WWE has had some amazing rivalries throughout the years. We have had Hogan/Andre, Bret/HBK, Rock/Austin and Triple H/Mick Foley just to name a few. Everyone talks about feuds and rivalries from the these eras but not a lot about feuds from the current era, which is a shame, because there are plenty of great tales to be told during these times. This list will include rivalries only from feuds happening around the start of 2002. Yes, WWE wasn't PG just yet but they will be included as well.
10. Sasha Banks VS Charlotte - After the departure of great women like Trish Stratus and Lita, women's wrestling in WWE was really nothing more than an intermission for fans. Sure, there were great champions like Melina and Michelle McCool who put on great matches with one another but it seemed like WWE was forever set with the mindset that women would always be in that position. Then, NXT comes along and the women's division down there starts to get some buzz and becomes one of NXT's core strengths. There are two women who can say they helped generate that buzz and that's Charlotte and Sasha Banks.
BFFs
Charlotte and Sasha kind of have the same start story at NXT. They were just all giggles to be apart of the business and not really sure WHO they were just let. Sasha evolved into this egotistical and self centered character who called herself The Boss of NXT. Charlotte started to live off of her last name Flair and considered herself at the top of the division due to being genetically superior. They eventually teamed up and along with Summer Rae, they were the BFFs. As Charlotte continued to dominate, they eventually disbanded and after Charlotte defeated Bayley and Sasha wanted to pick off the scraps, Charlotte attacked Sasha. This would start one of the best women's feuds in WWE history.
Sasha Banks called out Charlotte after a couple of wins and wanted the NXT Women's Title which Charlotte had for a majority of 2014. This led to the best singles woman match in WWE that year at R Evolution. These two ladies fought like men. I don't mean that to be sexist but WWE has a certain style with their Divas and Charlotte and Sasha were not fighting like them at all. Charlotte would quell Sasha's attempts that night and a couple weeks later in the MAIN EVENT of a NXT episode. Sasha would get her moment though as in February, she won a Fatal Four Way for the title which also included Bayley and Becky Lynch. There was a brief show of respect after the match but it was clear that this conflict was far from over.
Sasha won the rematch and went to feud with Lynch, beating her in the most technically sound women's wrestling match of all time. Sasha was on top of the world and with no allies when Emma and Dana Brooke came around to mess with the Boss. With no other options, Charlotte came to help her rival out, with the condition of owing her one. The one thing Charlotte wanted was a NXT Women's Title match. They had a fantastic contest in another NXT main event but Sasha was able to tap out Charlotte. With Charlotte on the main roster now, it was all but certain that this would be her last match in NXT. They both knew this and although bitter rivals, they embraced and both had tears in their eyes. Kayfabe was broken a bit but no one cared. This two ladies tore NXT barriers down and it was now time to tear the same barriers down on the main roster.
Out of all of the feuds on this list, this one is far from over. What these two ladies started in NXT won't be finished until these two ladies main event some type of WWE event. They already had the honor to main event the show's first live event from Philadelphia so they want to reach that level again. This will be on my predictions for 2016 in my big end of the year post but I truly believe these ladies won't be satisfied until they get to Wrestlemania. Charlotte is the Divas Champion and Sasha is now without the NXT Women's Title or direction. Wrestlemania is a couple of months away. There's a good chance that this rivalry will continue very shortly and why not? If these two start to wrestle on a consistent basis for the main roster, everyone will be in for a real treat. Sasha Banks VS Charlotte can go down as the best women's rivalry ever and the scary thing is that it hasn't even really gotten started yet.
9. Nexus VS WWE - Change. This feud centered around it. 7 men (originally 8) who would not stand by and wait their turn. These guys wanted it and decided to take it for themselves. This was the best thing going in 2010 and if it had a better conclusion, it certainly would be higher on the list.
John Cena and CM Punk were locked in an intense main event on the June 7th 2010 episode of Raw. During the match, Wade Barrett, winner of season 1 of NXT, stood on the ramp. As he started walking, other eliminated participants from the show came through the crowd, names like Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, David Otunga, Darren Young, Skip Sheffield and one day member Daniel Bryan. They came out and caused widespread mayhem, beating up Cena, the Straight Edge Society, the announcers, and all other WWE staff that was ringside. Cena was the brunt of the attack though and they left him lying in the ring as Raw went off the air. It was one of the most shocking and different moments in Monday Night Raw history. They were far from over though as in the coming weeks, they attacked various legends, Vince McMahon himself, and even cost Cena his title at the Fatal Four Way PPV a couple weeks after their debut. While I have Nexus VS WWE, it was really Cena who was always front and center for the length of the feud.
