Underrated Feuds

[Money Inc.]

On these boards we tend to bring up some of the same old feuds and it feels like every 2-3 months the thread is rekindled.

So in this thread, If everyone could mention a feud (from any time period) that they feel doesn't get a whole lot of recognition as a good feud.

Now personally my pick I feel is going to be for reasons different from most of yours. This feud didn't have the best wrestling, nor did it have the top two guys in the company.

This feud took place off and on from 1993-1995. I'm specifically going to concentrate on the 95' part of the feud for the reason I picked the feud in the first place. In 1995 the wrestling business in my mind was on it's deathbed. It's no secret to most wrestling fans that 1994-1995 were the dog days in professional wrestling. In WCW you had the Taskmaster always trying to destroy Hulkamania with his new breed of wrestlers (Zodiac, Loch Ness, Shark, Meng, Kamala, etc) It's hard to be more "Cartoonish" than Hulkamania vs. The Dungeon of Doom, but if you happened to change the channel to USA on Monday Nights, you would of found yourself changing the channel often.

Sources say Vince McMahon lost money in 95' and watching the tapes tell you why. The wrestling business itself was losing money, and that is why the following feud (or other feuds in this time line) don't get mentioned as much as the attitude era feuds, or the late 80's GWC/NWA feuds.

Before I get to my pick I'm going to mention the other feuds going on in the WWF at the time.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon
Diesel vs. Michaels
LT vs. Money Corp. (Bam Bam)
Undertaker vs. Money Corp. (mainly Kama post WM)
Bam Bam vs. Dibiase Sr. (Money Corp. turned on Bam Bam)
Diesel vs. Sid
Guns vs. Yoko/Owen
King Mabel vs. anybody who got in his way.

The majority of these feuds were hard to follow simply because if you were to watch Monday Night Raw/Saturday Night Show the participants in the feud weren't usually involved together until the ppv/in your house show. The WWF felt the way to hype up the ppv match was to have both participants squash a local jobber/or Harowitz if available.

But one feud that I didn't mention above is my selection for my underrated thread in professional wrestling. Those of you who are old enough (This era was my first era as a consistent watch, and wasn't able to watch the 80's live due to age) to watch the WWF in the early 90's probably already know the answer to the feud.

Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler

Like I mentioned before, some of you are probably thinking... Money that was kind of a random selection for an underrated feud. The matches weren't 5 * matches, but the build up was tremendous.

Week in and week out Jerry Lawler on commentary couldn't go 6 minutes without making an analogy to Bret Hart. For how PG the era was in wrestling, many forget how far Lawler took the commentary at some points. He repeatedly insulted Helen Hart (Bret's mother) and even went on to make false accusations about Bret Hart being a racist (which ultimately led to Japaneese wrestler Hakushi's push against Hart)

Lawler aligned himself with everyone from Hakushi, Owen Hart, all the way to his evil dentist Issac Yankem to put Bret Hart out of action. Hart responded by always trying to get a hand on the King where Jerry Lawler always found a way out of trouble. The fans responded with the "burger king" chants that always found a way under Jerry's skin. The two wrestled on multiple occasions (receiving the feud of the year in 1993) but the two main matches in 1995 had to be

Mothers Day In Your House: Bret Hart stated he was going to win and therefore dedicated his future win to his mother Helen for all the verbal abuse she had taken from the King. However the King outsmarted Hart and ultimately got the W with the help of Hakushi.

King of the Ring presents the Kiss my Foot match:

Yes this match was a joke, but Lawler's promos cut weeks before were pure genius. Cameras caught Lawler at his house often refusing to bathe, and even a couple times walking around in Horse manure. Bret Hart was finally able to get his revenge on the King after two years of putting up with King's antics by winning the match and ultimately.....

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Like my pick, yours doesn't necessarily have to be the best in-ring feud that gets overlooked. When I say underrated, I'm talking about not getting a lot of recognition period.. not in the ring. I felt my feud listed was a big positive in a time with a lot of big negatives.

Feel free to comment on my pick!

Q & A

1) Name off a feud in which you think was overlooked or is underrated to most wrestling fans.

2) Why?

