The Greatest Feud To Never Truly Be Tapped Into.

[Ferbian]

There's been a lot of people in the past that have either had some sort of "problem" with each other, or two wrestlers who would've just screamed perfect feud. One like Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan for example.

Also there's been some feuds that had been going somewhat, but never truly lived up to either the potential, or lasted long enough to truly be considered one of the great feuds that it could've become.

Which one do you think is the greatest feud / potential feud that was never truly tapped into / never truly used?

The first one that really comes to mind for me would've been Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit on a big stage. They had a brief feud for the United States championship which only lasted for about a month after their match in the tournament finals at Vengeance back in 2003.

They both had a long past both in terms of having matches with each other (on a smaller stage back in Japan from my knowledge) but they also have a long past of a great friendship that passed through numerous promotions across the world. And the friendship was really what was played off the most, never really the potential that these two could have for a feud.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

A lot of the time it's going to be people who have a personal history with each other inside or outside of the ring. Inside being like a tag team that split and outside where there has been some kind of bad blood in the past e.g. arguably jarrett and angle now because of karen is a good angle or matt hardy and edge back in the day.

So if I was going to keep it to that criteria then perhaps kevin nash and scott hall would have been interesting to watch especially seen as there was no reason not too after WCW started to decline or for it to happen in TNA for exaple. I mean DX feuded with HHH and HBK sqaring off and how well did that come off, exceedingly. NWO were as big as DX so why not?

If it came down to people who had personal issues between them in real life then I guess a good choice would be..... iron sheik and brian blair! HAHA Only joking. I guess a cena and rock feud now would actually be great. Base it on the back of what cena said about him not understanding why rock doesn't make an appearence. It could set up a monumental feud between the two, and one we've always wanted to see, but it isn't WWE's fault they haven't capitalised on it naturally, it is the rock's but there's nothing anyone else can do about that so.

But I just thought of a great one that is just a straight feud with a bit of a personal basis.... hogan and bret hart, that would have been huge. It could have turned hogan a heel IN WWF with him being pissed that bret is the rising star and he's getting pushed out of the way. This would have been set up perfectly if instead of the awful actual outcome of wrestlemania had been altered so that bret DID win the world title and hogan comes out pretending to congratulate him then attacking him, IMAGINE THE FACE ON ALL THE LITTLE HULKSTERS!!. Yoyu could have hogan come out and say that it is the first time he hasn't been in the wrestlemania main event (although that obviously isn't true) and it could escalate from there building all the way up over months until summerslam when it could end there with bret coming out on top. This would have been a great way to pass the torch, make hogan heel in WWF which almost certainly would have avoided the NWO and monday night wars in the first place. So it may have been bad in the long term with hind-sight BUT it would have been one of the greatest feuds of all time I reckons. Mind you, that is only based on if hogan would have stayed in WWF had his character turned then, which is hit and miss. Either way, still a thought.

 

[Wrestling Free Thinker]

Austin vs Hogan in 2002 for reasons everyone has stated trillions of times before.

The crowd reaction would be 1000x bigger than Rock/Hogan was I believe.

 

[sharmaq]

Apart from about one month in early 2000, when Angle wasn't an established big time player in WWE and Jericho was still finding his feet, we never got to see Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle in a feud. With Jericho in his Y2J persona, the dynamic between his "ayatollah" persona and Angle's sanctimonious geek would have been electric from a promo perspective and even better in ring - you can imagine the kind of classics those two could have produced. I'm not sure what the reason was for it never happening - Angle rose to the WWE title picture a bit quicker than Jericho did, so maybe behind the scenes they were not perceived as being on the same level. And by the time Jericho had risen to main event level, they were both heels, so a feud was never likely to happen. It's a shame we never got to see them really go at it - I know it's still not completely outside the realms of possibility but highly unlikely to say the least.

 

[jaceynightheat]

Austin vs Hogan in 2002 for reasons everyone has stated trillions of times before.

The crowd reaction would be 1000x bigger than Rock/Hogan was I believe.

Good point. I was actually going to say nWo vs WWE. It had a lot of momentum just never took off the way it should. I understand the problem with it when Hogan got turned face by the crowd at that Wrestlemania.

After Hogan left the group & HBK joined as the manager. I wanted Triple H to join as well & take Hogan's spot so it'd be the clique that was the nWo. If they needed more people they could've just thrown in The New Age Outlaws or maybe Justin Credible to team with X-Pac.


Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair during Flair's first WWF run. Did they even have a one-on-one match in the WWF? That was the match everyone wanted to see & it didn't happen. Nothing against Savage vs Flair because that was great but Hogan vs Flair should've been the main event for the WWF Title.


Goldberg vs The Undertaker should've been a Wrestlemania match. Obviously with Taker being Goldberg cleanly.