Pack of wolves...
After costing Cena his rematch at Money in the Bank, Cena gathered a group of 7 stars to face The Nexus in the main event of SummerSlam. One of his member included Daniel Bryan, who was kicked out of the group after choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his tie during the initial Nexus debut. Although The Nexus was riding a wave of momentum and were booked as a dominant and cohesive group, it was John Cena in a matter of seconds who was able to take out Gabriel and Barrett to win the match for his team. This would be the beginning of the end for the group and the feud. Barrett would use his guaranteed title opportunity at Night of Champions and join Orton, Edge, Jericho, Cena and Sheamus in a 6 Pack Challenge match. Barrett would eliminate Cena but was unsuccessful in winning the title. The biggest match in the rivalry was next as Cena and Barrett would battle one on one at the next PPV Hell in a Cell. If Barrett won, Cena would join The Nexus. If Cena won, The Nexus would be disbanded. With the help of two season 2 NXT competitors Husky Harris (Bray Wyatt) and Michael McGillicutty (Curtis Axel), Barrett pinned Cena and forced him into the group.
Barrett would try to win the title with Cena's help but was unsuccessful on both tries, the latter try saw John Cena as the special referee in the WWE Title match at Survivor Series with the stipulation being that if Orton retained the title, Cena would have to quit WWE. Orton won so Cena was gone...for a couple weeks and beat Barrett in the main event of TLC in a Chairs match. At the end of the PPV, Cena led Barrett up to the stage area, where they had chairs hung up in decoration for the PPV. Cena let loose a dozen chairs with Barrett underneath them, essentially ending the 6 month rivalry with that. Punk would take leadership of Nexus at the end of 2010 and Cena would again destroy the NEW Nexus with his elimination of most of the group in the Royal Rumble.They never returned to the same power under the leadership of Punk and slowly disbanded after Punk entered the main event scene in the summer of 2011.
The Nexus was an amazing angle that had an unfortunate and abrupt conclusion. I understand Cena was the face of the company but did he really have to go over at SummerSlam 2010? Cena hasn't won a SummerSlam since! There were just a lot of bad decisions that stopped The Nexus in its tracks. Barrett not winning the title and The New Nexus not feuding with The Corre were other mindless bad decisions that should have happened. Regardless, if you just look at the start of the angle to Survivor Series, it was one of the best feuds WWE put on and if it had a better longterm conclusion, it could have been the best feud of all time. It's still good though looking back at what was and what could have been.
8. Randy Orton VS Christian - Before we get deep in this list, if you're expecting to see Cena/Orton on here, you won't. In my opinion, neither man was a good rival to one another. The only thing they had in common was the fact they debuted in the same year. WWE made them rivals. Anyway, Orton's best opponent was Christian and their rivalry that dominated the main event scene on Smackdown for 5 months was fantastic but if not drawn out.
Edge had announced that he was going to be retiring so his World Title was going to be vacant and a match at Extreme Rules would take place to determine who was going to be the new champion. Christian and Del Rio fought in a Ladder Match which saw Christian win his first World Title. It looked like Christian was going to cover the spot that Edge had. Yeah, that didn't happen. Randy Orton was drafted to Smackdown the Monday before Extreme Rules and many thought that he would be the face of Smackdown, similar to how Cena is the face of Raw. At the Smackdown tapings, Orton received a title match against Christian and defeated him to win the World Title, a title he hadn't held in 7 years. Christian got his rematch at Over the Limit but lost in a great match.
Christian would turn heel before their 3rd encounter at Capitol Punishment, which again, saw Christian losing. Christian would get another title match at Money in the Bank with the stipulation that if Orton was DQed, he would lose the World Title. During their match, Christian stooped to a new low and spat directly in Orton's face, with a bit of it getting in his mouth. Orton snapped and kicked Christian below the belt right in front of the ref, ending the match and giving Christian his 2nd and final World Title reign. Guess what happened next? Another rematch! Orton and Christian had an amazing No Hold Barred match for the title which ended similar to how their first match ending, a springboard RKO except this time, it was on the steel steps. Orton regained the title and would defeat Christian one last time in a Steel Cage match on Smackdown.