 

[Matyy256]

Austin vs Angle from 2001: Great feud that started around the time WCW started invading. They had some of the most hilarious backstage segments with Mcmahon, from Stone Cold buying him and Vince a nice cowboy hat and buying Kurt a hat that a 10 year old would wear, from them playing the guitar and singing. Their in ring feud began when Austin turned on WWE at the Invasion PPV stunning Kurt. At summerslam they put on an amazing match. Still til this day one of my favorite matches from either of these legends. They had a rematch at Unforgiven in Kurt's hometown which he won. He only held the title for 2 weeks though. Austin beat him on RAW with the help of William Regal to regain the title. Shortly after Kurt turned on WWE and thier feud ended.

 

[The Ace of Knaves]

Undertaker vs Ric Flair at 2002: I think this is easily one of the most underrated feuds of all time. Big Evil had a brief feud with The Rock at No Way Out 2002 and was about to destroy him, but "Nature Boy" Ric Flair made the save and attacked Undertaker. Taker got upset about the "respect" he got from the 16 time World Champion and wanted to face him at WrestleMania X-8 in Toronto, Ontario Canada in the Skydome which is now renamed The Rogers Centre. B

ut the problem was, Flair wouldn't accept the challenge made by the evil-Undertaker. So, the only way Undertaker had to change Flair's mind is to first brutally attack and beat the living hell out of Flair's best friend Arn Anderson, leaving him with a bloody mess, but even though Flair was pissed off he still did not except Big Evil's challenge. Then The Undertaker would do the unthinkable next, Undertaker would go to Flair's son, David Flair who was training at the WWE, and Taker had no mercy but to attack and assault Flair's son David leaving him as well in a bloody mess, and Taker said he would have no problem if he had to go through Flair's entire family. So Ric Flair finally did the right thing for his family and friends, but he chose the wrong thing for himself because Flair finally accepted Taker's challenge at WrestleMania X-8. But for the match to go on, the WWE Board of Directors including C.E.O. Linda McMahon asked Flair if he would still want to continue in the match against Undertaker, and Flair responded "Yes, without a shout of a doubt" But then from Vince McMahon, he decided to put the match as a No DQ Match just to provoke Flair even more but that didn't matter at all to Flair.

And the match at Wrestlemania X-8 delivered as well. Flair attacked the moment Taker got into the ring and they rumbled to the commentator table. Taker fought back and pummeled Flair till he bled before delivering The Superplex that was heard around the world! This match was a wild brawl. These two men had matches back in 1993 but back then The Undertaker had a different style. This match was so awesome from start to finish! You can combine The Undertaker's Wrestlemania matches with Giant Gonzales, Big Boss Man, and Mark Henry times ten but they won't even be half as good as this match.

I also found Jerry Lawler’s announcing quite amusing during this match. Jerry is so biased and I love it. He began to chuckle when the Undertaker put a chokehold on Flair and throughout the event Ross and Lawler debated various things. It reminded me of the chemistry between the late Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan or Jesse Ventura and Vince McMahon. Uniquely, the crowd cheered for The Undertaker despite him being a heel and his opponent is perhaps the best pro-wrestler of all time. The classic ended after a Tombstone Piledriver and the interference of another Horsemen, Arn Anderson. The 16 Time World Champion is one the biggest names on the list, no doubt about it. The whole match and feud was magic, but I find it unbelievable people rarely include this match and feud when they speak of Taker's best matches and feuds. I don't know what makes it so underrated, but it's ridiculous some fans didn't even know Flair is one of The Undertaker's Wrestlemania victims.

OMG, this feud is such an overlooked classic it's not even funny!

 

[Judah's Lion]

great thread! and so far, there have been some great answers.

Hart and King was pretty amazing story telling. the ring work was sloppy sometimes, but the story telling definitely delivered. remember when Lawler hired Doink the Clown as his "Court Jester" to fight one of his matches for him on Raw? Lawler came down to the ring on crutches saying that he'd just been in a car crash and couldn't wrestle, but Doink would fight in his place. totally amazing story telling.

Austin and Angle was also amazing and overlooked. i know it was a ripoff, but the segment on Raw that ended with Angle giving the WCW Alliance and Austin the milk bath was freaking hilarious and awesome. "jimmy crack corn and i don't care!" great backstage segments between these two.

