Power Rankings: The 20 Best WWE Rivalries Ever
There are many great rivalries in wrestling history, Hulk Hogan vs. Wrestling Ability, Ric Flair vs. Graceful Retirement, Matt Hardy vs. Dignity or Jeff Hardy vs. Sobriety.
This article will focus on some of the best rivalries in WWE history, some real, some kayfabe and some a complete blur of both.
Honourable Mentions:
Undertaker vs. Ultimate Warrior
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
Bret Hart vs. Mr Perfect
Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
Edge vs. Mick Foley
Undertaker vs. Mankind
Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H
Now onto the list...
20. The Rock vs. Triple H
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Triple H had to make this list at some point, even if it is technically last, and he deserves it for his rivalry with The Rock.
It is inevitable when the WWE has two up and coming superstars, who have the ability to switch between heel and face, that at some point they will collide—it is rarely as excellent as The Rock and Triple H though.
It culminated with all the best parts of a soap opera, but it really began with one of the best ladder matches in all of WWE history, when they were both just up and comers rather than certain future Hall of Famers.
The Iron Man match between the two that was won by Triple H is one of the best matches of the pairs' career. The real match that encapsulated this rivalry was the Fatal Four Way match at Wrestlemania 2000, where Vince McMahon betrayed The Rock to help Triple H retain the belt.
19. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
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This is not the most historic rivalry, nor the most bitter, though it ended the career of the greatest superstar to ever step foot in a WWE ring, so it deserves to be included.
The two had a match of the year calibre bout at Wrestlemania 25, with The Undertaker looking younger than he has in years against the always virile Michaels.
Almost a year after, Michaels interfered, costing the Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship, at Elimination Chamber. This led to a career vs. streak match at Wrestlemania 26. It was yet another match of the year and led to the retirement of Michaels.
18. Randy Orton vs. John Cena
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Before Randy Orton was this generation's answer to Stone Cold Steve Austin, he was the best heel in the company and therefore often came up against the uber-face Cena.
The rivalry began when John Cena teamed up with Shawn Michaels, and took the tag team title belts from Rated RKO, beginning a long feud between the teams.
Orton became the number one contender to Cena's WWE Championship, and constantly attacked him in the weeks leading up to the match. In one instant he even punted Cena's father, who was at ringside. Pretty nasty stuff. From then on, Orton vs. Cena in some form or other has been a WWE staple.
For the sheer intensity brought to this feud and the fact that it is between the two current faces of the WWE, it deserves a spot on this list.
17. Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
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This is a feud that caught the attention of the Internet Wrestling Community, and sparked a million rumours.
After Brock Lesnar lost at UFC 121, he was walking past confessed MMA fan The Undertaker who was being interviewed. Lesnar looked 'Taker in the eyes, and 'Taker responded by asking him if he wanted to fight. Lesnar kept on walking, seemingly ignoring him.
Both 'Taker and Lesnar have admitted to having problems back stage, it is speculated that Undertaker was mad that Lesnar received such a push then left before giving anyone else the rub.
Whether it was a work or not to promote a possible match at Wrestlemania, or the result of real backstage heat, we will never know, but it sure was a fascinating moment in wrestling, blurring the line between reality and kayfabe.
16. Chris Jericho vs. Bill Goldberg
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It has been said before, but check out the balls of Jericho.
This was never an on-screen rivalry, but what makes this backstage rivalry so great is that both men represent two opposite sides of wrestling.
Chris Jericho is the thinking man's wrestler. He is lacking size, but has brilliant in ring ability and even better microphone skills. He has worked hard to become a main eventer and had nothing handed to him.
Bill Goldberg on the other hand had no real ability, and no real charisma. He was just a big body, who was moulded by WCW into a monster champion due to 1000 squash matches.
The story goes that Goldberg was mouthing off to Kevin Nash about Jericho and Jericho heard about it. Jericho confronted him and they came to blows, they were pulled apart, but not before Jericho trapped Goldberg in a front face lock.
Mind over muscle wins again.
15. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero
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Arguably the two greatest Mexican wrestlers ever to grace the WWE ring, Latino Heat and the Ultimate Underdog provided some amazing moments during their rivalry.
They wrestled a few times in their primes in the WCW cruiserweight division, but everyone knows how much WCW neglected and took for granted their cruiserweights, and they didn't get a really beefy feud against each other until they were in WWE.