Out of the 6 matches, their first match, the Over the Limit match and the SummerSlam match all stand out as some of the best matches in 2011. It's not higher on the list because of how drawn out it was. They literally focused solely on these two for 5 months straight and had 6 different title matches. That's a lot. I understand it was all to get Orton over as the face of Smackdown but it definitely hurt the brand and other stars on the show. The reason it's on here is not only because it was a great feud for both men but it provided Orton with a veteran opponent to push him to the next level. Since this feud, Orton has had better matches with everyone he competes with. It's definitely from his battles with Christian in 2011. It sucks Christian only won ONE of the matches and that was by DQ but Orton has never looked back since this feud.
7. The Rock VS John Cena - This is a feud that was told over three Wrestlemanias. It was a feud that started outside the ring. This is a feud that wrestling fans past and present wanted to answer the question many had since Cena's ascension; who was the better superstar?
John Cena has been very vocal about The Rock and his commitment to WWE. His frustrations were simple; how can you say you love something yet you're never around it? How can you say you care about the fans yet you are trying to distance yourself away from the world of pro wrestling? Cena rose valid points. Anyway, WWE announced that Wrestlemania 27 was going to be getting a guest host. The Rock was what everybody wanted but it didn't seem likely. When it came time to announce who it was, WWE tried its best to keep it under wraps as they revealed a pair of women legs getting out of a car. After a couple moments of hype, The Rock's music hit and the entire pro wrestling world exploded. I know I did. The Rock addressed John Cena and made fun of his colors and whole shtick. It was funny. The weeks leading to Wrestlemania featured the two talking about each other and The Miz, who was WWE Champion heading into the event. The Raw before Wrestlemania saw John Cena deliver an Attitude Adjustment to The Rock and would have dire consequences for Cena. Once the match between Cena and Miz ended in a double countout at Mania, Rocky restarted the match with no DQs or countouts. This led to Rock hitting a Rock Bottom on Cena, which allowed Miz to cover him and retain the title. The next night, history was made, as Rock and Cena agreed to a match at Wrestlemania the next year.
They built to the match with verbal spars, rap battles and they even teamed with each other at Survivor Series 2011 in the main event. Cena had a particularly great promo the night after he defeated Kane at Elimination Chamber. Regardless, Wrestlemania 28 came around and it was finally time for the two to do battle. Since it was Once in a Lifetime, they were given the main event. Rock and Cena battled for a half hour in a great match that lived up to the hype. After taunting Rock, a desperate Cena attempted The People's Elbow and got caught with a Rock Bottom. In one of the worse Wrestlemania decisions ever, the old guard defeated the new blood as Rock was able to defeat Cena. He cut a promo on the Raw afterwards and declared that he wanted to be WWE Champion and then left. Say what you will about Cena but his points were valid. This would start a horrible year for John Cena and probably his worse one since he became Super Cena.
John Cena would bounce back as he won the 2013 Royal Rumble. At the same event, Rock became the WWE Champion, ending the historic reign of CM Punk in one of the worse Royal Rumble PPV decisions ever. Rock beat Punk in the rematch and the main event was set....almost. Punk wanted in badly so he challenged Cena for the position which Cena defended in a match of the year contender. The rematch was set as Cena was looking to achieve redemption from his loss to Rock at WM28. Cena's resolve was true and he was able to defeat The Rock and win his 11th WWE Title. Yes, 11th. Respect was shown between the two Rock raised Cena's hand in victory and accepted he was the better man, the same way Hogan did to him at WM18. The torch was finally passed.
John Cena VS The Rock was the match everyone wanted to see. It was a match everyone wanted because they knew Cena wouldn't win, which was true for the first match. As the rematch drew near, people knew Cena was leaving with the title and the mystery of conclusion was lost. Regardless, the feud was highly anticipated and was great. A third match between the two? Only time will tell.
6. Brock Lesnar VS The Undertaker - The Undertaker is one of the most dominant forces in WWE history. There aren't a lot of guys who have a winning record against him but there is one superstar. No, not Shawn Michaels, BROCK LESNAR. Let's start from the beginning.
