What Tells a Better Story - Competition or Hatred?

[IrishCanadian25]

I was pleased tonight to see that the SlyFox originated "Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior" thread was picked back up. A great portion of the debate took place between Sly and Big Will dealing with the WrestleMania 6 Main Event's place in the history books among the greatest matches of all time.

And a few matches got tossed around, and made me want to ask - does respectful competition tell a better story? Or out and out hatred?

Respectful Competition

Wrestling matches centered around respctful competitiondo not have to feature two guys who like each other. Just two guys who don't hate each other. The reason hey are there is for victory, and often times, a championship. Usually these matches take place between two babyface wrestlers. The story is one of mutual respect and a desire to "pull out all the stops" to win without having to cheat. A few examples:

Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior @ WM6
Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith @ Summerslam
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels @ Wrestlemania 23
Bret Hart vs Rowdy Roddy Piper @ Wrestlemania 8
Bruno Sammartino vs Pedro Morales in 1972
Hardy Boyz vs Edge and Christian, Original Ladder Match
Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior @ Summerslam

Hatred-Based Matches

A great storyline can also build between two guys who absolutely despise one another, for whatever reason, resulting in that "war to settle the score" type of match where the object is to beat and demoralize your opponent and to flat out survive. These are also the matches that are slapped with labels like "personal" or "unsanctioned." These are almost ALWAYS face vs heel.

Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat
Hulk Hogan vs Sgt. Slaughter
Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels @ Survivor Series 1997
Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty, 1992 and 1993
Randy Savage vs Ric Flair @ Wrestlemania 8
John Cena vs Edge
Triple H vs Mankind / Cactus Jack

What I want to know is, what type of story is a better professional wrestling story overall? Is it the blood feud or the competition?

 

[Minor League Brian]

You should have added a third option, because in all honesty it depends on who the participants are.

I mean, look at HBK vs. Cena. For the most part, that was a competition storyline. It ran deeper then that, but in the end it was Babyface vs. Babyface (although I think they tried to turn HBK into a heel/tweaner) and it was all about who could put the pedal to the metal and come out on top. That was a good feud, and their matches were very good.

But then you can look at Cena vs. Lashley. That was a competition storyline as well, although they once again tried to turn Lashley into a heel/tweaner with that spear on Cena, but I think it was shit. Their match at the Bash(?) wasn't MOTY in my personal opinion.

Again, I think it all depends on who the participants are. Both have their pros and their cons, as with everything in life.