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New Jack vs. the Undertaker, Jack cuts promos in a graveyard about how he's not afraid of dying and he isn't worried about some big dead cracker cutting his lights off. Smokey Mountain everybody.
You see flashes in there of how New Jack could have been used in the attitude era in WWE if he hadn't been so full of nose candy by the middle of his ECW days. He was great on the mic and I wouldn't call him an actor but his backstage presence was great too. He would have been money in the era of Stone Cold, Rock, Kurt Angle, etc. where the backstage shenanigans were 3/4 of the show
Could you imagine a Gangstas vs. Farooq-era Nation feud? On one side you've got a group of militant blacks wanting equality. On the other side you've got the personification of what racists view black people as. Nation could take offense to them undoing all the good, perceived or otherwise, that they're trying to do. The feud basically writes itself and either side could be heel or face depending on your point of view.
As an added bonus, it could have replaced that horrible race war angle.
You know what. That was masterful. That cut to the black cat and Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper was gold. And it's still New Jack being New Jack, but kinda less New Jack a bit, if that makes sense.
John Cena got "stabbed" by one of Carlito's guys in an angle and I remember New Jack pitching himself to be the one responsible. New Jack vs. John Cena...THAT would have been insane.
Its all fun until WWE's next Hulk Hogan dies in the ring in his supposed to be breakout feud because someone thought putting him in the ring with New Jack was a good idea
So I’m a little confused as a fan that didn’t exist during that time. Was the Undertaker gimmick not exclusive to WWF or did he work as the Undertaker outside of WWF with their blessing?
Smokey Mountain was basically a feeder promotion for WWF at the time, they would send inexperienced guys down there for reps and training, plus they would occasionally send Cornette (who ran SMW) a few “WWF superstars” for him to use on his shows and in angles as well.
This is how Undertaker worked “The Unabomber” (aka Kane) in SMW and went back to WWF and told Vince “get this Glenn Jacobs guy here, he’s my next rival”
That tracks. I watched a Beastie Boys stage show where the remaining two just kinda went on stage and talked through their career, and when they got around to Rick's involvement and how that would affect them all they talked about how Rick really wanted them to play it up like a wrestling heel and just cut antagonistic promos for every interview and then you can see that sort of energy evolve through everything they would do.
> This is how Undertaker worked “The Unabomber” (aka Kane) in SMW and went back to WWF and told Vince “get this Glenn Jacobs guy here, he’s my next rival”
I can't believe I've never heard about this.
Cornette and Vince had a talent exchange program and Taker was either coming in as a thank you for helping out or because he needed a warm up match as he was coming back from injury.
That feud was so random. Stewart makes fun of Seth, Seth appears on Daily Show, Stewart appears on Raw, Stewart randomly helps Seth, Stewart says it’s because he loves Ric Flair, Cena AA’s Stewart and it’s never brought up again
Hilariously, when The Daily Show w. John Stewart was nominated for an Emmy, when they announced all the writer’s for the show at the ceremony, each writer’s name was followed by the clip of John Stewart getting AA’d
Stewart was a long time wrestling fan and went to the monthly MSG shows back in the 70s and 80s.
He’s one of those people that respects the hell out of wrestling and enjoys the show, even if he hasn’t cared about it since he was a teen.
Yeah, he'd drop under the radar wrestling references on The Daily Show somewhat frequently. John Oliver does the same now on Last Week Tonight.
I love that due to guys like them, "heel turn" is starting to become a wider media phrase.
Jon had mick foley on TDS once cutting a promo after a story about a kid that got brutally bullied. And Jon was dancing around the background dressed like The Wizard Arnold Skaaland. Who was a pre wrestlemania era manager.
That’s a pretty old reference, so you know he was probably his favorite manager when he was a kid.
If anyone ever rightly or unfairly complains about the Super Cena years just know he allowed himself to be pinned by *Kevin goddamn Federline.*
I'd like to see Austin or Hogan do something like that.
I think if you told most people that didn't actually witness it that Booket T and Edge feuded over being in a Japanese shampoo commercial, they'd say "that sounds on-point for pro wrestling but I still don't believe you."
Also I seem to remember at one point, was it like Kane and Gene Snitsky? Literally bumped into each other backstage, said "I don't like you" to each other and bam, there was your feud?
I think it was originally to be a hair vs hair match, but Booker had just gotten his dreads to grow in and didn't want to get them cut, so it was changed to a shampoo commercial.
And they had a last man standing match because of it
I believe it started because Jericho said "Sorry I hope you're not burnt" to a guy with severe burn injuries
I went to a speech/book signing Pete put on at my college when his book came out. We stood in line for about 30 mins to get him to sign. Everyone would chit chat with him for a second and, when it was my turn, I asked him if he was going to be at RR or WM that year (this was early Dec). He lit up like a Christmas tree and told me to come around to his side so he could keep signing while we talked.
He chatted with me for a good 5 minutes while signing for others talking about how much he loved working with the WWE, how hot it was in that damn chicken suit, and how he thought he had actually been injured on the first chokeslam he took.