This feud included one of the stupidest angles in WWE history, with Eddie being the father of Rey's son Dominik, and demanding full custody of the boy. But it didn't matter, this was Guerrero's second last feud (his last was with Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship), and seeing these two amazing athletes really go at it was amazing.
14. Matt Hardy vs. Edge
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You have got to love it when wrestling companies mix real life and kayfabe.
Adam Copeland (Edge) and Matt Hardy were close friends, that was until Copeland had an affair with Matt's on-television, as well as real life, girlfriend Lita. Matt got fired for addressing this on Smackdown.
When Hardy was rehired he began attacking Edge, leading to a match at Summerslam. Edge won and the rivalry continued, culminating with Hardy losing a loser leaves Raw match and moving to Smackdown.
Edge went on to have significantly more singles success than Matt Hardy will most likely ever achieve, considering his current status with the WWE, and Matt Hardy went on to lose his mind, extremely publicly.
13. Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
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It is now a bad thing to be considered the "Marty Jannetty" of a tag team. It indicates that you will have significantly less success than your partner, but Marty Jannetty's feud with Shawn Michaels defined Michaels as the performer he would become.
The two were the greatest tag team of their era, The Rockers, but Michaels decided it was his time to get all the spotlight, super kicking Jannetty through Brutus Beefcake's barbershop window.
The feud made for compelling television and believe it or not, Jannetty beat Michaels for the Intercontinental title. Michaels went on to become the greatest of all time—Jannetty could never get over his own personal issues.
12. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit
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Whenever Chris Benoit is mentioned, controversy abounds due to his demise. However, one thing about Benoit was never controversial, his in-ring skills.
In fact the only man who could be considered a greater in-ring technician is the Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. So we knew when they inevitably got together in the ring it would be explosive.
The match that started it all was a triple threat match including another IWC favourite, Chris Jericho, but it was a year later at Wrestlemania X-Seven when it got underway in earnest.
These grappling masters had traditional matches, an ultimate submission match, a ladder match and a two out of three falls match. For a short period, it has to be considered one of the most varied and satisfying rivalries for wrestling fans period.
11. Macho Man Randy Savage vs. Jake the Snake Roberts
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Jake Roberts may be the greatest in ring psychologist ever and Randy Savage is just plain crazy, so the rivalry between the two was always epic.
Jake ambushed the wedding of Macho Man and Miss Elisabeth, by giving Savage and Liz a cobra as a gift. At that point Savage made it his mission to get back at Roberts for making his bride cry on her wedding day.
This was one of the most venomous (pardon the pun) rivalries in all of WWE history, and one of the most believable. Savage seemed to honestly want to end the career of the Snake, and the Snake loved to see Savage driven crazy by his heelish antics.
10. Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog
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Harley Race isn't just the guy who got spat on by Randy Orton, he is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. And his feud with Junkyard Dog will go down as one of the greatest feuds in WWE history.
Race didn't spend too long in the WWE, but he wrote himself into the history books being managed by Bobby Heenan. Their feud culminated in a match at Wrestlemania 3, for the crown of King of the Ring.
This match made King of the Ring relevant, Bobby Heenan one of the all time greats and Harley Race a superstar.
9. The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
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The two biggest WWE superstars of the attitude era, these two men carried the WWE to victory over the WCW.
This feud began with The Rock stealing Austin's Intercontinental title belt, but he was unable to win it off Austin at DX: In Your House, in 1997.
The feud began again in earnest in 1999, when The Rock beat Mankind for the WWE title. They fought at pay per view after pay per view, and it never got tired. The two ended the attitude era at Wrestlemania, a match that had possibly the greatest build up of all time.
8. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant
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This is the most iconic rivalry in all of wrestling history.
Without these two men, professional wrestling would not be where it is today and possibly the most famous wrestling image of all time is these two staring each other down.
While both of these guys were dead weight in the ring, it was more what they represented. Andre was the ultimate monster, an impassable mountain. Hogan was the everyman, the real American hero.
Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre arguably turned Wrestlemania into the marquee biggest day in wrestling it is today.
7. Edge & Christian vs. Hardys vs. Dudleys
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The golden era of tag team wrestling was bought about by these three amazing, and contrasting, teams.
Edge & Christian were the team that reeked of awesomeness. They could both wrestle, but their promo skills were even more rare and magical. Ever since they broke up, fans have wanted either a reunion of E&C or a feud between Edge and Christian for the heavyweight title.