Flashback to 2002, Brock Lesnar was WWE's biggest thing. He was an absolute beast and virtually unstoppable during his run. He had just defeated The Rock to win his first WWE Championship and was on top of the world. There would be no rematch with The Rock as he went back to Hollywood so WWE needed to give Lesnar a feasible challenger. They give him The Undertaker. Undertaker and Lesnar did battle at the next PPV Unforgiven, which ended in a no contest. The best thing about the match? Taker sending Lesnar straight through the Unforgiven sign. There was only one match that could contain these two stars. The Undertaker's speciality, Hell in a Cell. They would battle at No Mercy 2002.
This Hell in a Cell was vicious. In the storyline, Taker's hand was broken and he brought a cast in the match with him. Taker would use the cast as a weapon but Lesnar would try his best to take the cast off. The match was bloody, violent and a fantastic way to end their initial feud. It also showcased one of the best counters in WWE history when Lesnar reversed the Tombstone into a thunderous F5. Brock Lesnar would win this match and end their first feud. They would meet again in the main event of No Mercy 2003, a rare time where the same superstars main evented the same PPV back to back. This time, Lesnar was Vince McMahon's croney and their match was a Biker Chain match. Basically, there was a chain on a pole and if you climb up and get it, you could use it. It was a great physical contest but thanks to Vince, Lesnar was able to again retain his title against The Undertaker. They still weren't done just yet.
Lesnar was gone from WWE for 8 years, between 2004-2012 and during that time, Lesnar was in UFC. During one of the UFC PPVs, Undertaker and Lesnar had a brief stare down and many questioned if it was possible if the two would wrestle once more. Fans got their wish as Taker and Lesnar would do battle once more at Wrestlemania 30, 10 years after their last match at No Mercy 2003. This would lead to the most shocking moment in WWE history as Brock Lesnar would remain undefeated against Undertaker and end the undefeated streak at Wrestlemania.
Most shocking moment in WWE history
That moment brought everything to a halt and everyone had the same reaction of shock and awe. It was certainly a moment A moment Undertaker wouldn't forget. A year and a half later, Undertaker would cost Lesnar his title rematch and make his intentions clear; he wanted Lesnar one more time. Their SummerSlam rematch was a controversial affair which saw Undertaker very shadily get his first victory against Brock Lesnar. They were tied 1-1 in this feud and there was only one match that could settle this feud; Hell in a Cell. Brock Lesnar solidified his legacy by defeating The Undertaker again inside Hell in a Cell to finally end their long feud.
There was no other star who gave Undertaker trouble quite like Brock Lesnar. One of the only superstars with a winning record against Undertaker, Lesnar is Hall of Fame bound thanks to his complete dominance over The Deadman. When these two locked up, it wasn't a pretty affair but it certainly made for great television. Their brawl on Raw this past year was one of the better segments on Raw. Lesnar and Taker was a great feud because of the wars these two men had. It also provided the most shocking moment in wrestling history so that alone provides intrigue for the entire feud.
5. Edge VS The Undertaker - Smackdown was treated to its best ever feud for the World Title with these two. Although viewed as the B show, these two didn't treat their feud as such and was the most consistently great thing about WWE in 2008. Like many of these great feuds, this started the year before.
In May 2007, Undertaker was the reigning World Champion but he was injured. WWE had to have him drop the title to someone quickly. Mr. Kennedy was the current MITB holder but he was injured as well. Enter Edge, who was without any real direction and locked in a feud with Randy Orton. WWE did the first and only ever MITB switch, as Edge defeated Kennedy to win the briefcase on Raw one night. The next night at the Smackdown tapings, after a brutal steel cage match against Batista, Edge would cash in MITB and become the World Heavyweight Champion, going to Smackdown in the process. Injuries would plague Edge as well and eventually he had to relinquish the title. Eventually, Edge would cost Taker the title in his Hell in a Cell feud ender with Batista and then Edge regained the World Title the next month. You still with me?
