers have spent the past nearly three years running around backstage rather than wrestling in a WWE ring. The title is rarely going to be legitimately defended in a WWE ring, and the company has run out of creative ways to use it.

It is time to introduce a more interesting title in the championship's place, one that can keep as much talent relevant while allowing them to wrestle again.

The (Andrade) Hardy Family Office

Matt Hardy found himself at a unique crossroads when he arrived in AEW. It was the first show of the pandemic era as the company had to stop letting fans attend events. The Broken One arrived that first night, but he was quickly replaced by Big Money Matt instead.

This gimmick allowed Hardy to just entertain. He would wrestle occasionally, but he did not have to rely on the roar of the crowd. Instead, he was a dastardly heel, elevating young talent but also profiting off their success. He took the disparate pairings of Private Party as well as The Butcher, The Blade and The Bunny.

Even Angelico and Jack Evans got a chance in The Hardy Family Office, but that seemed to pass by quickly. This stable did not have a strong foundation or gimmick that fans could latch on to either with hatred or appreciation.

It led to many awkward angles, including with Orange Cassidy, that did not let the talent shine through, yet the story continued all the same. Recently, some changes have given a bit of a spark to the story, but as long as a disinterested Matt is involved, it does not feel like the story can go further.

With WWE's surprise release of his brother, Jeff, Big Money Matt looks ready to quietly retire, giving rise to the returning Hardy Boyz. Meanwhile, Andrade El Idolo will take over managing Private Party and The Three Bs.

This is for the best, but The Andrade Family Office would still need to find some way to put together these disparate characters. Maybe it's time the story quietly retires so that everyone involved can find a new angle.

Shinsuke Nakamura's WWE Intercontinental Championship Reign

Credit: WWE.com

Shinsuke Nakamura is one of the most talented and unique performers in wrestling. His time in WWE has been increasingly hit or miss. There are many likely reasons for that.

The Artist does not speak great English, and WWE is often uncertain what to do with stars that cannot speak perfectly in English no matter their talent. Nakamura has often seemed content to coast, leading to only a handful of good matches a year.

What hurts the most though is WWE forgets about Nakamura. He will come up to surprisingly win a midcard title every year or two, but his challengers never step up. He just drifts from show to show, waiting for someone to want an opportunity at him.

His latest WWE Intercontinental Championship has run for nearly 200 days, yet it's hard to remember a single title defense. It has not helped that the championship has not felt relevant over the past year, but Nakamura has been an especially forgettable titleholder.

Sami Zayn looks poised to dethrone The Artist sooner rather than later, and it cannot happen soon enough. Even if The Great Liberator is likely to spend his time into WrestleMania getting embarrassed by Johnny Knoxville, at least it will be memorable.  

The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle first formed in the main event of the debut of AEW Dynamite. It did not feel like a big moment at the time, but Chris Jericho's stable with Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz and Jake Hager has had many important moments in the history of the company.

However, much like The Demo God has always sought to evolve with the times, this stable needs to change. Even after months away from one another, The Inner Circle feels like a relic of an earlier age for this brand.

The cracks have begun to form. Eddie Kingston has convinced Proud N Powerful that they need to ditch Jericho to succeed, and that may just lead to the end of The Inner Circle in AEW. Nothing is guaranteed, though.

If the group does not break up, even if they stay apart, there would always be the expectation set on these stars that are stuck together. Jericho carries too much of an aura as the supposed leader of these young stars that need to succeed on their own merit.

The time has passed for The Inner Circle. This needs to be the group's final story. Jericho and Hager can remain together, but Guevara, Santana and Ortiz can carry AEW.

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

In the lead-up to WrestleMania 31, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar played tug-of-war over the WWE Championship. No fans bought into this story, yet the actual match was a surprise hit. The Big Dog proved himself to an extent before Seth Rollins snuck in to steal the win.

No one knew that would only be the beginning. After Reigns and Lesnar would both defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, they would face off again at WrestleMania 34. Despite all signs pointing to Reigns, Lesnar would pull off a shocking victory in a lackluster match that would extend the feud further.

At WWE SummerSlam 2018, Reigns finally slayed The Beast Incarnate. The Big Dog had to soon step away because of a leukemia relapse. Lesnar won the title again and would go on to put over Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre while still ending up the world champion more often than either man.

WWE has never allowed anyone to get one up on Lesnar for long, and WWE has suffered for it. Now that Reigns and Lesnar will fight again in the main event of WrestleMania 38, it becomes even more clear that the company is struggling to figure out how to sell this feud.

The two have had four singles matches together as well as three more multi-man matches with both involved. Many wrestlers have had more matches together, but few have been forced into the spotlight with quite so much fervor.

Come WrestleMania, the three will have main evented three WrestleManias, a feat that even trumps The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, who only main evented twice in their 'Mania trilogy. However, this has none of that same spark or history.

It is time to let the two men that WWE protects more than anyone else in this era go their separate ways. This story ran its course years ago.