The Hardys, or Hardy Boyz, or Team Extreme were the innovators of high flying matches. Neither could really cut a promo to save their lives but they were so amazing to watch that it didn't matter one bit.
The Dudleys looked ridiculous, and had a strange gimmick, but their ECW can do attitude shone through and they changed the way matches between heavyweights and cruiserweights were fought.
These three teams constantly feuded over the course of several years, swapping heel or face status. They revolutionised the TLC match (E&C popularising the double-chair shot, the Dudley's being table mad and the Hardy's always happy to climb a ladder) and defined what tag team wrestling should be.
6. Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart
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Birthing his catchphrase "Austin 3:16" after his big win at King of the Ring 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin set his sights on the biggest target in the WWE at the time: Bret Hart.
This rivalry ushered in the attitude era, turned Bret Hart heel for the first time, established Stone Cold not only as a main event player but as a hard SOB. The image of Austin, covered in blood, refusing to tap to the sharpshooter will forever be ingrained in the minds of wrestling fans.
This feud went over a Wrestlemania, a Royal Rumble and into the annals of wrestling history.
5. Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage
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There are a lot of points where people claim the attitude era began, and this isn't one of them, but this rivalry definitely tested the water.
The Royal Rumble winner and WWF Champion was Ric Flair, and he was challenged by Macho Man Randy Savage for the title at Wrestlemania 8.
Flair, never one to shy from controversy, started the mind games, claiming he had slept with Savage's wife Miss Elisabeth and that he had the photos to prove it. It may not sound controversial now, but remember, this was 1992.
Savage went on to beat Flair at Wrestlemania, but the victory was short lived. Mr Perfect and Flair attacked Savage, injuring his knee, which Flair used to win the title back. The two continued their rivalry until Flair left the WWE.
4. The Undertaker vs. Kane
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This is one of the most enduring rivalries in all of wrestling.
From 1997 when he burst on the scene accompanied by his, and the Undertaker's, 'father' Paul Bearer (their mother must have been one tall broad), until now the only times when these two haven't been feuding is when they are teaming up as the dominant Brother's of Destruction.
While the Undertaker is always pretty great, Kane seems without direction when he is feuding with anyone else. Matt Hardy, Edge, teaming with the Big Show and MVP, are some big names who could never get the same performances out of Kane as the Undertaker.
Both of them always look so quick and powerful against each other, and their in-ring psychology is on show, given their long back story and past together, they know each other like they really are brothers.
3. Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper
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This rivalry created the most dominating forces in all of wrestling: Hulkamania.
Hulk Hogan made a name for himself as WWE champion by humiliating every heel the company had to offer, adversely Piper made a name by embarrassing faces on his Piper's Pit talk show. It was inevitable.
Singer Cindi Lauper presented Hogan with an award, and was subsequently assaulted by Piper. This set the cogs in motion for a match between the two.
No matter what he did, Hogan always had trouble getting a clean pin on Piper who was always accompanied by his cronies Bob Orton and Paul Orndorff.
Years later the pair would rematch after Piper attacked Hogan during his match with Vince McMahon, leading to a match at Judgement Day 2006.
The two rivals were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on the same night. Seems fitting.
2. Austin vs. McMahon
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Everyone wants to give their boss the finger and kick them in the gut at some point. That is exactly what 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin did to Vincent K. McMahon.
The Austin/McMahon rivalry made both of their characters the extreme successes they both were. It established Austin as the ultimate anti-authoritarian and McMahon as the ultimate authority in the wrestling world.
The culmination of this rivalry was a cage match, in which McMahon was driven through a table, showing he was willing to put his body on the line. The other thing this rivalry did was make the Stone Cold Stunner the most used finisher by a professional wrestler, ever. He gave them out like cookies at a blood van.
1. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
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Was there ever any doubt? A mix of real life and kayfabe, the feud between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels may have been the most venomous in the entire wrestling business.
Neither of these guys wanted to lose to the other and Bret Hart refused to drop the belt to Michaels as he was going to WCW, which led to one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history: the Montreal Screwjob.
After this, Michaels had said Hart and Sunny were having an affair and Hart had been outspoken on his opinion on the arrogant and flashy Michaels.
They finally publicly made up, when Hart returned to the WWE as Michaels was nearing his retirement.
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