Undertaker and Flair was pretty amazing. it was fitting that they brawled the way they did on the stage that they did. this is one of my favorite Taker matches for Mania. it told a great story. i loved getting Arn and David Flair involved also.

sorry for the long response, but i just had to admire the previous picks. such a fun thread!

my pick would have to go to a feud that i don't know if i've ever heard mentioned ever, whether on tv or here on these forums.
Christian vs. RVD/Booker T -- this was right around the time that Christian was feuding with the other two over the IC Title. Christian got some new ring attire, got a haircut and just really started to take off. the IC Title bouts and storytelling with Booker T was pretty amazing back and forth stuff, and the ladder match with RVD was amazing on Raw. i also liked Christian vs. Jericho that happened at Mania. i'm not just a huge Christian fan, although i am, but i think that this guy might be one of the most under rated workers in the business today.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

HBK vs Angle

It was a brief feud which culminated to one of the greatest matches in history, but the intensity from the get-go was insane.
The physicality was unbelievable as finally HBK had a man who was able to match him in speed with god-like technical abilities (Angle: kinda like The Hitman but in fast forward). The feud had it all-

Great promos: CHECK
HBK bleeding like a pig: CHECK
Angle beating up HBK's old buddies and looking like a savage animal:
CHECK & CHECK

 

[mister_b1LL]

The Rey Mysterio/Matt Hardy feud is one that is overlooked quite often. The two held their own at WrestleMania XIX and for me it fared just as good as the other higher profile matches on the card. Their Cruiserweight Championship match also main evented a SmackDown with Mysterio coming out on top.

 

[LongHessa]

Underrated eh? I'll go with Bret vs. Bob Backlund. That was a great feud. Backlund lost his damn mind and they had great matches. Bret's serious role was a perfect match for Bob's outlandish behavior. They had a terrific match at Survivor Series 94', and Owen's acting was legendary to say the least. Great fued.

 

[tomerlinshawn]

for me its the benoit- booker t feud in 98 for the wcw tv title. i believe it was a best of 7 series with these two. it was a great feud and have good wrestling considered im not the biggest fam of bookers wrestling ability.

 

[Matyy256]

for me its the benoit- booker t feud in 98 for the wcw tv title. i believe it was a best of 7 series with these two. it was a great feud and have good wrestling considered im not the biggest fam of bookers wrestling ability.

I enjoyed this feud too.
The one they had over the US title in 05 was also underrated imo. Booker was up 3-0 before Benoit almost made an amazing comeback. When Booker got injured he asked Randy Orton to fill in for him in the final match and Orton won. Benoit got revenge on Booker T at the Royal Rumble when he instantly threw him out as he entered.

 

[mulkeymania]

for my money its the ric flair-eric bischoff feud from 98 or 99. just plain awesome entertainment and the crowd was so wild for flair to give bischoff the thumping they wanted him to recieve over and over. just a thought as i dont hear many mentions of this feud today.

 

[The Holy One]

For me, it would have to be:

John Cena vs Kurt Angle 2003 - Before Cena was the face of the WWE, he was one of the top heels on Smackdown actually and had some great although short fueds with top faces at the time like Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker, and Eddie Guerrero, but none of them were better than the one he had with Kurt Angle in the fall of 2003 imo. Both of them gave some very funny and remembrable promos and they had a very good match at No Mercy 2003.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Underrated eh? I'll go with Bret vs. Bob Backlund. That was a great feud. Backlund lost his damn mind and they had great matches. Bret's serious role was a perfect match for Bob's outlandish behavior. They had a terrific match at Survivor Series 94', and Owen's acting was legendary to say the least. Great fued.

That's not Bob Backlund,that's MISTER Bob Backlund! Anyway I second this. That was good stuff. And Backlunds rant after he won the WWF Title,classic. "Regained the championship?" "I've been the champion since 1978,all I did tonight was take back the belt!"

I would have like to have seen them give Bob a little bit of a run with the belt,but it just wasn't meant to be.

 

[Matyy256]

Another underrated feud I enjoyed was Cena and Guerreros in 03. It was very short lived and they never had a match at a PPV I don't believe but I still enjoyed it while it last. I remember Cena giving Eddie an Attitude Adjustment on one of his low rider tires and who can forget the great parking lot brawl they had when Guerrero frogsplashed Cena from on top of a minivan

 

[LongLiveTheStreak]

It seems to me that fans are already starting to forget the amazing Rey Mysterio/Chris Jericho feud from last year. Started over the IC title but became about Rey's mask.I never even saw their match at The Bash but ive heard about how great it was. Their promos were excellent, it was just a great storyline.

Remember the Edge/Angle feud in 2002? Most everyone KNEW that Edge was losing that hair vs hair match at Judgement Day. But Kurt got his short head of hair shaved off. Great match, great promos, funny moments with Edge humiliating Angle. Edge as a face is not always bad, he was great during this feud.