One of the staples in entertainment wrestling is hardcore rivalry and the entire storylines will be falling apart without the aforementioned staple. Over the span of the last five decenniums, all the stories that have been forged have been based on some good WWE rivalry or the other.
In this story, we will try and pick out the five best rivalries of all time in the history of WWE that have defined the brilliance of entertainment wrestling. Spanning through the various eras and different wrestlers of the industry, WWE lived up to the heightened expectations when it came to the context of rivalries.
Before we lay our eyes on the best rivalries of all time, we will like to chronicle a few honourable mentions about the context of rivalries in entertainment wrestling. A few of them are Undertaker vs Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart vs Owen Hart, Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage, Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar, Brock Lesnar vs Big Show, Edge vs Mick Foley, Undertaker vs Mankind and finally Shaw Michaels vs Triple H.
#5 Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Vince McMahon
It is a hidden fetish in most employees’ life to give a middle-finger ovation to one’s boss. However, the man who could make it happen was Austin, who proudly donned on the expression of arrogance and pride when he made it happen again. It was this iconic rivalry between the two that established two exact opposite characters in the industry. It manifested SCSA as the ultimate anti-authority guy while Vince became the authority. The culmination of this explosive rivalry arrived with Stone Cold driving Vince McMahon through a table with multiple stunners one after the other, making it the most used finisher in a single WWE match.
#4 The Undertaker versus Kane
One of the most dominant tag teams of all time, towering at 6ft 10 and 7 ft respectively, The Undertaker and Kane terrorized the WWE roster with an extremely aggressive and merciless brand of wrestling. However, before they joined forces, they collided with each other in a titanic tussle of power.
Kane accompanied by Paul Bearer exploded onto the WWE scene as he tore open the cage of the steel structure to confront the Deadman. The duo shared incredible chemistry as they worked against each other and it eventually could be termed as the clash of the titans, literally.
#3 Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Bret Hart
After the infamous and indelible stunt of SCSA at the King of the Ring 1996, delivering the classic 3:16 speech, Austin’s next target was WWE’s jackpot, Bret Hart. This rivalry kick-started the attitude era for the industry and spawned two polar contrasting characters, the heel Bret Hart and the arrogant and carefree, SCSA.
The remarkable glimpse of Austin smeared in blood, refusing to tap to Hart’s sharpshooter will be etched in the memories of the WWE universe forever.
#2 Edge and Christian versus the Dudley Boyz and the Hardy brothers
This rivalry defined tag-team contests over the span of the years and also penned the most historical tag-team contest in the history of WWE. Edge and Christian were simply marvelous with their in-ring flair and also their adept ability to cut some sharp promos.
Team Extreme comprising the Hardy Brothers defied gravity while the Dudley Brothers defined in-ring wrestling, making amazing use of their body weight. These teams constantly shuffled the heel and the face status amongst themselves while the history of TLC was completely rewritten. The image of Edge spearing Jeff Hardy mid-air is another iconic scene that will invoke awe for ages to come.
#1 Bret Hart versus Shawn Michaels
The perfect blend of real-life and in-ring antiques defined the rivalry between Hart and Michaels. The duo introduced one of the most infamous wrestling moments of all time, the Montreal Screwjob.
The moment where HBK made Bret Hart tap to his own invented sharpshooter was one of the priceless moments in the chequered rivalry. Hart simply refused to drop his belt to HBK as he was headed to WCW while Michaels was hell-bent on claiming the title from one of the industry’s best.