 

[legendkiller1979]

What a coincidence. I was watching the 1989 survivor series this week and I was thinking what a poor job the WWF did at the time with big payoff matches for feuds.
The big one for me from this event was Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ravishing Rick Rude. I know they had a steel cage match that was put on a coliseum video. This was a missed opportunity in my opinion. This was possibly the hottest feud at the time and nobody saw it. Another development from this event was each member of the Powers of Pain pinning each member of the tag team champions, Demolition. One would think that this would constitute a championship match but nothing came from it. Of course I am speaking in kayfabe terms. We all the know Powers' days as a team were numbered but why have them go over the tag team champions? Another big feud from 1989 was the Rockers and the Fabulous Rogeau Brothers. The FRB's attacked Shawn Michaels when the Rockers interrupted the brothers' theme song with their own. This of course ticked them off and they hit Michaels in the throat with the megaphone. At summerslam they could have had a great match to settle the feud but Tito Santana and Rick Martel were added to the match severely watering down the match and the feud was forgotten about come survivor series because the feud didn't fit the set up for the teams. I'm not saying that this are at the top of the this for this topic but there sure were alot of great feuds at the time that were just dropped with no big payoff. And it's too bad.

 

[UFOcalling]

Great idea for a thread! For my choice, I'm going to WCW. I would have loved to see at least a month-long feud between Goldberg & Sting. I would have liked it to happen when Goldberg was the Champ (and the streak was still alive), and Sting was in the Wolfpac (red face paint).

I know both Sting & Goldberg were uber-faces at that time, but so was DDP when he had his mini-feud with Goldberg. That match was huge, isn't the replay of their PPV match on Nitro still the number-one rated televised wrestling match of all time? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought it was.

DDP seemed like a legitimate threat to the streak, and Goldberg's World Title. I think Sting would have been a perfect choice as well, if I was in charge of booking I would have even considered him to be the one to end the streak. I always thought Goldberg should have tapped out to a submission move for his first loss, and I really hoped it would have either been Sting or Bret Hart to give him his first loss. Too bad it happened the way it did, we all know that song & dance.

Sting & Goldberg did have a few matches in the late 90s, but never a feud. I can only recall two off the top of my head, and Goldberg won both of them. One was even for the Title, when Sting was heel and offered an "open challenge" (I think this was after Russo had arrived, but before the "New Blood" angle).

There was a great match between the two of them on Nitro that didn't have a clean finish, back in 1998. When Sting had Goldberg in the Scorpion Deathlock, Hogan snuck in and kicked Sting in the back of the head. Goldberg was then able to Jackhammer Sting for the win. I still can't believe WCW never had a rematch, they never mentioned the match again. Go figure...this could have been huge, especially for the Monday Night Wars. Both of these guys were so over at the time that it could have been a ratings juggernaut, as well as a huge PPV payday.

Here's that match in it's entirety, just in case you haven't seen it:
[YOUTUBE]o03WPFTerI0[/YOUTUBE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o03WPFTerI0

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

Curt Hennig vs Kurt Angle. I think they had like a one month thing in 2002 but man that could have been something special if WWE would have run with that. Angle had the championship right before or after that. That feud would have been a HUGE wrestling clinic and great angle. I wish the WWE would have really run with that.

 

[Invert]

Shane Douglas vs. Ric Flair

I've read before that the best storylines and gimmicks are based on reality. Douglas takes shots at Flair every chance he gets. Both men have carried promotions, although Douglas has done it with much smaller ones. Both also know how to make a title important, which is lacking in this day and age. Shane made the ECW TV title almost as important as the World Heavyweight Title. Flair has held so many titles it isn't even funny. With the right buildup, it could have easily main-evented a PPV. Douglas didn't do himself any favors with the politic game though, pretty much killing his career.

 

[Dwayne_Jason]

I'd go with mutiple feuds. Past and present.

My first pick has to be Rock vs Shawn Michaels. These guys were a goldmine. I think it would have been the highlight of their careers if it was a match between these two. Superkick vs Rock Bottom, the Show Stopper vs The Most Electrifying Man in the WWE. Forget the gimmicks, forget the story. You put these two in the ring the crowd is going apeshit for both of them.

My second pick is very recent; Edge vs Orton. Though I'm don't don't particulairly care for both these guys have the same insane persona. Ultimate Oppurtunist vs RKO, I think it would have been a great feud and I really don't know who'd come out on top.

Finally, in today's midcard the greaest feud that never really came into fruition would have to be CM punk vs Kofi Kingston. Former Tagteams and great athelets. These guys could put on a hell of a show. Even if Kofi's allegedly bad on the mic he's an amazing guy in the ring.

I think these three feuds would be a phenomenal draw.

