All Time Favourite Feud, And Why?

[JaymeFuture]

After a couple of weeks of impassioned debate, we're taking a lighter route for this week's podcast, and want to talk about some of the classic feuds in wrestling history, so the question I wish to pose to you is simple – personally, what is your all-time favourite feud, and more importantly, why?

 

Be it a forgotten gem or a renowned classic, feel free to detail what about it you loved that makes it stand out of the pack, and as always, we'll be reading the best feedback on the show and crediting your fine selves. I’m eager to see the variety in different people’s tastes for this when you have to whittle it down to personal favourite…

[BillThompson]

Greg Valentine versus Tito Santana from mid-80s WWF. It's a long one, a little over a year, and it escalates, The feud starts off not s a feud, but just as two guys wrestling one another. It slowly gets more hate filled until by the end of the feud both guys are more concerned with hurting the other than winning the match. Has a lot of great finishes, Tito is the perfect fiery babyface, and Valentine works in spades as the stoic asskicker willing to kick the fiery babyface's teeth in. Near the end the feud gets bloody, and it progresses to include gimmick matches like a lumberjack match and a cage match. Every match in the feud is great, and at least three are MOTYC level.

[goc]

Probably Bill Dundee vs. Jerry Lawler due to longevity and how no matter how many times they went back to it, you still wanted to see it.

[Petey]

Sting vs. Hogan/nWo and Austin vs. Bret.

 

I'm 27, so my first hand experienced is pretty much limited to the WWF/E and WCW. I was all in with Sting vs. Hogan/nWo. The fact that both lead guys weren't on every Nitro made their appearances all the more special. Yeah, it started to drag, especially as WCW was spinning its wheels in the Fall of '97 (granted, I didn't feel that it was dragging when I was a kid, just when I rewatched the stuff on Classics on Demand a few years ago), but I was so amped for the inevitable match. And yeah, the payoff sucked, but the build was tremendous.

 

I wasn't watching a ton of 96/97 WWF but Bret vs. Austin was the feud I made sure I followed. It felt so real and had so much hate, it was a throwback to an era I had yet to know existed. It's a shame they never got that second WrestleMania match to really give the feud a proper blowoff, but the matches were great just like the storyline.

 

Honorable mention for 2000 Rock vs. HHH. They had feuded multiple times before but never as the main act. Rock was my favorite wrestler at the time and I just hated HHH (in a good way). I really enjoyed their feud in early-mid 2000. They didn't really get a traditional blowoff (HHH won the big singles match but the end of the feud netted Rock the title), but they had unbelievable chemistry in and out of the ring and it just made for a great time.

[khawk20]

The High Flyers vs. Sheik Kaissie's Army from early 1982 through the fall of 1984 is a favourite. What began with Kaissie and Blackwell getting an unearned match against the Flyers as a favour to Wally Karbo (when a booked team for them "from Japan" cancelled, prompting Karbo to ask if the Flyers could do him a favour and take a non-title bout vs. Kaissie and Blackwell instead) turned into two years of life-and-death tag matches and eventually saw Blackwell and Ken Patera capture the tag titles. From there, it segued into Kaissie bringing in Bruiser Brody to cripple the Gagne and Brunzell on TV and, in my mind, ended with Blackwell and Gagne putting aside their differences when Greg saved Blackwell during the Blackwell-Brody lights out match in October of 1984, in what was Greg Gagne's return from a 6 month hiatus due to that attack.

From there it was more Blackwell vs. Sheik's Army and Brunzell was gone shortly afterwards...but man, what a run of matches and angles.

[Matt D]

These aren't my answer, but they're ones that are important to me in similar ways.

 

Jericho vs Malenko - I had really fallen out of wrestling in late 1992 and I didn't start watching again until 1998. The reasons why are a little unclear to me. It had something to do with Papa Shango freaking me out and something to do with Bill Watts banning top rope moves. I just got interested in other things. I was really into basketball for the 1992-1993 season, for instance, probably the only year that I ever REALLY followed pro spots heavily, watching Sportscenter twice a day and what not. In 98, Wrestlemania was in Boston so all the kids in high school were pretty hyped for things. I knew a lot of people that went to the DX public work out, for instance, and the idea that my beloved WCW was actually WINNING the ratings war was pretty crazy, so I got drawn back in. I'm not sure i would have stuck around if it wasn't for Jericho. At 16-17, I thought he was hilarious and Malenko fell in line with my "little guy who can do a lot of moves" mentality that I always had. The Ciclope reveal was huge. The listing of the 1004 moves was probably my favorite wrestling bit from that era. I thought the Mean Gene interview where he just rails on Malenko was honestly emotional and the segment with Joe was so well done too. I honestly don't remember if the matches hold up and I haven't gone back to it but I don't think a cruiserweight ever got the pop that Malenko did when he pulled the mask off.

