Greatest Rivalry In Professional Wrestling History?

[CH David]

Professional wrestling has been around for a long time. I don't feel like looking up the time frame, and would like it if nobody pointed it out. Now, during that time, there have been a vast amount of rivalries. These go from on screen, backstage, so on and so forth. But which is the greatest?

Now, as I hinted above, this is not just limited to in-ring or on-screen rivalries. Some examples I'll use, and you can use these if you'd like, just explain yourself if you do. WWF/E vs. NWA/WCW. We all know this one. Hogan vs. Flair was one that was never portrayed on television like it should have been. If I recall properly, the time they did go at it was when Hogan was in the nWo, not the American Hero. But in the '80s these two were the best in their companies, Flair in the NWA, and Hogan being the biggest in the WWF. Both at the top, but could never go at each other. Give it some hard thoughts, not just one that pops off in your head. Oh, and please give reasons why.

So, which rivalry one do you think is the greatest?

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

Undoubtedly in my mind, the greatest rivalry in professional wrestling history involved Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin. It just captured the imagination of wrestling and up-to-then non-wrestling fans. Here you had a classic premise: a tyrannical boss hell bent on having everybody conform to his vision and a rebellious employee who the boss hates and wants to make an example of. It touched on a blue-collar vibe that professional wrestling had not touched to that degree. While you had wrestlers who had championed themselves as representing the common man (if you will), Austin was the embodiment of every po'ed employee's dreams: telling the boss off and doing things the way they (the employee) wanted to.

If you look at the storyline, it wasn't just the ongoing shenanigans that Austin and McMahon were doing on a weekly basis. It was also the wrestlers that got wrapped up into this storyline. McMahon's entire "Corporation" stable and family got involved in this struggle as did the Undertaker and his "Ministry of Darkness." No one in the company was left unscathed in this angle as the Austin/McMahon angle even dominated the Royal Rumble in 1999. The ratings for WWF Raw is War were through the roof at this time and generated some of the greatest storylines, product quality, and merchandising prowess professional wrestling had ever seen. When Austin vs. McMahon came to an end, it was truly the end of an era.

 

[Cookie14]

Undoubtedly in my mind, the greatest rivalry in professional wrestling history involved Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin. It just captured the imagination of wrestling and up-to-then non-wrestling fans. Here you had a classic premise: a tyrannical boss hell bent on having everybody conform to his vision and a rebellious employee who the boss hates and wants to make an example of. It touched on a blue-collar vibe that professional wrestling had not touched to that degree. While you had wrestlers who had championed themselves as representing the common man (if you will), Austin was the embodiment of every po'ed employee's dreams: telling the boss off and doing things the way they (the employee) wanted to.

If you look at the storyline, it wasn't just the ongoing shenanigans that Austin and McMahon were doing on a weekly basis. It was also the wrestlers that got wrapped up into this storyline. McMahon's entire "Corporation" stable and family got involved in this struggle as did the Undertaker and his "Ministry of Darkness." No one in the company was left unscathed in this angle as the Austin/McMahon angle even dominated the Royal Rumble in 1999. The ratings for WWF Raw is War were through the roof at this time and generated some of the greatest storylines, product quality, and merchandising prowess professional wrestling had ever seen. When Austin vs. McMahon came to an end, it was truly the end of an era.

Damn you lol, I wanted to be the first to say this one!!!

Instead, I'm going to have to go with Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels. These guys were polar opposites at the time, one was a family guy, all about respect, dignity and honour, being the good guy with all of Canada behind him, the other was a rebel, broke all the rules but still had the admiration and support of all of America.

Plus, there was a legitimate hatder between them, which made the rivallry all the more intense becauseyou always knew it was actually real.

And it gave us one of the, if not the most memorable and contoversial moments in all of wrestling history

 

[AttitudeAJM]

Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan. This rivalry spanned three decades and helped make the industry what it is today. It helped kick start Wrestlemania and the NWO. So these men have been there during the early days of some of the biggest events.

McMahon and Austin is definitely one of the best, but the industry has taken a sharp turn away from that sort of storyline and back to something that is similar to what it was in the 80's.