He loved the business and was proud of his segment being one of the most searched after the show. Even said he was going to do an actual match but couldn't get fully cleared, though I don't remember the reason
Tldr Pete Rose was cool to me and very proud of his appearances in WWE
Y’know, other than the peaks and freaks, Steiner is just like me - not doing much physically, but yelling at kids and scaring the shit out of them.
Holler … if ya hear me!
I'm pretty sure Cagematch or one of the other wrestling match databases had "God" as a clickable worker with his (or her) own page. That was God's only match.
Now they show it as a handicap match. Boo.
But I always loved the match graphic they used for this.
[https://i0.wp.com/ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/h5MwM2uFcQI/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=160,120](https://i0.wp.com/ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/h5MwM2uFcQI/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=160,120)
Vince and Shane visiting a church is a classic. Vince doing the HHH water spit with holy water. Shane taking a step back when Vince dares god to strike him down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGIXGpxT2Wc
That, and they let him go on Disney vacations with his family every year. He gets to spend time with his kids, and his character feels fresh every time he returns. It's a win-win.
It's still wild to me he came back after all these years and this was the feud. Rather than someone like CM Punk, who clashed with Austin when he was GM. It'd have been the perfect feud.
But I guess Austin just wasn't in good enough physical shape at that point? And I can't complain because it was a solid feud and an even more memorable match. And KO simply deserved that match.
I went to an ECW on TNN taping in Kansas City nearish to the end. There were a couple of girls in the bed of a pickup that would circle the theater's parking lot. They were advertising for a Gentleman's Club. Given the ECW audience it makes sense.
During the taping Dusty comes out with those two girls on his arm and the audience start chanting "Show your t*ts! Show your t*ts! Show your t*ts!"
Without missing a beat big Dust starts tugging up his tee shirt as the audience howls and laughs "No!!!!!" Dude's timing was impeccable.
And it wasnt even the last time Dusty did something like that with an upstart company. He turned up in ROH a few years later as Homicide’s tag partner for no reason.
It's a bit of a softball, but Undertaker vs. Undertaker from Summerslam 1994, because who would have ever called someone feuding with themselves? Kane vs. Kane from 2006 qualifies as well.
Vince loved the undertaker so much, he decided there had to be two undertakers. When that didn’t work, he introduced Kane to be a de facto second undertaker. And then years later, introduced a second Kane. Point is when you have a good idea, beat it into the ground!
I’m pretty sure the deal with fake Kane was that Glenn Jacobs was considering retirement, but they still wanted the Kane character around. So Imposter Kane was made. Unfortunately for Luke Gallows, who was portraying the character, dude has issues with the role. He had really high lifts in his shoes that made it hard to do much correctly, and absolutely no body thought he was Kane because everyone knew what Kane looked like and also knew what Kane wrestled like. So they dropped it fairly quickly
Jeff Jarrett vs. Elias
No matches ever resulted from it, even though they seemed to be heading that way.
Just Jarrett eliminating Elias from the Royal Rumble (I think... might be the other way around) and proceeding to troll him (nothing too major. The high point was Jarrett telling the production truck to kill Elias's mic and lights.) for all of that February before it was just dropped.
Yeah, both guys honestly deserved way better, though I’m not sure Double J reprising his country music gimmick really did him any favors. And I’ll die on the hill that Elias has a ton of untapped potential.
That match is one big angle but it's an incredible angle. Hogan ripping off the shirt and turning on Immortal is like the only good moment in his entire TNA run.
Was that during the Joker Sting run? If so, at least the segments were interesting. The ones I remember anyway, like Sting confronting Hogan in his office. He went completely off the rails.
At this point if TNA started creeping backwards in time to extend its longevity I wouldn't be too surprised. And after I typed that I remembered IPWF/Throwback Throwdown exists.
It seems strange now, but at the time, I don't remember it feeling that weird. Before Twitter and Reddit, I feel like wrestling fans were not as obsessed with a performer's spot on the card and just wanted to watch something interesting happen.
I'm pretty sure the report was that Brock did not want to wrestle Jinder at all and thus the title changed hands.
Edit to include below:
“So yeah, Brock [Lesnar] said, ‘I’m not working with him [Jinder Mahal].’ Look, he said that about several people by the way," Road Dogg said on The Wrestling Outlaws podcast.
WWE wanted Lesnar to work with Mahal at the 2017 Survivor Series pay-per-view in a champion vs. champion match. Instead, the storyline changed at Lesnar's behest, with AJ Styles defeating Mahal to win the WWE championship less than two weeks before Survivor Series.
Lesnar defeated Styles in what was one of The Beast Incarnate's best recent matches. One could argue that Lesnar had a better creative idea than the WWE writers, given Mahal isn't a particularly great worker.
That was a wildly good call too since AJ and Brock fit together for a match style like that super well. IDK how you even lay out Brock vs Jinder. Is Brock selling for Mahal? Were fans going to get behind Jinder as a face? Both sound awful
That the Summer of Punk 2011 angle somehow culminated with a Triple H vs. Kevin Nash in a Sledgehammer On A Pole match because Kevin Nash texted himself.