 

Christian vs Regal - When I moved in with my wife-to-be and stepson-to-be on June 1, 2007, that was more or less it for me and wrestling. My time was going to be spent differently and I'd been less into it for a while now, really ever since I went off to England for a year in the fall of 2003. When I moved down to DC in January, 2006, I pared back a lot of my watching, for instance. I moved in with her on June 1 and Benoit was dead by the end of the month and I was done. I got back into things in 2009 when I started to use the exercise bike to prepare for the wedding. I got into a lot of old territories on justin.tv but the only modern wrestling I watched was WWECW on hulu, and it was Christian's banner year as a TV Ace and I became really invested in the Regal feud. I thought for sure Regal was going to win on the UK episode and I dropped everything to watch it. I loved the Roundtable. I think they have some really great matches that build off of each other. It helped draw me back into modern wrestling again.

[KrisZ]

Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk is pretty much at the top of my list because it kickstarted the awesome year of NWA and gave Flair the rebirth he sorely needed. Everything around that feud was awesome with the promotion benefiting as well.

[Coffey]

André the Giant -VS- Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

 

Former friends. André, whom is seemingly unbeatable & never had a desire for the championship before, is corrupted by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, turns on his friend & wants the belt. Hogan as the top dog babyface during an incredible run, doesn't want to fight his friend at first. The crucifix is ripped off, Hogan agrees to the match. Wrestlemania III, biggest house ever, Hogan manages to not only win but slam the unbeatable Giant to retain his title. There's controversy regarding an early pinfall attempt which gives WWF another year worth of material to build to Wrestlemania IV, where a tournament is held for the title and both men get a first round bye. The match itself at WM3 wasn't full of good work but man, the emotion & atmosphere was great. The buildup & story was great. It was the two biggest guys colliding at the biggest show over the biggest prize.

[goodhelmet]

Grimmas already did a show on Tito v Greg and Shoe and Sorrow did one on Lawler & Dundee. DiBiase vs Duggan was a great feud.

[JerryvonKramer]

Feel like I've gone on about it enough, but my sleeper pick is always Flair vs. Savage 95-6 edition:

 

I've been watching the PPVs from 1996 of late (pre-Bash at the Beach), and the thing that has really struck me is how sadistic and downright EVIL Flair is in that feud with Savage. I mean he doesn't just want to bring Savage low, he wants to humiliate him and take his life away. It's quite a dark storyline -- going back all the way to Slamboree 95 when he beats on Angelo Poffo, then slowly takes away his wife, his title, and his money. The pure dickery of Flair in this period is something to behold. He is particularly cowardly in hiding behind Arn like a little girl quite a lot during this run as well (see promo on McMichael and Kevin Greene at Slamboree '96, which I watched earlier tonight). I've found it striking just how heelish is in that period.

Jumbo vs. Tenryu is also one of my all-time favourite feuds. So much going on. Different value systems at stake. The establishment vs. the upstart rebel. The golden boy against the "almost" boy. It's such a fantastic story to follow right from when they start tagging until the match to end all matches in 1989. One of the greatest pay offs ever to one of the greatest feuds ever. The sort of thing that made All Japan a special promotion.

[TRMD]

Austin/Rock

 

2 guys that check literally every box that you want in a pro wrestler. The hatred felt real. The respect felt real. They both carried an unbelievable aura. Their personalities were so different, yet their chemistry was undeniable. The Promos. The Staredowns. The Brawls. The Crowd Pops. The Catchphrases. It was Brady/Manning. It was Bird/Magic.

 

It was Gold.

[Graham Crackers]

UWF vs New Japan in 1986

 

In the ring it featured state of the art wrestling for it's time, combining the new UWF style of matwork with the traditional New Japan style matwork and some pro style offense. The shooty matwork and seemingly uncooperative clinches made almost every match seem like a fight. The major angles were built upon drama that could have occurred in a real sporting event like the brawl between the New Japan and UWF locker rooms that occurred after the controversial low blow finish to the first Inoki vs Fujiwara match. The interpromotional nature of the feud allowed for a broad cast of characters interacting in tons of unique ways.

 

My favorite moments include the aforementioned low blow finish, Umanosuke Ueda turning face and falling on his own sword in the 3/26/86 elimination match, Maeda destroying Fujinami's face in their singles match, and Fujiwara having blood wiped off of his face before he faces Fujinami in the big NJPW vs UWF gauntlet match.