 

[plagiuss]

I like all the above posting, but my two so far is Flair/Hogan...two biggest wrestling ICON and they are still going at it today. Hogan/Piper...is very underated and over looked for its importance...look no farther than WrestleMania, Mr. T, Cindy Lauper.
But I think 4 Horseman vs. Dusty Rhodes is a huge one. Everyone talks about how great the Horseman were, but who did they fight? Granted there was many players(RoadWarriors/Magnum TA etc) but Dusty was always at the forefront. I believe he even joined NWO and messed with the later version of the Horseman

 

[Prophecy of Darkness]

I'm going to say Rock vs Austin.Those two were also polar opposites in the sense that The Rock was the champion that Vince wanted,and Austin was the champion that Vince absolutely hated.Plus the incredible matches they had.The only feud to have 3 awesome Wrestlemania matches with the last one being the end of the rivalry.Those two had incredible chemistry,like they were made to fight each other.

I know it gets overshadowed by the McMahon/Austin feud,but for my money,in the immortal words of The Rock himself...

"The greatest book ever written,was the book they called Stone Cold vs The Rock!"

 

[#Britton#]

austin vs rock,vince vs austin are both obvious hhh vs hbk r good as they also put on killa matches

special mention goes to hhh/McMahon family vs legacy, feud of the year. the level it reached was brilliant. the punts, rko's and ddts. and some brilliant matches. especially shane vs orton at no way out was brilliant.

 

[mitchharris1947]

Having followed Professional Wrestling for over 50 years, and seen hundreds of feuds, I can think of a lot . .. .BUT .. . I perfonally feel the one that was the biggest and affected the world of Pro Wrestling the most, was the one between the WWF and WCW. Remember Rick Rude appearing on RAW via Tape and live on Nitro the same night. Or Alundra Blazye/Medussa appearing on Nitro and dropping the WWF Women's belt in the trash. Ric Flair leaving WCW and going to WWF with his championship belt, and then returning to WCW. Lex Lugar jumping from WCW to WWF and back to WCW. If it had not been for one man, then this feud might still be happening. And that person was Vince Russo. He basically destroyed WCW with his story lines. Can you imagine John Cena, Batista or Edge, as Sexton Hardcastle in WCW? The Undertaker could still be Mean Mark Callus, HHH could still be Terra Ryzing. Kane might still be Unibomb and SCSA could still be Stunning Steve Austin. It boggles the mind to consider what might have been.

 

[TheBWO]

Years ago, back when they had Wrestling on Superstation TBS, I would have to say by far, the late great Buzz Sawyer and Tommy Rich had a very violent fued that lasted at least almost a year off and on. Before internet, shoots, etc., you always tuned in to see Mad Dog Sawyer search everywhere for Tommy, see them get it on (of course it was the last 5 minutes of the program). Within the last 15 years, I would have to say one of the most violent and realistic fueds was Dreamer and Raven.....of course that was ECW's nature (and the genuis of Heyman). "Commercially"--within the last 5 years, I would have to say HHH and HBK.

 

[luxferre]

Sting vs NWO was a killer feud. It was the time i got into WcW and it gripped me straight away.

To have your top face out for over a year and be able to be the one moment you'd wait for every week is kinda special. It was the backbone of WcW's monday programming and was a huge reason that WcW beat WWF for as long as it did.

 

[slapper97]

Great post! I think the ultimate rivalry was WWF vs. WCW with the Monday night wars, but if you are looking at talent rivalries, I think Austin/McMahon had the biggest impact. In fact, I think the reason that the Monday night wars turned in WWF's favor was because of this rivalry. I completely agree with DiscipleofWrestling on this one. The best thing about this rivalry is that over ten years later, you could fire it right back up again if both men were open to the idea, and the fans would eat it up.

 

[ilapierre]

Austin vs McMahon and the NWO vs WCW are two favourites for me. They underlie the WCW vs WWE rivalry. However, my favourite all time feud is Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage, followed closely by Michaels and Hitman. There was real hatred in these feuds, they involve four of the six greatest wrestlers of all time, and these rivalries will never legitimately end. Savage hates Hogan, and no matter what Hogan says he always has to one up Savage. Hitman and Michaels may have made amends publicly for business sake, but I bet they still deep down despise each other. The hatred makes for the betterment of the rivalry.

Somebody did mention Piper vs Hogan which is also another really good and underrated feud. I still don't think it can be mentioned before any feud I mentioned above though.