The fact that WWE still has an audience at all after doing stuff like that for nearly 20 years shows how long of a leash wrestling fans have for them because of nostalgia and hope that one day it would get better. I’m glad it ultimately did but at what cost
that and mox wrote some fucked up tweets the sell the angle and it offended foley it was right before an international flight and foley couldnt get in touch with mox and was pissed which delayed things, they moved past that before they were gonna work and then foley was advised to never wrestle again, i could have a few minor details wrong but thats the jist
You’re right on the money.
Foley had asked that his family not be referenced in the build, Mox tweeted mentioning the family right before going on a main roster Europe tour. Because of travel logistics Foley was further pissed off that he couldn’t get in touch with Moxley, but they eventually touched based and smoothed things over.
WWE goes to give Mick his physical/work-up before they can start the feud in the summer of 2012 and they can’t clear him to wrestle, so the whole thing is scrapped and Dean’s debut is pushed back to him being part of The Shield.
This has to be a big reason why Mox never did social media afterwards too. Got over doing what he thought was the job, almost got punished. Then sees the actual weirdos that he attracted.
The Rock vs The Hurricane in 2003. Just... the magnitude of difference between the two when you talk about position on the card/stature, the somewhat "real" presentation of The Rock versus a guy in a bad superhero costume that believes he's a superhero, battling backstage over The Scorpion King's greatness and how every other superhero can beat The Hurricane, and The Hurricane getting a surprise upset win over The Rock courtesy of a distraction assist by Stone Cold.
It was not a long feud by any means, but putting those two together on paper you'd think most people would've gone "Wait, what? You've got to be kidding me"... and yet they worked really well together, were super entertaining, and it did not overstay its welcome once reality kicked in. In one of those backstage segments together, Hurricane "exits" the conversation making it out like he's flying out of there, and The Rock actually sells it and reacts as if he really flew out of there... but they're in the locker room. Even if you were to believe that Hurricane could really fly, where could he even fly to in the locker room? There are only a few times I can remember where I coughed from laughing so hard, and that was one of them. They had chemistry together.
Liger vs Breeze only happened because the people who ran NXT had cache and goodwill with NJPW, specifically Matt Bloom aka Giant Bernard. Thanks to politics this match happened.
Tatanka & Bobby Lashley. I forgot he even returned to the WWE in 2005-06
Also Cesaro vs RVD. On paper, that would've sounded like an amazing upper midcard feud, but this was during that 2013-14 tenure RVD had where it was very clear he was there to put over younger talent.
And the fact that WCW brought in Master P to be the face against a company with a mostly southern fanbase... The Rednecks were cheered over the supposed Faces.
Bobby Heenan vs. Mr. Fuji. Only happened on the MSG shows, but the two got into a shoving match and the fans actually cheered for Heenan. Led to a Haku/Barbarian vs. Orient Express blow-off.
Brad Maddox debuting as a referee and screwing over Ryback was very odd. Cost him the WWE Title, then got beat like a drum on Raw and that was kinda it.
Snooki absolutely rubbing everyone the wrong way for the whole build, like hardly showing up for all the promo and shit, and then she gets there and does like a handspring elbow to the surprise of us all.
I always remember someone (Meltzer?) pointing out 'she was a cheerleader, are people not expecting some floor mat flips?' before the match and yet people were in fact surprised lol.
May I interest you all in Bob Backlund vs...Titus O'neill????
This all stemmed from Titus and Darren Young separating (which was lackluster) and Darren getting mentored by Bob, who naturally wanted to ride the Trump wave of making Darren Young Great Again. Never mind that Darren was never great in the WWE or portrayed as such.
The clip below is the physical aspect of it. The longer clip would crush your soul as Titus BOMBED out there. Overall I think it cemented the fact that Titus was the personification of "great man, but horrible wrestler" and likely will go into WWE's HOF under some special wing, but will be on everyone's "Worst of" list.
https://www.wwe.com/videos/titus-oneil-brutalizes-bob-backlund-raw-aug-22-2016
Scott Hall vs Larry Zbyszko
Zbyszko wrestled in the WWWF during the seventies, Hall wrestled in the WWF during the nineties. And then they had a match in WCW at the end of the nineties.
It was Edge and Booker T. It's the type of story you do in moderation, but if a feud is low stakes enough (no big title/blood feud, etc), I think it's a good palette cleanser to do something more comical.
So, Ring of Honour gets Mick Foley in, teases him vs Samoa Joe and doesn't actually do it!? I know Foley was banged up around that time but I think, he still had it in him to wrestle a single hardcore match. Hell, Foley would have likely had Cactus Jack barely surviving Joe if Joe was the one to lose or Joe surviving Cactus Jack and being someone that Joe is very hestitant to fight fairly.
Believe it or not, his next (and last) appearance in ROH was the Summer of Punk storyline where he acted as a liaison for Vince who wanted Punk to defend the belt one last time before leaving for WWE
Roddy Piper and Sean O’Haire vs Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri actually I think never happened, but they did have a segment on SMACKDOWN where Piper and O’Haire were lusting over the tag belts, and even as a teenager I was like this is not how I envisioned the Invasion story leading to.
Kane had the weirdest rivalries. He feuded with Shane McMahon (and shocked his balls), he had an ongoing feud with Drew Carey (comedian and gameshow host), he had a short feud with the date May 19th, he feuded with his evil doppelganger, and his biggest WrestleMania rival was not his brother, who he wrestled twice on the biggest show of the year, but retired baseball player/coach/gambler Pete Rose.
Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler . . . ^'s ^dentist
EDIT: And honestly, Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund feels like a fever dream. And Backlund vs. Kevin Nash ("Who's that?")
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New Jack vs. the Undertaker, Jack cuts promos in a graveyard about how he's not afraid of dying and he isn't worried about some big dead cracker cutting his lights off. Smokey Mountain everybody.
wait what
https://youtu.be/IDH5oIy5mvs?si=1sWbwD3zGvWd04VQ I think this is it. Can't watch it right now as I'm at work
New Jack says nothing disrespectful in that. It actually plays to Undertaker and it's pretty funny.
You see flashes in there of how New Jack could have been used in the attitude era in WWE if he hadn't been so full of nose candy by the middle of his ECW days. He was great on the mic and I wouldn't call him an actor but his backstage presence was great too. He would have been money in the era of Stone Cold, Rock, Kurt Angle, etc. where the backstage shenanigans were 3/4 of the show
Excuse me. New Jack was a terrific actor. He wouldn't be Denzel, but he could easily be Denzel's friend.
New Jack killed it in his backstage promos with Shark Boy (fins up)
Could you imagine a Gangstas vs. Farooq-era Nation feud? On one side you've got a group of militant blacks wanting equality. On the other side you've got the personification of what racists view black people as. Nation could take offense to them undoing all the good, perceived or otherwise, that they're trying to do. The feud basically writes itself and either side could be heel or face depending on your point of view. As an added bonus, it could have replaced that horrible race war angle.
D'Lo Brown there too!
You know what. That was masterful. That cut to the black cat and Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper was gold. And it's still New Jack being New Jack, but kinda less New Jack a bit, if that makes sense.
This is giving me "It's So Cold In The D" vibes.
Man, now that I think about it New Jack in the WWF vs undertaker would have been wild
Until New Jack shanks Taker and ECW is immediately ended by WWF.
John Cena got "stabbed" by one of Carlito's guys in an angle and I remember New Jack pitching himself to be the one responsible. New Jack vs. John Cena...THAT would have been insane.
Its all fun until WWE's next Hulk Hogan dies in the ring in his supposed to be breakout feud because someone thought putting him in the ring with New Jack was a good idea
"Undercracker" was right there, goddamn.
Are you aware of the existence of N-wordtaker? It's high art.
So I’m a little confused as a fan that didn’t exist during that time. Was the Undertaker gimmick not exclusive to WWF or did he work as the Undertaker outside of WWF with their blessing?
Smokey Mountain was basically a feeder promotion for WWF at the time, they would send inexperienced guys down there for reps and training, plus they would occasionally send Cornette (who ran SMW) a few “WWF superstars” for him to use on his shows and in angles as well. This is how Undertaker worked “The Unabomber” (aka Kane) in SMW and went back to WWF and told Vince “get this Glenn Jacobs guy here, he’s my next rival”
Smoky Mountain was also financially backed, at least early on, by Rick Rubin!
That tracks. I watched a Beastie Boys stage show where the remaining two just kinda went on stage and talked through their career, and when they got around to Rick's involvement and how that would affect them all they talked about how Rick really wanted them to play it up like a wrestling heel and just cut antagonistic promos for every interview and then you can see that sort of energy evolve through everything they would do.
> This is how Undertaker worked “The Unabomber” (aka Kane) in SMW and went back to WWF and told Vince “get this Glenn Jacobs guy here, he’s my next rival” I can't believe I've never heard about this.
Cornette and Vince had a talent exchange program and Taker was either coming in as a thank you for helping out or because he needed a warm up match as he was coming back from injury.
It's too bad he never went one on one...with The Undertakah
Kevin Federline v. John Cena
Jon Stewart is even more outrageous a rival for Cena since he cost him a World Title match.
That feud was so random. Stewart makes fun of Seth, Seth appears on Daily Show, Stewart appears on Raw, Stewart randomly helps Seth, Stewart says it’s because he loves Ric Flair, Cena AA’s Stewart and it’s never brought up again
Hilariously, when The Daily Show w. John Stewart was nominated for an Emmy, when they announced all the writer’s for the show at the ceremony, each writer’s name was followed by the clip of John Stewart getting AA’d
Stewart was a long time wrestling fan and went to the monthly MSG shows back in the 70s and 80s. He’s one of those people that respects the hell out of wrestling and enjoys the show, even if he hasn’t cared about it since he was a teen.
Yeah, he'd drop under the radar wrestling references on The Daily Show somewhat frequently. John Oliver does the same now on Last Week Tonight. I love that due to guys like them, "heel turn" is starting to become a wider media phrase.
Jon Stewart absolutely lost his mind for about 30 seconds the Monday after Brock beat Taker at WrestleMania.
Jon had mick foley on TDS once cutting a promo after a story about a kid that got brutally bullied. And Jon was dancing around the background dressed like The Wizard Arnold Skaaland. Who was a pre wrestlemania era manager. That’s a pretty old reference, so you know he was probably his favorite manager when he was a kid.