[Childs]

UWF vs New Japan in 1986

 

In the ring it featured state of the art wrestling for it's time, combining the new UWF style of matwork with the traditional New Japan style matwork and some pro style offense. The shooty matwork and seemingly uncooperative clinches made almost every match seem like a fight. The major angles were built upon drama that could have occurred in a real sporting event like the brawl between the New Japan and UWF locker rooms that occurred after the controversial low blow finish to the first Inoki vs Fujiwara match. The interpromotional nature of the feud allowed for a broad cast of characters interacting in tons of unique ways.

 

My favorite moments include the aforementioned low blow finish, Umanosuke Ueda turning face and falling on his own sword in the 3/26/86 elimination match, Maeda destroying Fujinami's face in their singles match, and Fujiwara having blood wiped off of his face before he faces Fujinami in the big NJPW vs UWF gauntlet match.

 

If we're going Japanese interpromotional, I'll take NJ/WAR as the dessert for my NJ/UWF feast. From the incredible heat for the 10/23/92 show at Korakuen to all the uber-violent six-mans to the Hash-Tenryu singles matches, it dished up non-stop greatness for more than a year. And you know, Tenryu!

[soup23]

I thought about this for a while and I think one of the things that can detract a great feud ever so slightly is not having the climax be at a satisfying point in time. Misawa vs. Kobashi and Misawa vs. Kawada have this problem IMO.

 

That is why Jumbo vs. Tenryu is my pick. It would have been very easy for 10/88 to be the time for Jumbo to drop the fall to Tenryu but they pushed one more time and made 6/5/89 that much more beautiful. That is why it is my pick.

[shoe]

I've always been a Von Erich's/Freebirds fan. The start of the feud is a famous angle. The payoff to the Kerry V.E/Michael Hayes LLT was booked perfectly. You could get 6 mans,tags, singles, gimmick matches on the aforementioned matches. The enviroment was great. We had several incarnations of the feud. The 1st go did big business and for WCCW was umbrella storytelling at its best.

[dawho5]

I'd have to say the Hashimoto/Ogawa feud deserves a look. Inoki's shooter phase was definitely a negative as a whole, but Hashimoto and Ogawa were a huge highlight. The Tokyo Dome was filled to the brim on a few occasions to see Hashimoto end Ogawa's reign of terror.

[Goodear]

Stud Stable vs. The Rhodes merits some inclusion as a really good mid card angle with some great action with the Buck vs. Dustin singles matches, the memorable Anderson turn and the War Games finale which came to a head with an awesome emotional promo from Dusty that brought the whole thing home.

[DylanZero]

I thought about this for a while and I think one of the things that can detract a great feud ever so slightly is not having the climax be at a satisfying point in time. Misawa vs. Kobashi and Misawa vs. Kawada have this problem IMO.

 

That is why Jumbo vs. Tenryu is my pick. It would have been very easy for 10/88 to be the time for Jumbo to drop the fall to Tenryu but they pushed one more time and made 6/5/89 that much more beautiful. That is why it is my pick.

We have the exact same pick for the exact same reason. My first thought is Misawa/Jumbo but the fact that it never had a true conclusion the way Jumbo/Tenryu did and kinda just kept going after the climax of it on 6/8/90 makes me lean towards Tenryu/Jumbo as my true favorite Feud.

[ohtani's jacket]

I thought about this for a while and I think one of the things that can detract a great feud ever so slightly is not having the climax be at a satisfying point in time. Misawa vs. Kobashi and Misawa vs. Kawada have this problem IMO.

 

That is why Jumbo vs. Tenryu is my pick. It would have been very easy for 10/88 to be the time for Jumbo to drop the fall to Tenryu but they pushed one more time and made 6/5/89 that much more beautiful. That is why it is my pick.

 

But they had two more matches on 10/11/89 and 4/19/90 and would have no doubt had more if Tenryu hadn't left.

[ohtani's jacket]

 

I thought about this for a while and I think one of the things that can detract a great feud ever so slightly is not having the climax be at a satisfying point in time. Misawa vs. Kobashi and Misawa vs. Kawada have this problem IMO.

 

That is why Jumbo vs. Tenryu is my pick. It would have been very easy for 10/88 to be the time for Jumbo to drop the fall to Tenryu but they pushed one more time and made 6/5/89 that much more beautiful. That is why it is my pick.

We have the exact same pick for the exact same reason. My first thought is Misawa/Jumbo but the fact that it never had a true conclusion the way Jumbo/Tenryu did and kinda just kept going after the climax of it on 6/8/90 makes me lean towards Tenryu/Jumbo as my true favorite Feud.

 

 

6/8/90 wasn't meant to be the climax. It was more like the first act turning point in a screenplay.

