It’s common practice for WWE to tease future storylines and characters on RAW or SmackDown. This is done to whet the appetite of the fans and give them a subtle hint of what’s to come in the future months.

Over the years, WWE have been prone to deliver a tease, and the tease ends up leading to absolutely nothing. Whilst the tease itself can be quickly erased from the memory of the fan-base, often the tease is for something truly epic, and WWE are called out for failing to deliver any type of meaningful follow-up.

This isn’t always WWE’s fault, as the nature of the wrestling industry means that things can change in a moment's notice, and WWE can be forced to go back to the drawing board, and cancel what was going to be an exciting and compelling creative direction.

So, with that being said, let’s take a look at 10 WWE teases that went nowhere.

10: Triple H vs. Bray Wyatt

Teasing a heel vs. heel rivalry is always risky because the fans may be confused as to who exactly they are supposed to be rooting for. However, when WWE teased Triple H vs. Bray Wyatt in early 2016, the reaction from the fans was a clear indication that this was a match and a feud that they wanted to see.

The tease itself took place on the March 7, 2016 edition of RAW, and after The Wyatt Family had annihilated Ambrose, reigning WWE Champion, Triple H’s theme song would hit. Before Wyatt exited the ring, a stare down between he and The Game ensued, and the crowd came alive. Wyatt would even stroke Triple H’s WWE Title, potentially hinting that he was coming for The Game’s gold.

Unfortunately, WWE never had any plans to follow the tease up, and the two decorated stars never got to have a featured feud in WWE.

9: Intergender Wrestling Returns?

One of Dean Ambrose’s final storylines in WWE was supposed to be a feud with Nia Jax. This would have seen WWE bring back intergender wrestling, and it was supposed to lead to a match between the two at a live event.

WWE would heavily tease the matchup on RAW, yet it was apparent that both looked uncomfortable with what WWE had booked them to do.

According to Jax during an interview with Renee Paquette, the scripted teases led to utter confusion both from herself and Ambrose, and Ambrose was fully aware that WWE were trying to punish him just before he left the company:

"I remember getting the script and was like, 'Am I going to start wrestling the guys?' 'Yeah, we think this is kind of cool.' 'Hmm, I don't know.' I go to Dean and was like, 'I don't feel comfortable with this. How are you?' He's like, 'Whatever, they're just trying to fucking get me.' 'I don't want to hit you.' I just thought that I shouldn't be able to hit someone and they don't get to hit me back. I thought it was so weird. I know Jon didn't feel comfortable. 'I don't want to hit you.'”

Jax continued:

“They had advertised us on a live event having a match and I was like, 'what the heck is going on here? Are we doing this?' At first, I thought it was cool to do intergender matches, and would be super cool if we could go that route. If anybody who is amazing and has an incredible resume, it's Jon, but I was like, 'Does he want to do this?' I don't know what happened. Somebody said the state we were supposed to be working in didn't allow intergender matches or some crap. Then, it just went away…”

8: AJ Styles Goes Rogue

In late 2018, WWE aired a segment which led to speculation that WWE were going to build towards a rivalry between AJ Styles and Vince McMahon. In the segment, AJ and McMahon met backstage, and McMahon would pretend to be unaware of who exactly AJ was, before claiming that he and AJ had similar traits. McMahon would declare that he wanted to see AJ’s inner animal, and then in a dramatic moment, he would slap the former WWE Champion across the face. AJ would then respond by laying out the WWE Chairman with a vicious punch to the utter shock of fans worldwide.

Ultimately, the segment and the tease of a feud between the two was quickly erased from the history books, as WWE failed to mention the segment again.

7: Batista vs. Brock Lesnar

Batista vs. Brock Lesnar is surely a match and program that WWE would have booked at some point in time, yet surprisingly, the two have never had an extended rivalry. This appeared like it was about to change in 2014, when WWE would tease a future rivalry between the two during a segment on RAW, and the response to the tease was overwhelmingly positive.

During a promo exchange between Batista and Randy Orton, Lesnar along with Paul Heyman would interrupt, and chaos would ensue. Heyman would inform authority figure, Brad Maddox, that Lesnar either wants a match with Orton, or Batista. When the idea was thrown out there that fans may see Batista vs. Lesnar, the mood changed in the arena, and there was tangible excitement.

Sadly, the match never took place, and with Batista officially retiring in 2019, there is now no chance that the match will ever take place in a WWE ring.

6: CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

One of the dream matches that fans have always wanted to see is CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin. The two characters are vastly different, and this in-turn would make for one compelling, money-making feud.

WWE have successfully teased the dream match on two separate occasions. The first time was in 2011 during a memorable backstage segment on RAW. The two had a rather comedic interaction, and the segment, as expected, received a noteworthy response from the crowd. The teases for an eventual feud between the two continued, when the two took part in a sit-down interview with Jim Ross to promote WWE 2K13. This interview was intense and raw, and it looked like both men were trying to sell a match, rather than simply promote a video game.