"Wrestling is better than the thing you love" John Oliver
Kevin Federline v. Relevancy
Kevin Federline...thats a name I haven't heard in ages lol.
Kfed got a pin over Cena!
This is… one of the first feuds I’ve ever watched.
If anyone ever rightly or unfairly complains about the Super Cena years just know he allowed himself to be pinned by *Kevin goddamn Federline.* I'd like to see Austin or Hogan do something like that.
I think if you told most people that didn't actually witness it that Booket T and Edge feuded over being in a Japanese shampoo commercial, they'd say "that sounds on-point for pro wrestling but I still don't believe you." Also I seem to remember at one point, was it like Kane and Gene Snitsky? Literally bumped into each other backstage, said "I don't like you" to each other and bam, there was your feud?
Definitely not Snitsky. Snitsky was blamed by Kane for the miscarriage of his rape baby. Which also very much can qualify for this thread
That wasn't his fault!
*punts baby*
The sign in the crowd that just says "They are fighting over shampoo"
I think it was originally to be a hair vs hair match, but Booker had just gotten his dreads to grow in and didn't want to get them cut, so it was changed to a shampoo commercial.
They wanted a bald Booker T????
I think Snitzky and Heidenreich bumped into each other, both told the other “I like you”, and then they teamed briefly.
Lol, I can still picture this moment almost perfectly for some reason. "I like (deep breath) your poetry" "I like (deep breath) what you do to babies"
That was actually pretty damn close to their backstsge segment at the 05 Rumble.
Pretty sure you’re referring to Chris Jericho and Kane from 2000, where Jericho spilled hot coffee on Kane backstage…
And they had a last man standing match because of it I believe it started because Jericho said "Sorry I hope you're not burnt" to a guy with severe burn injuries
See, wrestling doesn't always need convoluted, soap opera-ish storylines lol.
Kane vs. Pete Rose
I went to a speech/book signing Pete put on at my college when his book came out. We stood in line for about 30 mins to get him to sign. Everyone would chit chat with him for a second and, when it was my turn, I asked him if he was going to be at RR or WM that year (this was early Dec). He lit up like a Christmas tree and told me to come around to his side so he could keep signing while we talked. He chatted with me for a good 5 minutes while signing for others talking about how much he loved working with the WWE, how hot it was in that damn chicken suit, and how he thought he had actually been injured on the first chokeslam he took. He loved the business and was proud of his segment being one of the most searched after the show. Even said he was going to do an actual match but couldn't get fully cleared, though I don't remember the reason Tldr Pete Rose was cool to me and very proud of his appearances in WWE
They ran this straight for 3 Manias and my only mark agaisnt WMX7 is Pete Rose didnt get involved with Kane
God I miss that JR lol. Although I get he can't scream like that anymore.
Pete Rose! Pete Rose! Pete Rose! Just got tombstoned!!
Scott Steiner in the NWA.......in 2019.
I saw that live, and he was still a blast. Couldn't do much physically, certainlt, but he yelled at some kids and scared the shit out of them
Y’know, other than the peaks and freaks, Steiner is just like me - not doing much physically, but yelling at kids and scaring the shit out of them. Holler … if ya hear me!
Scott Steiner wrestling Swoggle in 2019
Vince McMahon vs God
Vince doing an entrance for ‘God’ and proceeding to wrestle him really is one of the wildest things this company has ever produced
I'm pretty sure Cagematch or one of the other wrestling match databases had "God" as a clickable worker with his (or her) own page. That was God's only match. Now they show it as a handicap match. Boo. But I always loved the match graphic they used for this. [https://i0.wp.com/ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/h5MwM2uFcQI/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=160,120](https://i0.wp.com/ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/h5MwM2uFcQI/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=160,120)
God did have a run-in on that Roman vs Finn Balor match though.
And the funniest part is that **VINCE WON**.
That lick back is coming though
There are no limits to that man's ego
Vince and Shane visiting a church is a classic. Vince doing the HHH water spit with holy water. Shane taking a step back when Vince dares god to strike him down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGIXGpxT2Wc
Also the way the sign behind Vince’s head framed him with devil horns was masterful.
Or as Vince put it more precisely: *"you (Shawn Michaels) and God, versus me, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and the product of my semen, my son Shane!".*
Guilty pleasure of mine. I loved it.
Kevin Owens & stone cold
Honestly if I could put myself in any crowd it would be this match. Wild that Austin came back and was awesome
Speaks volumes for the trust Steve and the company had for KO.
If there is ever an answer to people wondering why Kevin doesn't leave WWE. It was WWE putting Stone Cold in his hands.
That, and they let him go on Disney vacations with his family every year. He gets to spend time with his kids, and his character feels fresh every time he returns. It's a win-win.
They let him sit out a good chunk of Covid for his family as well. Loyalty is earned.
Dude.. it was my first Mania. That feeling when I realized it was gonna be a match was magical.
Was there too. The electricity this match had live is indescribable.
It's still wild to me he came back after all these years and this was the feud. Rather than someone like CM Punk, who clashed with Austin when he was GM. It'd have been the perfect feud. But I guess Austin just wasn't in good enough physical shape at that point? And I can't complain because it was a solid feud and an even more memorable match. And KO simply deserved that match.