[elliott]

The super obvious Lucha feuds

Santo Jr vs Casas

Santo Jr vs Blue Panther

Satanico vs El Dandy

 

The two Santo feuds are career long rivalries that produced countless great matches. I don't think the Satanico vs Dandy rivalry was on THAT level, but their feud in 1990 was an all time great run. They began the year teaming a lot and by the end of the year were beating the shit out of each other. They continued to have very good to great matches over the years (including this year) but never reached the level of 1990 again. I have no idea when the Santo Jr vs Casas or Santo vs Panther rivalries peaked. Without thinking too hard I would guess 96/97 for the Casas series and sometime in the early 2000s for the Panther series. But really I would welcome any arguments for any other time period.

 

Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 probably deserves a mention even if we only have a handful of matches. I kind of just want to say "That two weeks in 1983."

 

Some other favorite feuds would be...

 

Stan Hansen vs Everyone. Not really, but it is hard to pick one from the Colon, Funk, Kobashi group. Shit I would almost throw the Baba feud in there as well. The Baba feud is more fun while the other 3 produced great match after great match after great match.

 

Ric Flair vs Everyone. Again, not really. But this is unfair. Steamboat is his Santo/Casas or Lawler/Dundee eternal rival so he has to be mentioned. Looking beyond career rivalries and just at specific feuds and angles, Flair vs Funk from 89 is my favorite easily. Followed by the Ricky Morton feud from 86. Both are vicious, hate filled blood feuds but Flair is taking on totally different roles in each one. Everyone talks about heel Flair mostly but I love him as the ass kicking babyface in 1989 against Terry Funk. I could easily mention the Windham, Garvin, Luger, Kerry, and Savage (in 92 AND 95-96) feuds.

 

4 Horsemen vs Dusty, Midnight Express vs Rock n Roll Express and Freebirds vs Von Erichs just because.

 

Bret Hart vs Steve Austin and America produced two of the best matches in WWE history and a year of some of the most fun promos and TV segments ever.

 

If you want to include managers, Lawler vs Jimmy Hart is the winner.

[DylanZero]

 

 

I thought about this for a while and I think one of the things that can detract a great feud ever so slightly is not having the climax be at a satisfying point in time. Misawa vs. Kobashi and Misawa vs. Kawada have this problem IMO.

 

That is why Jumbo vs. Tenryu is my pick. It would have been very easy for 10/88 to be the time for Jumbo to drop the fall to Tenryu but they pushed one more time and made 6/5/89 that much more beautiful. That is why it is my pick.

 

We have the exact same pick for the exact same reason. My first thought is Misawa/Jumbo but the fact that it never had a true conclusion the way Jumbo/Tenryu did and kinda just kept going after the climax of it on 6/8/90 makes me lean towards Tenryu/Jumbo as my true favorite Feud.

6/8/90 wasn't meant to be the climax. It was more like the first act turning point in a screenplay.

I thought it was the best part for sure though. Climax might have been a miswording. More like the peak of their rivalry. (Not necessarily for pure match quality but just in terms of dramatics and the novelty of Misawa winning.)

[DylanZero]

Also want to point out three more great picks from Elliott that I happily co-sign in the Santito feuds and Satanico/Dandy. The Satanico/Dandy brawls in particular in late 1990 are some of my favorite brawls ever. (should be obvious I love BP but I love all those guys in general)

[ohtani's jacket]

The super obvious Lucha feuds

Santo Jr vs Casas

Santo Jr vs Blue Panther

Satanico vs El Dandy

 

The two Santo feuds are career long rivalries that produced countless great matches. I don't think the Satanico vs Dandy rivalry was on THAT level, but their feud in 1990 was an all time great run. They began the year teaming a lot and by the end of the year were beating the shit out of each other. They continued to have very good to great matches over the years (including this year) but never reached the level of 1990 again. I have no idea when the Santo Jr vs Casas or Santo vs Panther rivalries peaked. Without thinking too hard I would guess 96/97 for the Casas series and sometime in the early 2000s for the Panther series. But really I would welcome any arguments for any other time period.

 

Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 probably deserves a mention even if we only have a handful of matches. I kind of just want to say "That two weeks in 1983."

 

I don't think Santo and Blue Panther were rivals to the extent that Santo and Casas were. Espanto Jr and Black Shadow Jr were Santo's two biggest rivals in the UWA outside of Casas. Black Terry and Fuerza probably have more of a claim to being Santo career rivals than Panther. Santo vs. Casas definitely peaked with their '97 hair vs. mask match. With Dandy/Satanico we're missing their two hair matches from '88. Casas vs. Dandy is another obvious pick. Sangre Chicana vs. Perro and Villano III deserve a mention as well. My favourite Panther rivalry was with Atlantis. I also love Atlantis vs. Emilio.

[Timbo Slice]

Misawa/Kawada was the first one I thought of. Then Flair/Funk. Sting/Vader. Hogan/Savage.