The interview received widespread praise, and there was now even more buzz to see the match take place. Ultimately, the match never happened, and the WWE 2K13 promotional interview was the final time the two legends would share the spotlight together.

5: Who Cost Finn Balor The Universal Title?

It was common during the old era of WWE for the company to make a bold booking decision, then figure out the fall-out at a later date.

When WWE booked Demon Finn Balor vs. Roman Reigns for the Extreme Rules PPV in 2021, WWE needed a way to protect Balor, whilst keeping Reigns as the Universal Champion.

WWE’s idea was to have Balor about to perform his trademark coup de grace, only for the rope to magically snap out of nowhere. This was a unique finish, and it was heavily teased that somebody was behind cutting the rope, and fans hoped that this would be explored in the coming weeks and months.

WWE never had any plans to explore the tease, and the rope breaking was only implemented as a match finish to protect Balor’s Demon persona. Footage from fans in attendance made it clear that it was a production team member who cut the rope, and of course, it was only fitting that WWE received backlash for failing to follow up on what could have been a strong storyline for Balor’s character.

4: Time’s Up For Roman Reigns

Upon re-signing with WWE in 2022, Karrion Kross was instantly presented as a foil for Roman Reigns. Kross made his debut attacking Drew McIntyre, before placing an hourglass in the ring, and in the ring just so happened to be Reigns and The Bloodline.

Kross would then point to his wrist, signalling that time is up for Reigns and his historic title reign. It goes without saying that this was an incredible return, and it made Kross look threatening within a few-short minutes.

The obvious tease was that WWE were going to book Kross vs. Reigns, yet this never transpired. It’s never been explained why WWE failed to book the match, and it’s entirely possible that it’s due to Kross’ difficulty in connecting with the audience since returning to the company.

3: Legends Collide

As mentioned at the top of the video, it can be the case that WWE has every intention of following up on a tease, only for real-life events to get in the way of their creative plans.

WWE would heavily tease The Rock vs. Triple H on a number of different occasions, including a memorable segment on SmackDown in 2014, as well as an acclaimed segment at WrestleMania 31, which also included Ronda Rousey. These teases were intended to build towards WrestleMania 32, as WrestleMania in Dallas was going to see the two legends face off one final time.

During an interview with TalkSport, The Game revealed that the match was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts with The Rock:

"I don't remember the details of it, but it was one of those things that Rock and I talked about to the point where we did the backstage promo. 'Let's throw a scene out there and see what happens.' It blew up, so we talked about it some more. Then scheduling just got in the way. At that point, we were over a year away from that WrestleMania. It wasn't until, maybe four months of the following year, we got to that, and Rock goes, 'it's just not gonna work. I just can't. All of my stuff. My movies and everything has changed. I just can't make it work anymore. "It was what it was. I would've loved to have [done] it. It would've been a blast to step in there with him one more time and tear it up."

2: Seth Rollins’ Babyface Turn

The 2022 Royal Rumble saw former Shield brothers collide as Roman Reigns defended the Universal Title against Seth Rollins. Outside of a lacklustre DQ finish, the match was excellent, as the chemistry between the two was incredible, and the post-match angle led to an exciting tease for future storylines.

Once the match was over, Reigns brutalised Rollins with a steel chair to the shock and horror of the 40,000 fans in attendance.

It’s worth noting that Rollins was still firmly a heel at this point, and this was seemingly supposed to tease a babyface turn and tease the idea of Rollins coming after Reigns for revenge.

Although Rollins had been absolutely annihilated, his character brushed it aside the next time he appeared on WWE TV. It was disappointing to see that there was no babyface turn, and there was no desire from Rollins to exact revenge.

1: Hulk Hogan vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

WWE had numerous chances to book Hulk Hogan vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in 2002, yet due to a variety of reasons, the match never took place. It appeared like all hope was lost in seeing the two icons of WWE collide, that was until 2005, when the teases for a match between the two began to surface.

The first tease was at the RAW Homecoming show in 2005, when during a promo from Hogan, out of nowhere, Hogan would call out Austin, and outright challenge him to a dream match. This received a gigantic response, and logic would assume that Hogan wouldn’t tease the match in such a direct manner if WWE weren’t going to deliver it.

The next tease came at the Hall of Fame ceremony in 2006. Austin was inducting Bret Hart, and Austin would briefly divert away from focusing on Hart to address Hogan on the stage by stating:

"You know, it’s funny. I was, uh, going through my bag in the back. I couldn’t find something. I lost something – I went into the back looking through my bag, and I found a can of whoop-a**, and it had Hulk Hogan’s name on it.”

Although the teases created significant buzz, they ended up leading to nothing, and the two never had a 1 vs. 1 matchup in WWE.