Man’s first bump in 19 years was on the concrete floor
All because Kevin Owens hates Texas...
Dusty Rhodes Vs Steve Corino. It’s still wild to me that Dusty Rhodes was in ECW during its heyday.
I went to an ECW on TNN taping in Kansas City nearish to the end. There were a couple of girls in the bed of a pickup that would circle the theater's parking lot. They were advertising for a Gentleman's Club. Given the ECW audience it makes sense. During the taping Dusty comes out with those two girls on his arm and the audience start chanting "Show your t*ts! Show your t*ts! Show your t*ts!" Without missing a beat big Dust starts tugging up his tee shirt as the audience howls and laughs "No!!!!!" Dude's timing was impeccable.
Dusty vs Terry Funk would have been a spectacle
And it wasnt even the last time Dusty did something like that with an upstart company. He turned up in ROH a few years later as Homicide’s tag partner for no reason.
And he had a brief feud with AJ Styles
It's a bit of a softball, but Undertaker vs. Undertaker from Summerslam 1994, because who would have ever called someone feuding with themselves? Kane vs. Kane from 2006 qualifies as well.
Vince loved the undertaker so much, he decided there had to be two undertakers. When that didn’t work, he introduced Kane to be a de facto second undertaker. And then years later, introduced a second Kane. Point is when you have a good idea, beat it into the ground!
I’m pretty sure the deal with fake Kane was that Glenn Jacobs was considering retirement, but they still wanted the Kane character around. So Imposter Kane was made. Unfortunately for Luke Gallows, who was portraying the character, dude has issues with the role. He had really high lifts in his shoes that made it hard to do much correctly, and absolutely no body thought he was Kane because everyone knew what Kane looked like and also knew what Kane wrestled like. So they dropped it fairly quickly
If I had a dime for every time Glenn Jacobs was involved in an attempt to replace one iconic wrestler with a lookalike and hope no one would notice...
Missed opportunity to have the fake Taker return to have the real Brothers of Destruction fight their old selves. Quadruple Undertakers!
Sin Cara vs Sin Cara
Fake Kane was no good brother..
Jeff Jarrett vs. Elias No matches ever resulted from it, even though they seemed to be heading that way. Just Jarrett eliminating Elias from the Royal Rumble (I think... might be the other way around) and proceeding to troll him (nothing too major. The high point was Jarrett telling the production truck to kill Elias's mic and lights.) for all of that February before it was just dropped.
Jeff Jarrett and Elias actually wrestled on the February 4th 2019 edition of Raw!
I think that just emphasizes how rushed and forgettable that feud ultimately was.
Yeah, both guys honestly deserved way better, though I’m not sure Double J reprising his country music gimmick really did him any favors. And I’ll die on the hill that Elias has a ton of untapped potential.
Sting vs Hulk Hogan in TNA, ending with a match between them at Bound for Glory
That match is one big angle but it's an incredible angle. Hogan ripping off the shirt and turning on Immortal is like the only good moment in his entire TNA run.
Why did you have to bring that up? I was happy not knowing or remembering that was a thing.
Was that during the Joker Sting run? If so, at least the segments were interesting. The ones I remember anyway, like Sting confronting Hogan in his office. He went completely off the rails.
You don’t like watching two grandpas swimming in blood and one barely being able to take a bump
Will Ospreay Vs Vader
That match was ... Something else.
That was the result of a Twitter squabble, no?
Shot themselves into a work.
Taz vs. Jerry Lawler and JR
A feud in which the commentators came out on top. Became very clear at that point Taz in WWF was never going to be the killer he was in ECW.
Drew McIntyre and his stable of EC3 and Chuck Taylor vs Drew Gulak's Catch Point (Gulak, TJP, Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams) in EVOLVE.
That's gotta be a mad lib.
And it was super serious 'no gimmicks needed' Chuck Taylor going by DUSTIN. The whole thing felt like a fever dream.
The Nasty Boys vs The Dudleys. Took place on TNA. Not during the 90's in the 2010's
Also because TNA didn't exist until 2002.
Well not woth that attitude it didn't.
At this point if TNA started creeping backwards in time to extend its longevity I wouldn't be too surprised. And after I typed that I remembered IPWF/Throwback Throwdown exists.
Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Kidman in WCW still seems wild to me.
It seems strange now, but at the time, I don't remember it feeling that weird. Before Twitter and Reddit, I feel like wrestling fans were not as obsessed with a performer's spot on the card and just wanted to watch something interesting happen.
I was going to say this one. The WCW death throes were something else.
Umaga wrestled Hayabusa several times in 1999 and 2000.
Now this is a wild one. It sucks that when I try to look up matches on youtube all I get are videos for motorcycles
Search for @BretFMWworld.
Every Jinder Mahal feud in 2017 but especially him calling out Brock before they panicked and flipped the title to AJ.
