Well, here's the thing. If you picked it up right before WrestleMania 28, that means you haven't watched wrestling between 2006 and 2012. The best rivalries between 2007 and 2011? Okay, here we go:
1. Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels (from WrestleMania 24 to No Mercy 2008)
This feud was downright fantastic. It started with Batista getting upset about Shawn retiring Flair at Mania. Somehow Jericho ended up as the mediator between them, but little did he know, Shawn was playing both of them. Jericho then had the best organic heel turn of all time, having some great matches with Shawn throughout the year. Best feud of the modern era.
2. CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (Extreme Rules 2009 to SummerSlam 2009)
From the start of 2008, it seemed like Jeff Hardy was being pegged as the chosen one. He started off as a top contender for the WWE title and continued reaching for the brass ring all year. After dealing with his jealous brother, he finally was able to win the title by beating Edge at ER, when Punk cashed in. What followed was an amazing feud where Punk called out Jeff on his vices and his shortcomings, leading Punk to turn heel and become the Straight Edge Messiah. I can't stress this one enough.
3. CM Punk vs. John Cena (TLC 2010 to Hell in a Cell 2011)
While the two feuds above are heel turns, this one is a face turn. CM Punk's transformation from a midcarder going nowhere into the Voice of the Voiceless was phenomenal. He feuded with John Cena in January as part of the New Nexus, but then took a backseat through WrestleMania season. But once Cena was back as champ, Punk cut his infamous shoot promo and became a worldwide phenomenon, resulting in his historic 434-day title reign.
4. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (Royal Rumble 2007 to WrestleMania 26)
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker had the perfect trifecta of matches. At the RR, they were the final two and ended up having the best finish in RR history battling it out for 10 minutes. They followed that up with a tag match at the next PPV, and a singles match at the next year's WM. That match is considered the best of all time, but my favorite part of this saga is Shawn's obsession over getting a rematch. The feud was expertly done, and was the best way for Shawn to hang his boots.
5. John Cena vs. Edge (New Year's Revolution 2006 to Unforgiven 2006 / No Way Out 2009 to Backlash 2009)
Edge's rise as a main event star could easily be at the top of this list. He was one of my favorite performers of the modern era and it was sad to see him ago. His initial feud with Cena is what set him on the map, and they had some terrific matches in between. Edge and Cena also reignited their feud for WM 25, starting off with the best moment in Elimination Chamber history, when Edge competed in two Chambers on the same night and "turned the WWE title into the World Heavyweight Championship". Their final encounter would be an awesome Last Man Standing match at Backlash.
6. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk (from Royal Rumble 2010 to Over the Limit 2010)
After feuding with Jeff, Punk transformed into a messiah with his own Straight Edge Society. His promos were gold, and he would induct "audience members" by preaching and shaving their heads in the middle of the ring. He ended up feuding with Rey, leading to a great series of matches at 3 consecutive PPVs. The best part however was Punk creepily singing Happy Birthday to Rey's daughter on Smackdown.
7. Randy Orton vs. Christian (Extreme Rules 2011 to SummerSlam 2011)
Christian's rise as a main event star was a long time coming. He beat Del Rio in an amazing ladder match at Extreme Rules and ended up losing the title 2 days later to Randy Orton. The shame in losing the title so fast was too much to bear and Christian snapped and turned on Randy, trying to weasel his way into getting the title back. He failed numerous times, but eventually got Randy to agree to a stipulation where if he got DQ'ed, he'd lose the title. Surely enough, Christian got Randy to snap during a match and ended up taking the world title. It was an awesome feud, and the top of Christian's career.
8. Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (from Backlash 2009 to The Bash 2009)
Rey and Jericho elevated the Intercontinental title by having a heated personal feud surrounding Rey's mask. The segments on Smackdown were terrific and the matches were great. There was even a point when Jericho actually ripped off Rey's mask and he ran to the back covering his face. The pay-off was great, and Rey ended up feuding with Dolph Ziggler afterwards for 2 PPVs, before getting suspended and dropping the title to John Morrison on Smackdown in an also terrific match.
9. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (NXT Season 1 to Hell in a Cell 2010)
Daniel Bryan debuted on NXT and immediately set himself up as someone to look out for. He had a great segment with Miz and took Jericho to the limit in the main event. His clash of styles with Miz was great and fans were invested in seeing Bryan's homemade indie style beat Miz's flashy arrogant attitude. What followed was a pretty shitty losing streak that made me lose faith in WWE's booking. But after that, "WWE Management" (The Authority!) DQ'ed Bryan for practically no reason, and Bryan started cutting shoot promos on the people in charge. He called out how ridiculous the NXT concept was and beat up Michael Cole multiple times on NXT. He ended up storming the ring with the rest of Nexus to beat up John Cena, but he was sadly fired right after. He came back at SummerSlam against the Nexus and ended up continuing his feud with The Miz, where he had multiple great matches, won the US title, and took John Morrison, Miz and Dolph Ziggler look like a million bucks. It was one of the best midcard series in a long time.
10. Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes (Royal Rumble 2011 to Extreme Rules 2011)
This one is a personal favorite of mine. You have to go back and see Cody Rhodes' rise on Smackdown as "Dashing Cody Rhodes" in 2010 to fully appreciate this feud. Cody became a narcissist who felt he was the most beautiful man in the locker room and gave out grooming tips to the audience. But after that, Rey legitimately broke Cody's nose, and Cody ended up turning that into a fantastic storyline where he felt he was broken. Cody ended up putting on a mask and starting a psycho persona where he obsessed over how ugly he had become. He hated Rey for forcing him to wear a mask, so he targeted him for WrestleMania. They had a solid match at Mania and a Falls Count Anywhere at Extreme Rules, but the promos in between were even better. I wish it had gone on longer, but it was great for what it was.
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I have a few honorable mentions as well:
• John Morrison's main event push in 2009/10 was pretty solid, as he had multiple title matches with CM Punk, Jeff Hardy and The Miz, all around ****. He also had an amazing ladder match with Sheamus which sadly didn't go anywhere.
• Christian's debut in ECW was very good, and he ended up having some great feuds with Jack Swagger and Tommy Dreamer. That last one especially had me more invested than anything going on at the time on the top brands.
• I loved Drew McIntyre's "Chosen One" gimmick and his midcard run as IC Champion. He was sadly de-pushed around 2011 due to a fight with his wife, but before that, he was pulling on consistent great performances.
• Umaga was a fantastic character from 2006 to 2009, and he had some great feuds with John Cena, Ric Flair, CM Punk and Kane. Too bad his run was short-lived though, as his final match was on Extreme Rules 2009 before he was released and died a year later.
• I can't give Edge enough credit for how great 2006 to 2011 was. Almost everything he was part of was gold. You should definitely give his run with Randy as "Rated RKO" a look, and his stable with "La Familia" on Smackdown. He had a 1-year-long great feud with Undertaker leading to their WrestleMania 24 match.
• Ric Flair's retirement storyline was really solid. He had to work a retirement match in EVERY SINGLE match for months. He ended up retiring at WrestleMania 24 after a Hall of Fame induction, which despite being very convenient for the character, ended up being a really classic moment.
• I already mentioned how great Daniel Bryan was as US Champion, but he continued that quality when he won Money in the Bank in 2011. He ended up having some terrific matches with Mark Henry and Big Show of all people, won the World title, turned heel, and had a great Macho Man/Elisabeth-type of relationship with AJ Lee. It was gold.
• Anything Dolph Ziggler-related is pretty much gold. He had a great feud with Edge for the World title around Royal Rumble 2011, and another great feud for the WWE title with CM Punk around Royal Rumble 2012. He also had some solid midcard feuds with Bryan, Kofi, Morrison, Rey, and others. While the feuds weren't very "personal", the best part about Dolph are his matches, which are always stellar.
• 2006 featured a really cool ECW Invasion which lead to the establishment of a now defunct 3rd brand. It was awesome at the beginning, but ended up having a crappy middle before establishing itself as more of a developmental brand for guys like Swagger, Evan Bourne, and others. A personal favorite of mine is the Morrison/Punk feud in 2007, but according to Punk, all the matches were shit. I liked them though.
• I also want to point out that every single Money in the Bank ladder match is a must-see. They're all great for their own reasons, so if you ever get the time, try checking them all out.
