2008 Pro Wrestling Awards: 2008 Rivalry of The Year

RIVALRIES! Don't watch anything without it. It's the same in football, basketball and especially hockey. But for professional wrestling, rivalries are the livelihood of this sports entertainment industry. But which rivalry has earned the right to be called THE Rivalry of 2008?

#1) Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

This war actually started several years ago between these two. It was an epic encounter at Wrestlemania that saw Shawn Michaels defeat Jericho in a match that saw Jericho show nothing but disrespect to HBK. So the WWE decided to renew this rivalry once more. But this time around, it was more believable. When Jericho threw Michaels' head into the Jeritron 5000, that's when we all knew that this would be one hell of a rivalry. The rivalry lasted several months, and finally culminated with a Ladder Match at No Mercy. But still, these two did everything to each other that left both brutalized and decimated in the end.

#2) Randy Orton vs. Triple H & Batista

The Legend Killer has tried everything in his power to move past the Era of Evolution. He managed to start last October at No Mercy when he was awarded the WWE Championship, lost it to Triple H, then got it back before the night was over. In that time, he has been involved with two men who have been involved with The Game's history: Shawn Michaels of DX and Batista of Evolution. But Orton continued his Age of Orton despite the onslaught of The Game and John Cena. But after returning from injury last month, he set his sights on another Evolution member. The rivalry between The Animal and Orton is also one that has been brewing for years. Now these two will face each other at Armageddon to settle their score as well.

#3) The Undertaker vs. Vickie Guerrero

At Survivor Series, Edge screwed Undertaker out of the World Heavyweight Championship. At the time, no one knew the true intentions of Vickie Guerrero in this matter until Friday night when she revealed that she and Edge have been lovers for quite some time. The man who has had to endure the madness known as La Familia: The Undertaker. Since Survivor Series, Vickie has doen everything in her power to keep the Deadman from once again being on top of the SmackDown Kingdom. So no one should be surprised that he is not in the current running for the World Title. And after the anarchy between the two that escalated at Unforgiven is clear proof that one or the other or both have to depart either SmackDown...or the WWE altogether.

#4) Edge & Vickie vs. SmackDown

The Rated R Superstar is hated by everyone on RAW...and he's hated by almost everyone on SmackDown. But he has done enough on the Friday night program to garner a nomination for Rivalry of the Year. He and his wife Vickie have snagged enough heat to have the fans and the superstars want to run them down with a 18-Wheeler. But the times are changing...and his tactics are changing with them. Even after his brief moment as a face this year, Edge is still the proverbial Asshole of SmackDown. But has the favoritism of Edge and constant roadblocking of potential champions given these two the right to win this award as well?

#5) John Cena vs. RAW and WWE Fans

It took John Cena several years to win over the fans of SmackDown, but when he did, Vince McMahon decided that it was time to see how he would do with the RAW audience. With that, Cena was drafted to RAW several years ago as the #1 Pick. To this day, he has won some of them over, while there are those who are still leery of cheering for the Chain Gang Commander. For the last three years, Cena has been involved in rivalries with some of RAW's biggest faces, which has made it very hard for him to win over the RAW fans. Also take into account that some of the fans who were hiding have not enjoyed the presence of John Cena as well. This all leads to the question: Is Cena on borrowed time on RAW?

#6) WWE vs. TNA

While WWE and TNA maybe separate entities, their rivalry is close to being that of the original Monday Night Wars. When SmackDown went to Friday nights, TNA owned Thursday nights. But the war still continues even without shows on the same nights. WWE has seen several of its superstars (Kurt Angle, Booker T & Mick Foley as of late) go to TNA while TNA has seen its share of departed superstars (R-Truth, Gail Kim & Christian Cage) to WWE once again. The war may not make sense at the moment, but when WWE superstars and TNA superstars start talking about their former bosses, it makes the resurrection of the War inevitable and imminent.