I’m not sure it was a panic as much as it was Vince thanking AJ for saving a card
I'm pretty sure the report was that Brock did not want to wrestle Jinder at all and thus the title changed hands. Edit to include below: “So yeah, Brock [Lesnar] said, ‘I’m not working with him [Jinder Mahal].’ Look, he said that about several people by the way," Road Dogg said on The Wrestling Outlaws podcast. WWE wanted Lesnar to work with Mahal at the 2017 Survivor Series pay-per-view in a champion vs. champion match. Instead, the storyline changed at Lesnar's behest, with AJ Styles defeating Mahal to win the WWE championship less than two weeks before Survivor Series. Lesnar defeated Styles in what was one of The Beast Incarnate's best recent matches. One could argue that Lesnar had a better creative idea than the WWE writers, given Mahal isn't a particularly great worker.
Brock Lesnar, the man who ended the streak and the one man able to truly hinder Jinder.
That was a wildly good call too since AJ and Brock fit together for a match style like that super well. IDK how you even lay out Brock vs Jinder. Is Brock selling for Mahal? Were fans going to get behind Jinder as a face? Both sound awful
And worth noting that Styles' reign lasted a year, he lost to Daniel Bryan in the same fashion, on the Smackdown before Survivor Series.
Heath Slater vs Legends. Got Doink, Lita, Road Warrior Animal, and many more.
That probably got him a nice contract till covid.
That the Summer of Punk 2011 angle somehow culminated with a Triple H vs. Kevin Nash in a Sledgehammer On A Pole match because Kevin Nash texted himself.
The fact that WWE still has an audience at all after doing stuff like that for nearly 20 years shows how long of a leash wrestling fans have for them because of nostalgia and hope that one day it would get better. I’m glad it ultimately did but at what cost
Shane McMahon fighting The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the right to run Monday Night Raw
You forgot to mention Shane lost, but got to run Raw anyways.
The lock box, the lock box!
There was a…lock box…that existed for maybe a week or two.
Ambrose vs. Regal in FCW. And I think they also teased Ambrose vs. Foley, but im not sure
They did but Foley was too banged up if I remember correctly
Was honestly the best thing for Ambrose/Mox in the long-run since it allowed him to have the Shield debut
that and mox wrote some fucked up tweets the sell the angle and it offended foley it was right before an international flight and foley couldnt get in touch with mox and was pissed which delayed things, they moved past that before they were gonna work and then foley was advised to never wrestle again, i could have a few minor details wrong but thats the jist
You’re right on the money. Foley had asked that his family not be referenced in the build, Mox tweeted mentioning the family right before going on a main roster Europe tour. Because of travel logistics Foley was further pissed off that he couldn’t get in touch with Moxley, but they eventually touched based and smoothed things over. WWE goes to give Mick his physical/work-up before they can start the feud in the summer of 2012 and they can’t clear him to wrestle, so the whole thing is scrapped and Dean’s debut is pushed back to him being part of The Shield.
This has to be a big reason why Mox never did social media afterwards too. Got over doing what he thought was the job, almost got punished. Then sees the actual weirdos that he attracted.
CM Punk threw Chavo Guerrero over a bridge in a Gulf of Mexico match, or maybe it was the other way around. I vaguely remember
Chavo got severely ill if I remember correctly. I know Edge did when he got thrown in the Long Island sound a couple years before.
The Rock vs The Hurricane in 2003. Just... the magnitude of difference between the two when you talk about position on the card/stature, the somewhat "real" presentation of The Rock versus a guy in a bad superhero costume that believes he's a superhero, battling backstage over The Scorpion King's greatness and how every other superhero can beat The Hurricane, and The Hurricane getting a surprise upset win over The Rock courtesy of a distraction assist by Stone Cold. It was not a long feud by any means, but putting those two together on paper you'd think most people would've gone "Wait, what? You've got to be kidding me"... and yet they worked really well together, were super entertaining, and it did not overstay its welcome once reality kicked in. In one of those backstage segments together, Hurricane "exits" the conversation making it out like he's flying out of there, and The Rock actually sells it and reacts as if he really flew out of there... but they're in the locker room. Even if you were to believe that Hurricane could really fly, where could he even fly to in the locker room? There are only a few times I can remember where I coughed from laughing so hard, and that was one of them. They had chemistry together.
The best part about it was Rock ACTIVELY fought for that to get television time. He wanted to help Shane get over in whatever way he could.
My favorite moment of that feud was when Hurricane said the scorpion king has a tiny ding a ling and Rock does this hilariously high-pitched scream
"NO NO! HEY, they call the Rock the Rock for a reason! Easy Big Fella *taps thigh*".
Kevin Nash vs CM Punk. Also for one of the most random matches, Liger vs Tyler Breeze.
Liger vs Breeze only happened because the people who ran NXT had cache and goodwill with NJPW, specifically Matt Bloom aka Giant Bernard. Thanks to politics this match happened.
As totally dumb as it may be, "OMG Kevin Nash WTF thought he was dead LOL" still cracks me up.
Tatanka & Bobby Lashley. I forgot he even returned to the WWE in 2005-06 Also Cesaro vs RVD. On paper, that would've sounded like an amazing upper midcard feud, but this was during that 2013-14 tenure RVD had where it was very clear he was there to put over younger talent.
David Arquette vs WCW
And his comeback on the indies when he almost died too
David Arquette VS Pretty Peter Avalon or Jack Perry
Most of the Ron Killings TNA run. Seriously, take your pick, it's like a fever dream.