Undertaker won a #1 contender's Elimination Chamber match to earn the right to face Edge at Wrestlemania 24. The story was set; both guys undefeated in singles matches on the big show, a feud 9 months in the making, all coming to a head at Wrestlemania. Edge and Taker were able to main event the show, over HBK/Flair and more surprisingly Orton/HHH/Cena. Edge and Taker did not disappoint in their first official meeting, stealing the show with their main event. In the end, it ended like all Undertaker matches at Wrestlemania at that point; with Undertaker as the victor. There would be two rematches and in the rivalry and the title would be vacant due to Taker using his at the time banned submission move. Undertaker won both rematches, one by submission, the other by countout. Their last match for the World Title took place at One Night Stand in Edge's specialty type of match, the Tables, Ladder and Chairs match. There was an added stipulation on the match though. If Undertaker loss, he would have to retire. As hard fight and plenty of interference, Edge was able to put Undertaker away after pushing him off a ladder through four tables. Their last match would take place at SummerSlam, inside Hell in a Cell. This was the first example of a fantastic PG Hell in a Cell, where no blood was needed to show the brutality of the match. Undertaker won and sent Edge to Hell, officially ending their year long feud.
Undertaker and Edge were pure magic in the ring. Accompanied by a great story and the World Title, it was no wonder why they were able to main event over the WWE Title matches on the so called A Show. These two men never had a bad match and were able to provide something different throughout their 5 PPV match feud. I can't pick which one was the best but their feud was one of the best feuds in Smackdown history. Edge's feud with Cena showed that Edge could be a main event star but his feud with Taker solidified his position as a power player in WWE. More on Edge and Cena later. Anyway, fantastic feud that didn't disappoint.
4. Triple H VS Randy Orton - The old teacher VS protege story. It's a basic but replicated feud that has been done plenty of times and it was done very well when Triple H and Randy Orton would do battle.
We all know the story of Evolution. The group led by Triple H and included Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Batista. The group is well known for its dominance during the post Attitude Era, winning all the titles possible on Raw back in 2003. The group was made by Triple H to focus on the future of WWE and Orton was the first star to break out. Randy Orton won a battle royal to become the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, which he won at the following SummerSlam to become the youngest World Champion in history. It's a record that still holds to this day. Triple H wasn't too happy about his protege beating Chris Benoit for the title as it was something Triple H himself wasn't able to do so on the Raw following SummerSlam, Evolution turned their back on Orton and Triple H would take the title from Orton at the next PPV thanks to his Evolution brethren.
The feud would continue for the rest of the year and into the next, where Triple H would defeat a concussed Orton at the Royal Rumble. Orton would later be busy with Undertaker and Smackdown for the remainder of 2005 while Batista would get his shot at being the man after winning the Royal Rumble. While Triple H and Orton would meet again the following year as apart of the DX and Rated RKO feud, their next big step wasn't until late 2007.
Triple H was injured in his tag title war with Rated RKO at New Year's Revolution in 2007. Orton used the following months to turn into more of a vicious heel character who would prey on his opponent's head and started using the now famous Punt. His vicious streak earned him a shot at Cena and they entered their feud which was cut short by the legit injury to Cena. Without any other options, WWE awarded the title to Randy Orton at No Mercy 2007, giving him his first WWE Championship and first World Title in 3 years. Triple H would taunt Orton into a title match which Triple H won but Orton won the title back in the main event in a Last Man Standing match. It was the first time that Orton beat Triple H for a championship after losing three straight times to him in title one on one matches.
Orton would dominate Raw as WWE Champion and even escaped Wrestlemania 24 with the title after defeating Cena and Triple H. The next month at Backlash, Orton would lose the title to Triple H and would be unsuccessful in his attempts to get it back at Judgment Day and One Night Stand. Orton got injured in his Last Man Standing rematch at ONS and was put on the shelf. Orton came back even more vicious than before and in 2009, attacked Vince McMahon, which led to his Royal Rumble 2009 win. He last eliminated Triple H to win the match. Orton had already kicked Vince in the head and then he defeated Shane at No Way Out. The next night, Orton kicked Shane in the head which drew Stephanie to the ring and Orton hit his RKO on her. Triple H showed up and since he won the title at NWO the night before, a title match between the two was in the works. Orton claimed he had done all of this to get back at Triple H for his Evolution exit and wanted to take everything away from Triple H. It was unsuccessful as Triple H did what he does best against Orton in title matches; beat him. Orton would dethrone Triple H at the next PPV and put Triple H out for a couple of weeks. They would have a Three Stages of Hell match at The Bash, which Orton won. They would be apart of other title matches with other stars but this was the last time these two fought of the title one on one. After their feuds, they joined together in The Authority in 2013 and was very close to being apart of a title match together at Wrestlemania 30.