 

[boogz]

what piper and hogan are you for real
its austin vs mcmahon that rivalry helped destroy that circus known as wcw

 

[DJrayray]

I have a few. If we're including rivalries from the 60's and 70's, I would say Johnny Valentine vs Wahoo McDaniel. The two fought all over the country and had some of the stiffest most brutal matches of all time. From the 80's I would say Flair vs Steamboat. From the 90's Austin vs McMahon. From the 2000's I guess I would go with Cena vs Orton by default. Everything is so rushed these days that feuds and rivalries burn out. In the past you built up tv and you didn't have to worry about rushing a program to fill a 30 minute bracket on a ppv.

 

[Vintage]

Sullivan vs Benoit had a brutal feud that went way over a year if I remember correctly in WCW.

Violence? Check
Hardcore Bathroom brawl? Check
Stolen Woman? Check and it wasn't even kayfabe!!
Retirement Match Ending? Check
Dusty Rhodes calling most of these matches? Beyond epic. The Dreams comments, especially during their falls count anywhere match in Baltimore were always good comedy

There were a few times I think Kev might have taken a legit cheap shot or 2 but generally speaking for someone wrestling the dude who stole and is legit boinking my wife he was very professional.

 

[b3zy]

you guys have some very good points im enjoying this thread, im usually just a reader on the forums but today im deciding to post.. You guys pointed out thee obvious Great Fueds, im going to bring up some underrated ones that i loved...

- Ravishing Rick Rude Vs. The Ultimate Warrior
Great entertaining battles over the intercontinental Champion, When rude used to have Warriors face on his tight was classic..

John Cena Vs Edge
Despite all the heat from people on Cena, I dont hate the guy, and this rivalry with Edge was great and it was the emergence of The Rated R Superstar image

Randy Orton VS The legends
Gotta love the legend killer... RKO to hogan on the car... Grade A Classic!

The Whole Test, Stephanie McMahon, HHH angle...
I loved that.. Great twist to the ending..

Shane Mcmahon Vs Kurt Angle
Great storyline with Step, and greater match @ No Mercy

Scott Stenier Vs Triple H
With the pose off's, and knowing there personal beef only made for better TV, Poor stenier never won tho.. lol

Batista vs Cena
With Batista being the heel, with the spotlight, the jealousy I was really entertained by these guys for once.

Samoa Joe Vs Kurt Angle
Dont really watch TNA (WCW2) but I watch angle when debuted there and his Feud with Joe was golden.

Last but and probably has the right to be certainly least...

123 Kid Vs Razor Ramon
The was a huge built up to both superstars, with Waltman being a jobber, and hall being a top heel at the time, The upset, the bride.. The Running away with the money by waltman everything was great and lead to them both becoming long time friends who now do drugs, and drink all the time.. and have found themselves jobless yet again... Go figure.. LOL!

 

[Wullief23]

Ok to start off - 1 rivalry that no one has mentioned is WWE/WWF vs WCW. This rivalry ended up putting one company completly out of business ie WCW, and made the other one of the biggest companies in possibly the world ie WWE. Ok as far as 2 'wrestlers' go for a rivalry i would definatly have to go with Vince McMahon vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. Reason i have chosen this one is for the reason that whilst WWE was doing not so good in the ratings - getting beat week in week out off WCW, and looking even possibly to go out of business, then came a few things ie The Rock and DX to name a few, but the one stand out that really made WWE get back on top was the VKM vs Stone Cold rivalry. So therefore due to the fact i believe it saved the whole company WWE thats why i think this is the most important.

I did consider the Bret Hart vs Shawn (Including Vince/Monteal screw job) But i didnt choose this one because when the rivalry got to it's highest point (ie Montreal Screw job) Bret left WWE for WCW so the feud was ended - in the same company anyway.

Ok to start off - 1 rivalry that no one has mentioned is WWE/WWF vs WCW. This rivalry ended up putting one company completly out of business ie WCW, and made the other one of the biggest companies in possibly the world ie WWE. Ok as far as 2 'wrestlers' go for a rivalry i would definatly have to go with Vince McMahon vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. Reason i have chosen this one is for the reason that whilst WWE was doing not so good in the ratings - getting beat week in week out off WCW, and looking even possibly to go out of business, then came a few things ie The Rock and DX to name a few, but the one stand out that really made WWE get back on top was the VKM vs Stone Cold rivalry. So therefore due to the fact i believe it saved the whole company WWE thats why i think this is the most important.