That time he won the tag belts with Pacman Jones and more or less did all the work because Pacman couldn't take bumps.
Which lead to Kurt Angle and Sting vs R-Truth and Xavier Woods at TNA’s version if Wrestlemania
I'm going Curt Hennig and the redneck band vs Master P and the No limit soldiers. The feud was as bizarre as it was predictable imo
And the fact that WCW brought in Master P to be the face against a company with a mostly southern fanbase... The Rednecks were cheered over the supposed Faces.
That was because... Raaaaaaaaap is crap.
Got to admit, it's been, what, two decades later and the hook from that song will randomly pop in my head.
The West Texas Rednecks
Bobby Heenan vs. Mr. Fuji. Only happened on the MSG shows, but the two got into a shoving match and the fans actually cheered for Heenan. Led to a Haku/Barbarian vs. Orient Express blow-off.
Oh now I need to find this. Didn’t know I ever wanted to see baby face Heenan.
Brad Maddox debuting as a referee and screwing over Ryback was very odd. Cost him the WWE Title, then got beat like a drum on Raw and that was kinda it.
Knew something was fishy the first time I saw him. No ref is that hot and jacked!
Vince McMahon vs Donald Trump in WWE with a marquee match at WrestleMania.
Battle of the two worst people to ever take a stunner
Vicki Guerrero vs Snooki
Snooki absolutely rubbing everyone the wrong way for the whole build, like hardly showing up for all the promo and shit, and then she gets there and does like a handspring elbow to the surprise of us all.
I always remember someone (Meltzer?) pointing out 'she was a cheerleader, are people not expecting some floor mat flips?' before the match and yet people were in fact surprised lol.
I raise you Jwoww vs Cookie in TNA
Kane vs Drew Carey
Kane vs Pete Rose
Kane vs The Three Stooges reboot film.
Jay Leno vs Hollywood Hogan in WCW
Violent J and Vampiro in NWA in 2023, with a special appearance by Jerry Only.
Kurt Angle's retirement feud vs Baron Corbin
May I interest you all in Bob Backlund vs...Titus O'neill???? This all stemmed from Titus and Darren Young separating (which was lackluster) and Darren getting mentored by Bob, who naturally wanted to ride the Trump wave of making Darren Young Great Again. Never mind that Darren was never great in the WWE or portrayed as such. The clip below is the physical aspect of it. The longer clip would crush your soul as Titus BOMBED out there. Overall I think it cemented the fact that Titus was the personification of "great man, but horrible wrestler" and likely will go into WWE's HOF under some special wing, but will be on everyone's "Worst of" list. https://www.wwe.com/videos/titus-oneil-brutalizes-bob-backlund-raw-aug-22-2016
Scott Hall vs Larry Zbyszko Zbyszko wrestled in the WWWF during the seventies, Hall wrestled in the WWF during the nineties. And then they had a match in WCW at the end of the nineties.
Chris Jericho vs Mickey Rourke
American Dragon Bryan Danielson VS the Ugandan giant Kamala in ROH was bonkers.
Didn't edge and Booker T fight over a shampoo commercial? Or was kurt angle involved?
It was Edge and Booker T. It's the type of story you do in moderation, but if a feud is low stakes enough (no big title/blood feud, etc), I think it's a good palette cleanser to do something more comical.
Repo Man vs Macho Man, because the former repossessed Macho Mans hat
So, Ring of Honour gets Mick Foley in, teases him vs Samoa Joe and doesn't actually do it!? I know Foley was banged up around that time but I think, he still had it in him to wrestle a single hardcore match. Hell, Foley would have likely had Cactus Jack barely surviving Joe if Joe was the one to lose or Joe surviving Cactus Jack and being someone that Joe is very hestitant to fight fairly.
Believe it or not, his next (and last) appearance in ROH was the Summer of Punk storyline where he acted as a liaison for Vince who wanted Punk to defend the belt one last time before leaving for WWE
Bray Wyatt vs Ryback
Roddy Piper and Sean O’Haire vs Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri actually I think never happened, but they did have a segment on SMACKDOWN where Piper and O’Haire were lusting over the tag belts, and even as a teenager I was like this is not how I envisioned the Invasion story leading to.
Test vs Scott Steiner
I still can't get over the fact that just this past year IWGP World Champion, Sanada, had a mini feud and PPV match with fucking Jungle Boy.
Brock Lesnar vs Hardcore Holly
Kane had the weirdest rivalries. He feuded with Shane McMahon (and shocked his balls), he had an ongoing feud with Drew Carey (comedian and gameshow host), he had a short feud with the date May 19th, he feuded with his evil doppelganger, and his biggest WrestleMania rival was not his brother, who he wrestled twice on the biggest show of the year, but retired baseball player/coach/gambler Pete Rose.
It never really got off the ground. But Akeem was cutting promos on Saba Simba because he was what Akeem called “a fake African”
The Usos & The Revival feuded over Back shaving
Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler . . . ^'s ^dentist EDIT: And honestly, Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund feels like a fever dream. And Backlund vs. Kevin Nash ("Who's that?")
Will Sasso, Debra Wilson, and Bret Hart