Review for WWE The Top 25 Rivalries In Wrestling History

Today in wrestling a rivalry can be over in a matter of weeks, days even, in the past I have seen people who were sworn enemies join forces at the drop of a hat. However, rivalries used to span months even years and this is the focus of this new WWE DVD.

This is a countdown of the Top Twenty-Five Rivalries in wrestling. I should note that I do wish that they would have just stuck to WWE rivalries as I do tire of the nominal one or two from other organisations, just to prove that they existed. Sure the ones they chose deserve to be here, but I'm sure if you asked a hardcore WCCW or ECW fan they could do this list based on that promotion alone. As it is, it does focus more on the WWE and on NWA/WCW rivalries, but when these were the top two promotions that is to be expected.

My problem with this list is (like most lists of this kind) it's never really explained how it was compiled (despite the awful science/chemistry nonsense explained) and if it was simply just twenty five of the best I'd be fine with it. However... we have specific spots for these rivalries and you have to wonder why and even though they try to explain it, it never really works.

So if you want to be surprised by the list please skip to the final summary or simply check it out first as I will be looking at all twenty five and my thoughts on that. All in all it is a great set though. So, on we go.

25 Triple H and Mick Foley. I don't know about this. I mean they had a couple of great matches, but apart from their last run in 2000 (Royal Rumble 2000 being one of their best) nothing much from their feud sticks out. Though I do have to thank it for the Dude Love and Mankind introducing Cactus Jack promo which is always awesome.

24 Tazz and Sabu. Now this is the definition of a feud. This went on for years and when they finally did meet up after many months of building this was amazing. Certainly one of the best feuds from ECW.

23 Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. Despite how great their matches were in WCW and their feud over LWO was too... why would you ever remind people that the WWE feud existed?

22 Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher. I don't know. This was just violence and blood for its sake and I never enjoyed watching them despite how much Mick Foley tries to convince you otherwise.

21 Hulk Hogan and Piper. How is the main feud that started Wrestlemania this low? I love this feud because when you look at it, it shouldn't work. Hogan dwarfed Piper, but he was just so confident and so full of charisma that it was convincing. As much as Hogan made Wrestlemania, he wouldn't have without that rivalry.

20 CM Punk and John Cena. This is possibly the last great feud and probably in the right place on
this list. The feud between Cena and Punk was great and the matches between them have been (for the most part) wonderful.

19 Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle. A few matches does not make a rivalry in my eyes. However, the matches that they had, the feud that they had was impressive and nobody brought the best out of Brock Lesnar more than Kurt Angle.

18 Randy Orton and Triple H. YAWWWWWNNNN!!! I understand why it's here... I do, but it certainly wasn't the best feud ever.

17 Verne Gagne and Nick Bockwinkle. Pandering to the AWA fans there? I understand why this is here and the rivalry was certainly huge, but it is difficult to explain why other than to watch the matches they had. Note: None are included as extras?

16 Mankind and Undertaker. Considering they had one of the most memorable matches and moments in history it is surprising that it is so low. The feud between them was filled with amazing moments and matches that left a mark on the WWE and how hardcore was used in the wrestling business.

15 Tommy Dreamer and Raven. I don't know about this because this feud, because you would really need to take into account the Raven feud with Sandman too to show just how great Raven was at getting inside someone's head. However, this one was filled with memorable and extreme moments.

14 Shawn Michaels and Undertaker. Was this a feud or just a serious of really good matches? I'm not going to dispute how great these two were in the ring, but I don't really think that constitutes a feud?

13 Triple H and The Rock. Now this is a feud. From the very beginning these two evolved their rivalry, from simple one on one for a title, to faction against faction with DX and The Nation all the way to the main event WWE Championship matches. These two were just great together and despite The Rock's attempts to light up the ring with Cena, if I could get one more Rock match (apart from one against Stone Cold) this would be it.

12 John Cena and Edge. As much as I don't like John Cena, I think he brought the best out of Edge and in some ways Edge brought the best out of Cena too.

11 Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage. Certainly one of the best, a feud that went on and built for years is the sign of a great feud. It was also the greatest example of the team unification and split leading to such a wonderful feud. CM Punk's description through this is wonderful to watch.

10 Tully Blanchard and Magnum TA. Yes, because everyone remembers this, right? I mean I'm sure it was fabulous, but this feud means absolutely nothing to me.

9 Undertaker and Kane. A perfect feud and certainly one that had a great story and psychology behind it. The matches these two had were amazing and at times it seemed like such a pefect match for both. A great feud, but it shouldn't be this high.

8 Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz. Finally one that I whole heartedly agree with. There has never been a greater bunch of tag team wrestlers than in these three teams. Yes, I know I love The Roadwarriors, but even they never had this quality of team to work with. All three made tag team wrestling the focus and this is an amazing achievements. The feuds between the three teams may have been threadbare in terms of story, but they sure made up for it in terms of entertainment.