I did consider the Bret Hart vs Shawn (Including Vince/Monteal screw job) But i didnt choose this one because when the rivalry got to it's highest point (ie Montreal Screw job) Bret left WWE for WCW so the feud was ended - in the same company anyway.

I'm just correcting my previous post guys, After reading the thread again i relise the WWE vs WCW feud was mentioned.
Many apologies!

 

[diezel34]

All of the above have been great feuds that obviously stand the test of time. Just to get something new in there. Jericho and Dean Malenko. Two guys putting out great matches in the midst of the takeover making the most of there 6-7 minutes. Also, who could forget the man of 1,004 holds. ARM BAR!

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

i have to go with Bret and Shawn. If you look at from just a kayfabe standpoint it was pretty good, then from a "smart" fan perspective it's even more insane. Going back to the hart foundation rockers battles (not a huge feud but had its moments) then the Hart Foundation vs DX all the way to montreal. Then go behind the scenes and read brets book and all the news coming from internet sites just made that rivalry that much more intense. The hatred between the two man lasted over a decade and came to both a story and real end just recently.

 

[slapper97]

I have another one...and it's one that was discussed at great length's the other day regarding TNA's ECW invasion angle that they are going to run. Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer in ECW. Thank you, Paul Heyman, for giving the fans a template of what a fantastic, well-written storyline can turn into. I don't need to go on and on about this one, but those who watched it still talk about it.

 

[GameOver]

Savage vs Hogan. In WWF/WCW they battled regularly for well over a decade. and on a personal level they have been at loggerheads well beyond WCW's demise.

Austin vs Rock Vs Triple H Vs McMahon (Attitude era) nothing more needs to be said. Fatal FourWay of matches over a decade

Hogan vs Flair is great on paper, and the cut good promo's but in the ring it was woefull. and as previously stated it wasn't them going at it as there true characters. Though one correction, Hogan wasn't in the NWO when he faced Flair tthe first time in WCW he was still fresh from moing to WCW and was using the "American Made" gimmick, managed by Jimmy Hart.

And they did battle in WWF in tag action atleast, just not over the title as far as i can remember and not sure about singles, can't recall any off hand

But definately those two could go down as the two biggest names for there respective companies

Outside of the superstars, WWF/DX vs WCW/nWo was just epic for a brief period.

 

[pistol]

stone cold vs vince. thats like when the worker just snaps on his boss and does what he wants. vince could stop austin. remember he had him locked up on raw. he wasnt shit for that. stone cold stunned the whole family. sprayed vince n'em with the beer hose. stone cold aint care. monster trucks in the arena. 4 wheelers. vince couldnt stand him. vince fired him. they couldnt stand each other. the first ever legitimate boss vs worker fued. shhiiitt. sometimes you even feel like snappin on ya boss. a realistic rivalry

 

[Killer Kelbo]

I am going to thank slapper for bringing up the ECW feud between Dreamer and Raven, that was an awesome feud. An even better feud in my opinion from the old ECW days was Dreamer and Sandman. They really had it out with singapore canes, burning the mans eyeball, it went insane.
Old ECW altogether was great, I kinda miss the old wrestlers, even guys like Mikey Whipwreck, he was a small guy and usually got his ass kicked, but he was still as badass as they come.
Another one of my favorite feuds comes from old WCW days. I'm talking about Cactus Jack and Vader. Remember, thats how Foley lost his ear.

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

I might get flamed for this but the feud I always enjoyed promo wise was Jericho vs HHH. All the time Jericho ragged on Stephanie McMahon were priceless. I still find myself on occasion looking up Jericho promos and how he would just say the worst stuff about Steph. Hands down best feud would have to be Austin/McMahon. We're talking the feud that brought WWE back from the dead. Matches, years of climactic moments, Austin's famous heel turn and every time these two are in the ring together when both come back for special appearances, you can cut the tension with a knife. This is truly a feud that will live forever no matter what happens.

 

[Killer Kelbo]

If we even need to go to the WWE feuds, my favorite of all time was Undertaker and Yokozuna. I am surprised nobody mentions feuds like this anymore. I thought it was funny as hell how scared Yokozuna was of the Undertaker back in those days. I still think it would have been great to see the Undertaker beat him for the title back then.