Randy Orton VS Triple H was a bloody and personal feud. It started with being a protege VS teacher story and turned into a twisted story of revenge the second time they fought. It was always something different when these two got into the ring and while their Wrestlemania 25 main event match wasn't their best piece of work, the personal animosity and realness of the feud pushed it to close to the top of the list. Will we ever see one last match between the two? Regardless, it's still a fantastic journey these two have had.
3. Daniel Bryan VS The Authority - Stone Cold and Vince McMahon had what many call the best rivalry of all time. It was employee VS boss which fulfilled the fantasy of every worker who watched WWE. Daniel Bryan's fight with The Authority from 2013-2014 was that feud incarnated, just with different partners.
Daniel Bryan was on a mega roll in the summer of 2013. The Summer of the Dragon was in full effect and he was the most over star in the WWE. WWE knew this and on a Raw, WWE Champion John Cena was able to pick his own SummerSlam opponent. Cena picked Bryan and they did battle in the main event of SummerSlam. Bryan won with a Running Knee and dethroned the champ in a clean victory. Bryan's first run with the WWE Title didn't last long as Mr. Money in the Bank Randy Orton came out to cash in. Bryan was ready so Orton retreated until Triple H hit the Pedigree on Bryan, allowing Orton to get the championship. This was the formation of The Authority.
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon didn't want Bryan as the face of the company, calling him a B+ player and not worthy like their hand picked guy Randy Orton. Orton and Bryan would main event the next three PPVs, all ending in controversial fashion. Bryan won the title back at Night of Champions due to a fast count then got stripped of the title the next night due to the fast county. Neither man won at Battleground due to The Big Show knocking both men out. Orton won inside Hell in a Cell thanks to Shawn Michaels and that ended the feud there. WWE had Orton and Bryan go their separate ways with Bryan staying out of the title picture. This did not please fans and they made their voices heard during the WWE Title match at Survivor Series, which featured Orton defending against The Big Show. It was a horrible main event. This was followed by the decision to unify the titles together. Guess who was World Champion at the time? John Cena! So WWE did Orton VS Cena at TLC in a TLC match for both titles. The Raw before TLC was in Seattle, which is Bryan's hometown and during the main event segment, they had all the roster out in the ring while they talked about the prestige of both titles. The crowd would not stop chanting for Bryan which made Cena and The Authority acknowledge. This continued into the new year and came to a head at the Royal Rumble.
Bryan was locked into a major feud with The Wyatt Family and was defeated by Bray Wyatt in the first match at the Royal Rumble. Despite his loss, many were looking forward to seeing Bryan in the Rumble match and somehow win it to make it to Mania. Rey Mysterio entered at #30 and the crowd, who was already upset due to the Cena/Orton match, booed. They BOOED Rey Mysterio. They booed face Batista. The crowd was not happy at all. The final two came down to Reigns and Batista and the whole crowd wanted Reigns to win (ironic) but Batista won to a chorus of boos. This is called the worst Royal Rumble of all time by many and that wasn't a good thing, especially with the release of the WWE Netowrk looming. Daniel Bryan was put back in the title picture as Elimination Chamber drew near. He lost but the seeds were definitely there and a Bryan title match at Mania looked likely.
Bryan took the ring with dozens of fans one Raw in March and demanded a match with Triple H at Wrestlemania with the stipulation being that if Bryan won, he would be put into the WWE Title match with Orton and Batista. Triple H agreed and we were set. Triple H also added that if he won, he would himself be in the title match as well. Wrestlemania came and Daniel Bryan upset Triple H in the first match of the night and went onto win the title in the main event in one of the most heartwarming and deserving moments in WWE history. Bryan would be riddled with injuries since then but this was his moment.
Bryan's struggle with The Authority was something everyone watching could relate to. If you work, I'm sure you've been faced with being called not good enough or not being treated like you're worth much. Bryan's story was something everyone watching could relate to and we could all live vicariously through Daniel Bryan. Bryan had unfortunate circumstances after his rise but the 8 month feud with the Authority was some of the best work WWE produced during this era.