 

[The Brain]

One that comes to mind is Triple H vs. Edge. I’ve been waiting for this feud for years. Seeing as how both guys have been with WWE for so long and both have been at the main event level for several years it’s amazing this feud hasn’t ever really taken place. Going all the way back to the draft in 2004 there was a rumor that Edge was moved to Raw because Triple H wanted to work with him. It never happened. We got a tag feud in 2006 between DX and Rated RKO, and we’ve seen Triple H vs. Orton and HBK vs. both Orton and Edge, but never Triple H vs. Edge. There was one ppv match they had in 2008 (The Bash I think), but that really wasn’t much of a feud. The story was more about the fallout between Edge and Vicky and Triple H just kind of happened to be the opponent. I want to see an actual feud between these two at a major ppv. I think with both guy’s experience and ability we could see something great. The promos leading up to the match would be fantastic and the match itself should be very good too.

 

[RKOx7]

I agree, the Rock and Shawn Michaels.

I think the WWE did injustice to the Triple H and RKO feud which had a very good introduction with the entire student - mentor thing, the setup in the first few months was perfect and the feud being restarted prior to WM 25 was really good... it just ended really bad haha... The ball was dropped with this feud.

 

[The Ace of Knaves]

Good point. I was actually going to say nWo vs WWE. It had a lot of momentum just never took off the way it should. I understand the problem with it when Hogan got turned face by the crowd at that Wrestlemania.

After Hogan left the group & HBK joined as the manager. I wanted Triple H to join as well & take Hogan's spot so it'd be the clique that was the nWo. If they needed more people they could've just thrown in The New Age Outlaws or maybe Justin Credible to team with X-Pac.


Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair during Flair's first WWF run. Did they even have a one-on-one match in the WWF? That was the match everyone wanted to see & it didn't happen. Nothing against Savage vs Flair because that was great but Hogan vs Flair should've been the main event for the WWF Title.


Goldberg vs The Undertaker should've been a Wrestlemania match. Obviously with Taker being Goldberg cleanly.

Agreed with Taker vs Goldberg. That should have been the match at WM 20 instead of Taker vs Kane.

The other one I can think of is Undertaker vs Eddie Guerrero. They should have had a match at Wrestlemania 19 instead of putting Undertaker against A-Train and Eddie in a forgettable tag team match.

 

[8-Ball]

Over the last two years one of the best wrestlers i've seen is Kofi Kingston.....Him and Randy Orton had a hell of a fued on the horizon but the WWE squashed any chance of Kofi ever beating Randy which in my mind not only killed what would have been a great fued, But it killed any chance of Kofi getting a main event push.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Rick Rude v Hulk Hogan in 1989/90 is the classic for me... Rude was over massively as a heel and was ready to step up... Hogan for whatever reason balked at working with him and it sowed the seeds for Rude to leave when it became clear he wasn't going to get the backing he deserved. It was telling he could walk into WCW and basically run the show for 2 years as their top heel... if Hogan had taken the risk, I think we'd have seen a classic series of matches where Rude screwed Hogan out of the Royal Rumble win, setting up the challenge for Wrestlemania... Rude would have gone over shocking the world and carried the belt through the year, with Hogan finally besting him around the Royal Rumble...

 

[The Brain]

Rick Rude v Hulk Hogan in 1989/90 is the classic for me...

I never really tought of Rude vs. Hogan, but Rude vs. Randy Savage was something I pictured back then. I think these two could have really had a great feud. Elizabeth of course would be the key to the whole feud. We all know about Savage's psychotic overprotecting of Elizabeth (both kayfabe and reality) and Rude could have really played into that with his womanizing ways. The timing just wasn't right. While Savage was a face Rude was doing a great job of working his way up the card feuding with Roberts and Warrior. By the time Rude would have been accepted at Savage's level Savage was heel again and Elizabeth was gone.

 

[DCNiner]

I would have to go with Magnum T.A. vs. Flair. They were building to that and the intensity of it would have been phenominal. More so than Dusty vs. Flair in my opinion. Magnum's career ending wreck derailed it, but I think it would have been a phenonminal feud.

 

[ctln4rko]