7 Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair. A great rivalry that spanned many years. Probably one of the best NWA/WCW feuds that was ever made. Whether it was the original feud which was more about how good either of them were, to the whole Four Horseman or even the nWo side of things in the dying days of WCW these were two men who had such great chemistry because you wanted to see them wrestle and did not care about the outcome. We were the ones who would win in this.

6 Von Erichs and The Freebirds. This was one of the greatest faction feuds ever created. The Von Erichs were great and The Freebirds were even better. It was a classic good against evil or pure and right versus smug and cocky. All those people who give Michael Hayes hell for being too behind the times, it is looking at this when you think he has every right to think that he kows what he's doing as a booker. This was a feud that spanned many years and was wonderful.

5 Stone Cold and The Rock. One of the best feuds that has ever been and certainly one of the best ongoing feuds that spanned a number of years and a number of matches. This wasn't just one or two great matches (as some of this list appear to be) this was a wide range of matches and really both got the best out of each other.

4 Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. This was an event, but certainly should not be this high. This was a couple of matches and though the whole build to Wrestlemania 3 was amazing it's certainly not the greatest.

3 Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Woooo! If there was ever a feud that said the best technical wrestling of all time. This is it. This is the best example of the best of wrestling and if anyone wants to see the best, this is it. This would have been my number two.

2 Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. I feel that Montreal is peppered on this selection. I don't think they ever really had a rivalry, they just had a few great matches. However, I understand why they would be this high and I can't argue because they were that great in the ring. Personally Bret's feud with Stone Cold is probably more memorable.

1 Stone Cold and Mr McMahon. What else could it be? The rivalry that saved the company. The story that got me watching wrestling again. The best damn feud that has ever been and when you consider they only ever had a few matches it makes it even better. This was all about story and the story was amazing. Each week McMahon would make a rule and each week Austin would find a way of breaking it. Well deserved and certainly the best rivalry ever.

The set itself comes with two disks with many matches from the rivalries, but it doesn't include them all which is a bit bizarre. Looking over what is included, many (but not all) I scratch my head and can think of many other examples of better matches to sum up the rivalry.
Included are Hogan vs Piper from The War to Settle the Score, which is great, though probably should have been their Wrestlemania match. Tully Blanchard vs Magnum TA in an I Quit Steel Cage match is amazing and certainly a highlight. A tag match between Kevin and Kerry Von Erich and Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts from The Freebirds is great, though they should have included some of the amazing three man matches that the two teams had. Tazz vs Sabu and Tommy Dreamer vs Raven are great and certainly show why the rivalries deserved to be here.

It's here where the real quality ends as it seems the rest has just been cobbled together with what they had lying around. The lack of a CM Punk/Cena or a Dudley/Hardy/Edge and Christian match is also a shocker.

Bruiser Brody against Abdullah the Butcher is just violence and not even in the ECW having a meaning behind it all way. Bizarrely they include Hogan and Savage against Million Dollar Man and Andre the Giant. Is this supposed to be for the whole Hogan/Andre rivalry? Should have been the Hogan/Andre match either at Wrestlemania 3 or from Saturday Night's Main Event when Hogan lost the title. Also included is Undertaker vs Mankind from King of the Ring... no not the Hell in the Cell match, but their first match, which was fine, but they had better matches.

John Cena against Edge in a Steel Cage is fine, but I think they had better matches throughout their feud. Kurt Angle against Brock Lesnar is again fine, but they should have included either their Wrestlemania 19 match or their Iron Man match even if it was just highlights. Triple H against The Rock from Backlash is a good match, but again their Iron Man match from the following month was so much better and even their Ladder Match from Summerslam 1998 would have been a better pick. As for the Stone Cold against The Rock match, how could they have chosen a random match from Rebellion, other than for the 'it's obscure' factor? It would have been better to have included at least one of their Wrestlemania matches.

As for the greatest feud of all time? Do they include their awesome match that never was from Raw? Or their steel cage match with one of the best bumps of all time? No they include Stone Cold against Vince and Shane in the Ladder Match from King of the Ring 1999. A terrible match and to be honest a ten minute highlight reel of all the things Austin has done to McMahon would have been better.

The Top Twenty-Five Rivalries is a so-so set. In a way it was exactly how I expected it. I expected to scratch my head at half of the list, scream at things being too high or too low and to generally be satisfied with most of the top ten. The extra matches are fine, but I do feel that they could have been a bit more selective in their choices as some felt a little weak. I enjoyed the set and most of what was on offer, but when I came to the two disks I found that I didn't really want to watch much of it and felt that maybe with these types of sets they should stop including matches and maybe just include highlight reels and more promos to show just why we should care about the subject. Sure the rivalries may have been great in 1983, but thirty years later will we still feel the same. All in all it is a good set, just not one that I feel is essential to a wrestling fans' collection.