2. John Cena VS CM Punk - John Cena and CM Punk's feud is the reason WWE is in the state it's in now. Without the outspoken rant of CM Punk, WWE may still be in the stale state of mind now. Let's talk Punk/Cena.
CM Punk and Cena wrestled before their big feud, in fact, they were apart of the main event the night The Nexus debuted on Raw. After Cena's initial feud with the renegade group, CM Punk entered the mix and became the leader. Cena and Punk had a couple matches on Raw, which Punk won by count-out and they entered the Royal Rumble in 2011 as heavy favorites. Cena ended the feud by eliminating Nexus in the Royal Rumble. The rest you already know but I'll go over it again.
Punk won a Triple Threat #1 Contender's match which featured Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio, all guys who aren't in the company anymore, and announced his intent to leave Money in the Bank AND the WWE with the WWE Championship. This led to the next week, where CM Punk aired out his frustrations in the now infamous Pipebomb promo, which started a change in direction in WWE. This was followed by the magical night in Chicago at MITB, one of the best WWE PPVs ever produced, where CM Punk would dethrone John Cena for the title and 'leave' the company the next day.
Since Punk left the company with the title, WWE had to crown a new champion, which led to Rey Mysterio winning his first and only WWE Championship. He lost in the same night to John Cena, who was then upstaged by a returning Punk with the true WWE Title. The main event of SummerSlam was set and with Triple H as the referee, Punk went over Cena again, this time, the victory was a little more controversial due to Cena having his foot on the rope and HHH missing the call, but regardless, Punk won. They would go their separate ways from here, only to meet again the following year on the 1000th episode of Raw.
Cena just won his first MITB and intended to do the right thing and give the champion notice before doing so. This led to the main event of that Raw and Cena beating Punk by DQ due to Big Show's interference. The Rock was there as well as he made his claim to become champion at the Royal Rumble. While about to deliver the People's Elbow, Punk hit him with a clothesline and a GTS, turning heel in the process.
Cena and Punk were involved in a Triple Threat at SummerSlam and then got their one on one rematch at Night of Champions in front of Cena's hometown crowd. This was another fantastic main event between the two and was on par with their best matches. The two were scheduled to do battle inside Hell in a Cell but injury changed those plans. Cena and Punk were again involved in a Triple Threat, this time at Survivor Series, where Punk pinned Cena.
Punk would eventually lose his title to The Rock and lose his rematch. With no other options left, he had to find a way to get into the Wrestlemania main event so he challenged Royal Rumble winner John Cena to a match for his spot. This would be the last time these two would ever meet as Punk would leave the company the following year. This was another classic with both Punk and Cena pulling out all the stops, like Punk using a PILEDRIVER and Cena using a hurricanrana. This showed the desperation of both men to get to the main event of Wrestlemania. After a fantastic battle, it was Cena who prevailed.
This feud is everything. This feud was the shot of adrenaline WWE needed to get out of the disgusting funk they were in. Before this happened, PPVs were barely good outside the big 4 and even those weren't up to quality anymore i.e., Wrestlemania 27. Golden boy Cena was untouchable, no one could even beat him clean or give him a fighting chance. Guys who looked like CM Punk were ostracized and not even considered to become World champions at all. Since Punk's breakthrough, look at what has happened with WWE. Dolph Ziggler cashed in MITB to worldwide acclaim. Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins both left different Wrestlemanias as the WWE Champion. Kevin Owens defeated John Cena without any outside interference at all. WWE is more open than ever before when it comes to recruiting talent. The signings of Samoa Joe and James Storm, who were both huge names in TNA is proof enough of that. Times are indeed changing and it all started with CM Punk, a little microphone and a lot of frustration. Punk may feel sour over his time in WWE but the change he caused is still being felt today. Any feud that can change the course of a company has to be one of the greatest ever.
1. John Cena VS Edge - Polar opposites, bitter rivals, two guys who were perfect for each other. While WWE will want you to believe that Cena and Orton are the top rivalry, that's not that the case in the slightest. There's someone else who gave the Cenation leader a run for his money and that was the Rated R Superstar Edge.
