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2018 Feud of the year


Tenese Sarwieh

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My probably eclectic choices...

WALTER vs. Zack Sabre Jr - I'd probably like it even more if there was an overt story, but seeing them clobber each other through PROGRESS, wXw, and EVOLVE has been a huge highlight for me this year. Thought they delivered incredibly each time, and Sabre's obnoxious efforts to prove he can take all WALTER can dish out has been weirdly compelling for me.

Absolute Andy vs. Marius Al-Ani - Not sure how many wXw watchers are around here, but this feud really killed it through the first six months of the year. They cashed in really well on their former friendship and Andy reinvented himself impressively. They went through a lot of matches together but did a great job making them different giving them a real arc, instead of doing the same thing until it got tired. Also currently really enjoying Andy/Dragunov from wXw

Pentagon Jr vs. Marty “The Moth” Martinez - I'm a sucker for good stories and I thought they did a great job with this, subtly building it from the first episode with Penta taking out Marty last in Aztec Warfare and putting him on the shelf, then building Marty up gradually not with matches but with a well defined character shift that made him more dangerous. The way he took the title was well done and I REALLY liked the references back to the Vampiro feud in season 1, including the teased fire spot. The blow off match delivered in a big way and I just loved what they did with it from start to finish.

Queen’s Quest vs. Oedo Tai - This was the highlight of Stardom this year for me, especially in the earlier part of the year. Io Shirai and Kagetsu are always great together but they also put on a lot of multi-man matches that showcased both sides really well. The 5 on 5 gauntlet is probably my favorite Stardom match all year, and they've had some really good ones.

Travis Huckabee vs. Solo Darling - Don't think CHIKARA is thought of too well here but I think this one really deserves some consideration. With Travis transitioning from a referee to a wrestler a couple years back in part to help Solo but being too shy to express his underlying feelings, instead becoming her friend and tag partner, I really came around from initially not liking either wrestler that much to being hugely invested in their tag team and relationship. When Travis broke up the team because they weren't successful enough, over Solo's desire to stay together, it seemed like the split would be amicable-ish, but then Solo started succeeding without him. The way they slowly built up Travis' insecurity was great for making their whole relationship look different in hindsight, as apparently Travis always quietly took it as a matter of course that he was the superior wrestler of the two. The moment of Travis' turn was exceptionally well done, and they've done a great job with Travis dodging Solo for the most part, with just enough going on to keep them hot. If they don't blow the final match at the season finale, this one will be up there for me.

I'd also consider Rush/Park if CMLL hadn't blown the finish. It was still awesome though, so maybe even so.

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1 hour ago, Mrzfn said:

Queen’s Quest vs. Oedo Tai - This was the highlight of Stardom this year for me, especially in the earlier part of the year. Io Shirai and Kagetsu are always great together but they also put on a lot of multi-man matches that showcased both sides really well. The 5 on 5 gauntlet is probably my favorite Stardom match all year, and they've had some really good ones.

Totally forgot to add Queen's Quest/Oedo Tai in my post. You're right about it being the highlight for Stardom. That tag elimination match earlier this year is a MOTYC and made me a fan of Tam Nakano for life.

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Callihan/Penta is at least worthy of a mention. Their Slammiversary match was legitimately great, and the BFG six-man tag was a super fun frenzy - filled to the gills with bombs & athletic spots.

But a quality feud has to be about more than just the matches, and their feud brought it. The attacks were brutal. The buildup spanned across the industry & bled into other promotions on other cards. Masks were ripped & removed. Heads were shaved.

Sami even showed up under the Pentagon hood to blindside Fenix. Plenty of good stuff like that help to place this one firmly in the discussion for me.

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I feel like there were quite a few feuds that started off strong and either went too long, went completely off the rails, or both. Gargano-Ciampa still had a shot up until Brooklyn before Johnny went full sadsack loser (and even then they were running on fumes). The Golden Lovers-BC feud had the awesome Bucks match and some solid heeling from Cody but by the time Kenny won the title it became "Well, we got wrap this up I guess" and ended with a whimper before transitioning into the godawful Firing Squad stuff.

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I feel like there were a number of good fueds that happened this year that had a lot of heat but didn’t really have a blow off match and now look like they may never have a satisfying conclusion.

BC vs Golden Lovers

LA Park vs Rush

Daniel Bryan vs Miz 

Chiampa vs Gargano

All of those fit into that great while it lasted category.

As for something that had angles, promos, matches, heat, and looks like it will have a satisfying conclusion I’d go with Jericho vs Naito

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/29/2018 at 7:57 PM, Boss Rock said:

I feel like there were quite a few feuds that started off strong and either went too long, went completely off the rails, or both. Gargano-Ciampa still had a shot up until Brooklyn before Johnny went full sadsack loser (and even then they were running on fumes). The Golden Lovers-BC feud had the awesome Bucks match and some solid heeling from Cody but by the time Kenny won the title it became "Well, we got wrap this up I guess" and ended with a whimper before transitioning into the godawful Firing Squad stuff.

Gargano/Ciampa has been a weaker match each time out. The Wile E Coyote ending to the Brooklyn match just killed it. It's like they booked it backwards after the first match.

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