Ive seen many logical and good replies. Kingston and Orton
Rock and HBK totally
Triple H and Edge
Austin and Hogan
Angle and Jericho
1. Kingston and Orton- Perfect buildup- Kingston's Madison square garden leap, the race car getting smashed, but too many tag matches. Kingston and Mvp + Mark Henry vs Legacy really took away from the feud. Plus it was very short, and WWE could have taken the ball farther with this feud.
2. Rock and HBK- I honestly don't understand why WWE never did this. Had they done it before wrestle mania 1998, or before shawn's injury from the undertaker, it would be historical, legendary, what ever you want to say. Throw the WWF/E title or intercontinental title in, even better, but these two dont need a title to carry the feud, or to base it. What a waste
3. Triple H and Edge- 2008, smackdown, triple h is drafted to smackdown while wwe champion. Edge enters, cuts a perfect promo saying smackdown is his show, and insults jr and hunter in the process. Vickie, although she was kayfabe Edge's wife, ruined the feud. She was just an accessory. Had the feud been Triple H vs. EDGE, the rated r superstar, ulimate opportunist, and multiple time tag champ, it would have been 2008'a best feud, or close. But, instead, the feud was Triple H vs Edge, spoiled getting anything he wants from GM vickie, and Vickie. Sadness
Austin vs Hogan- Past vs present. RR winner vs RR winner. Multiple time WWE champion vs Multiple time WWE champion. Was Hogan ruined after WCW from age and from his ego? yes. but there could have been the best feud we've seen. Dont get me wrong- Rock and Hogan feud was iconic, but stone cold and the hulkster would have been better.
Last, Jericho and Angle. Young superstars. Some of the best. ( Dont look at the WWE top 50 superstars list) in the world. The best submission specialists we have seen in the 2000s and late 90s. EXCELLENT mic workers. Throw chris benoit in, legendary as well. We saw this happen, but not for a big period of time. This feud could have evolved and modded it self over the year/ years it would have happened but Jericho and Angle would move on to the title picture, while benoit had to wait a while.

 

[mvalley]

One that comes to mind is Edge versus Triple H. They did feud with Rated RKO versus DX and did have a few singles matches, but no worthy feud.

They did have glimpses of the feud probably as far back as 2002 where Triple H (a face at the time) bashed everyone with a sledgehammer including Edge. Edge told Triple H he wanted a match in which Triple H stated "Get a few world title reigns in first" or something like that.

Here Edge is nine world title reigns later. Even two years ago when Triple H defended his title against Edge, Edge already had multiple world title reigns. Furthermore, it was Edge who ended Triple H's reign at Survivor Series two years ago, but they never went further with it.

I also always thought that Triple H versus Edge was the last real feud Edge could have had as a heel. It might also have be one of the few feuds Triple H could have had (at the time) as a face.

 

[Smart Mark]

The fued I really wish I could have seen played out well was Taz and Angle. These two could have put on an amazing match going back and forth with submissions and suplexes, both of which those two were great at pulling off with angle being an olympic wrestler and taz being a high level judo master. By the time Taz got to WWE he was past his prime and dealing with an injury, he never got a chance to really perform to his best in the WWE and this will always be a match I'm sorry I missed.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I would say Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan. Okay, I know people will be like, "what? that feud started pretty much everything we know about the WWE & almost wrestling itself." True, that is correct. However, the feud basically died off after WrestleMania with Piper being placed in a boxer vs. wrestler match at WM 2 and Hogan going on to battling King Kong Bundy. The intial feud wasn't even so much about Piper vs. Hogan more than it was Piper vs. Cyndi Lauper & Capt. Lou Albano (please if you ever get a chance to read up on this, I encourage you to. The backstory being this is amazing).

I have always said that going into the 1st WM that Piper should have been champion. People didn't really pay to see Hogan, but to see Hogan kick Piper's rear end. So with that said, there would have been more to tap into AFTER WM. Piper was on the biggest role of his career and basically ran into Hulkamania when McMahon didn't really see why he should lose the title. That being said, losing it to Roddy Piper would have put the 1st WM over the top (although the main event wasn't too shabby overall). Just personally feel that if they would have worked together going into WM 2 that this feud would be mentioned among the greatest such as Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkel vs. Verne Gange & Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels just to name a few. Those feuds continued for years, Piper vs. Hogan lasted for about 18 months, if that...

 

[The Bad Guy]

To me this is so obvious and I can't believe I only read it once throughout this thread, but it has to be Hulk Hogan vs. Bret Hart. There were two obvious examples of when this could have happened.

First was when Hulk was leaving the WWE in the early 90's and Bret was just rising to main event status. Even though Bret had already held the belt once before prior to Wrestlemania IX, most felt like to truly reach the pinnacle, he had to beat Hogan. Hogan squashed any thought of that because he insisted that he had to lose to a heel upon leaving the company. Thus, he lost to Yokozuna at King of the Ring before heading to WCW.

The second opportunity was about 4 years later when Bret joined WCW. According to Eric Bischoff, the plan all along was to set up a Bret vs. Hulk feud, but it never happened for whatever reason.

Anyway, the point is that these were arguably the two most popular wrestlers of the 90's and they never had a feud. Truly a shame.

 

[dman1373]

hogan austin is an obvious, and i think that should have happend at wm 18 like it was supposed to. Austin was just bigger than the rock. And also taker and sting. Because they both had their '' mind games'' they played, it would have been great leading up to the match. And finally matt hardy vs. christian. The battle of the "jannetys". They were both very talented, but just couldn't reach the top. Maybe this could have pushed them over.