Their rivalry began in 2006. During this time, John Cena was in his 1st WWE Championship reign, which he won back at Wrestlemania the year before. He had beaten every top star in his path. JBL, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels just to name a few. Cena would do battle for his title in the first PPV of the year, New Year's Revolution against 5 superstars inside the Elimination Chamber. Cena was the first one in the match and the last one to leave as he retained over HBK, Angle, Kane, Carlito and Chris Masters. Cena, a bloody mess, was welcomed by Vince McMahon's voice, telling him that Edge was cashing in his contact that HE had won at Wrestlemania 21, which again, was the same event that Cena won his title at as well. This would lead to an impromptu match for the WWE Title which Edge won after delivering two massive Spears to Cena, giving Edge his first WWE Championship. It was a moment that would define the Money in the Bank contact and its unpredictable nature, start the process to making Edge a main event player and would give John Cena his fiercest rival ever.
The two would do battle at the Royal Rumble three weeks later and Cena won the title back. Edge's title win was mainly done to increase viewership for Raw, which it successfully did. While Edge and Cena would part ways briefly, they would soon return during the summer months. Rob Van Dam entered the title picture in June and took the title away from Cena in the same way Edge did. RVD was having some problems backstage so it was decided that RVD would have to drop the title, which he did to Edge on an episode of Monday Night Raw, giving Edge title reign #2. With RVD gone, Cena and Edge had two back to back main events, one at SummerSlam in Cena's hometown and one at Unforgiven in Edge's hometown. Their best and defining match was at Unforgiven which was a TLC match. The crazy bump Edge took from atop the ladder is one of his most famous ladder moments ever. Cena would once again dethrone Edge and start his year long reign with the championship. The two would part ways as Edge would soon get the MITB briefcase and cash in for the World Title over on Smackdown, which would eventually lead him to the main event of Wrestlemania 24. This feat wouldn't have been possible without his initial feud with Cena.
The two would finally cross paths again in 2009. At the No Way Out pay per view, Edge was WWE Champion and Cena was World Heavyweight Champion. Edge lost his title in shocking fashion, being the first one eliminated from Smackdown's Elimination Chamber match. After this, Edge would attack Kofi Kingston and lock himself in a chamber during the entrance for Raw's Chamber match and ended up being included in the match because of it. Why this was allowed is unknown but it doesn't matter now. Edge made history that night and won another World Championship. Instead of leading to the much deserved one on one match at Wrestlemania between the two, they decided to add Big Show to this whole feud. This led to a Triple Threat at Wrestlemania where Cena regained the World Title. Big Show left the title picture, which gave Cena and Edge the spot they should've gotten at Wrestlemania, a main event match for the title. This was a great way to end their long 3 year feud and Edge was able to regain the championship from Cena thanks to The Big Show. The ending was fit for The Ultimate Opportunist. Edge and Cena didn't really cross paths for the remaining time in Edge's career, except at the Royal Rumble in 2010, which saw Edge eliminate Cena last to win.
Edge is probably the only guy to have a winning feud with Super Cena. This isn't the reason this is #1 but this is certainly something important to note. This feud was so amazing because these guys had instant chemistry. Just like Rock/Austin and HBK/Bret, these two were polar opposites and fed off of one another. Cena was the play it by the books company man while Edge was the rebel, stand against society villain. These two grew with one another and really needed the other to succeed in the company. Cena's first title reign ended once Edge's began. They both traded victories in each other's hometowns. Both of their characters grew with one another's. As much as WWE will try to have you believe that Orton and Cena are perfect rivals, they are only good rivals because they both came in at the same time. Edge and Cena are great rivals because they had amazing in ring chemistry, never wrestled a bad match and always remained fresh against one another, even though they had plenty of matches against each other. If there was any feud that should've been inside Hell in a Cell, it should've been Edge and John Cena. The best feud WWE has produced outside the Attitude Era.
There's a lot of other good ones I didn't cover like Jericho/HBK, Mysterio/Guerrero, Undertaker/HHH and Orton/Cena. I didn't include due to personal preference. Orton and Cena have had many battles and I enjoyed their Iron Man and 2014 Hell in a Cell but it's just not one of my favorite feuds for either star.
There you have, my favorite rivalries. I wonder what will make this list in 10 years from now? Owens/Zayn? Balor/Rollins? Cena/Corbin/ Time will certainly tell. Thanks for reading!
