Greatest Feuds 5-1

5. Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA

These men hated each other, but they put on one heck of a show.  For my money still the best "I quit" match ever and probably the best cage match ever.  It was for a belt, but it was also because the men had to kill each other.  When you can combine those elements then you have a winner.  Many matches before this had finishes that did not settle the score including one where both men were down for the count of 10 leading up to the I Quit Starcade match.  TA walked out the US champ, but the fans were the real winners.

4. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko

This feud was never a main event status, but was always the best on the card.  It often was for Jericho's Cruiser Weight belt or his TV Title, but it was mostly personal.  Jericho mocked the ice cold Malenko, which made it great when Malenko blew his emotional top in matches.  Jericho being the man of 1001 holds, Bore-Us Malenko, and Dean taking off the Cyclope mask to face Jericho were just a few of the best moments.  Admittedly that match had a few missed moves, but the feud as a whole was as good as it gets.  Some of the best story telling wrestling has to offer.

3. Four Horsemen vs. Dusty Rhodes

Flair did a lot of the heavy lifting in this one, but it was really the Horsemen as a whole.  Tully Blanchard had some good Dusty matches.  The War Games against Dusty's team counts here too.  Let us not forget the time that Rhodes came to save Flair, and then the Horsemen turned on Dusty anyway and pounded him and injured him.  Pure Horsemen.  Pure wrestling gold.

2. Rock-n-Roll Express vs. Midnight Express

This feud can still sell out buildings down south today.  It was a fan favorite versus the hated Cornett and whoever he had as the Express this time.  The feud sometimes included belts, but was more often than not just because the groups hated each other.  The matches included brilliant mat wrestling, amazing use of a manager (Jim Cornett), and innovated offense lest we forget the high flying double drop kick and that Bobby Eaton's finisher was off the top rope.  Rare things in the 80's.  When was the last time Tag Team wrestling could main event?  This pairing always could.

1. Von Erich Family vs. Freebirds

This was the greatest feud ever.  And Flair had a hand in starting it as did Von Erich friend, Michael Hayes, who went on to be their best foe of all time.  And best thing yet both sides thought they were right in the feud.  Hayes had cost Kerry the NWA title, but Kerry had fought with Hayes while Hayes was the ref, and Terry Gordy was trying to do his job as Kerry was getting out the door.  From the exciting start it went into singles matches, tag matches, three man matches even creating a 3 Man Tag Championship belt in the process.  Amazing and wonderful.  THE Feud is the Von Erich vs. Freebirds.  Nothing better.

Greatest Feuds: 10-6

10. Midnight Express vs. the Road Warriors

This one ended on a scaffold and with Jim Cornett taking a huge fall to blow out his knees.  It was two of the all time best tag teams going at it in their primes.  It was Starcade.  It was magic.  Must see TV.

9. Jerry the King Lawler vs. Andy Coughman

Andy was not a real wrestler, but he got in the ring multiple times and he was  more convincing than McMahmann.  Unlike McMahann, Andy wrestled like a non-wrestler, but still the feud was beautiful and hilarious.  These two took the feud to Dave Letterman's show and there it made wrestling infamous.  Get some clips of this stuff and watch it again.  Andy may have been one of the best heels of all time.

8. Larry Szabisco  vs. Bruno Sanmartino

This feud brought Sanmartino out of retirement, sold out arenas all through New England, and ended in a cage where Bruno escaped first to win the title "the Living Legend".  This feud had Bruno take chair shots to the head, and Larry got stabbed by a fan . . . really!  Larry never got pinned by the wrestling superstar Bruno Sanmartino during the entire feud.  And did I mention the fans were so into it one of them stabbed Szabisco?!  Hard to top that.

7. Austin vs. Bret Hart

This is the feud that actually made Austin.  It ended with an amazing double turn.  Hart became a heel and Austin a face.  But people forget that before that iconic picture of a bloodied Austin refusing to give up and Hart refusing to let go, that the duo had several great matches, and right before it a beautiful brutal match that is not what one thinks of normally when they think of Bret Hart.  Both men showed range and told a great story.

6. Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat

These guys actually had two great go rounds, but most remember the trio of matches that ended up making Flair good.  Steamboat beat Flair for the title, the next match was a Steamboat win despite Flair having his foot under the ropes.  So Flair got one last shot, and there Flair prevailed.  During the whole ordeal Flair went from villain to fellow hero with Steamboat.  And don't forget these were all two out of three fall matches.  

Greatest Feuds: 15-11

15. Lita vs. Trish Stratus

The best woman's feud of all time.  These girls were good enough to headline and have a main event on Raw.  They did moves and told stories.  They were attractive and fought over the belt.  It was entertaining and believable and you forgot you were watching women wrestle.  Bonus points for that.

14. Rock vs. Mankind

This feud saw some really amazing matches and a trading back and forth of the title that helped cement Rock as a legit star and Mankind finally ending up with the title he so deserved.  What other feud can you see a forklift be used to pin someone, a title match where neither man can continue, and chair shots that make you sick to your stomach.  Only here.  

13. Edge and Christian vs. the Hardy Boyz

These two teams briefly energized tag team wrestling again.  They had amazing ladder matches that still set the standard for the industry.  They had cage matches where they did crazy things to one another.  They even were able to make a match that included the Dudley Boyz look good.  The feud was always these two teams no matter who else was involved.  This match would steal any show it was on.  No one wants to follow this.

12. Flair vs. Sting

This feud never had that one dynamite go round, but always lived up to the billing.  It was used at any time by WCW because it would always deliver.   Whether it was the time Flair defeated Sting with the help of Scary Sherry to unify the World HeavyWeight Title with the World International Title, or the time Flair tricked Sting into helping him vs. Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman and Flair turned on Sting, it was always worth checking out.  Fitting that this feud was the last match on Nitro ever.  It deserved the honor.  

11. Steve Austin vs. the Rock

These two giants had some good times in the ring and they made each other great.  This is better than the Austin v. Vince feud because this was more than just crushing cars and silly promos.  This was two men who could savage each other on the mic and in the ring.  Who can forget Rock throwing Austin into a river or Austin kicking out of the Rock Bottom or the tossing a belt into a river?  They headlined multiple Wrestlemania's and that should tell you something.  I think a case can be made that these two and their feud helped put WCW out of business.

Greatest Feuds: 20-16

20. Samoa Joe vs. the X Division

This feud began with Joe's unbeaten streak and his breaking the rules of X Division competition.  One of the highlights was putting Christopher Daniels in the hospital with a concussion.  It brought in AJ Styles, but no one could take down the Submission Machine.  The feud ended with the X Division winning with TNA's only ever 5 star match: Destination X where Joe took on Styles and Daniels, and Daniels came out on top, but Joe was never pinned.  New champ, X Division elevated and highlighted, and Joe made into a World Title contender with a streak intact.  Best thing TNA ever did.

19. Mick Foley vs. ECW (Tommy Dreamer)

Mick Foley sold ECW by being its opposite.  He did only headlocks and wore shirts of horrible former wrestlers.  The legend of Hardcore had gone corporate, and in saying things like "take me back Uncle Eric" and refusing to use the extreme rules the man made loyal ECW fans.  Dreamer was the guy on the other end, but really the work was more Foley versus the whole ECW attitude in order to promote the ECW attitude.  

18. Vern Gagne vs. Nick Bockwinkle

This feud was great simply because it lasted forever.  And in fact, it was still selling out places long after Vern was past his prime.  Nick was an underrated wrestler and a fine villain who could talk enough to put the people in the seats.  Vern was a beloved hero who could go in the ring.  Together they made Minnesota wrestling lore with their knock down drag out fights.

17. El Santo vs. Blue Demon

These two Mexican legends need to be on this list.  El Santo and Blue Demon along with Mil Mascaras are the top three stars in Mexican Wrestling history.  And El Santo and Blue Demon had a great series of matches that was eventually won by Blue Demon in 1952 and 53.  It started with a tag match where the two were on opposite sides.  El Santo was able to unmask Blue Demon's partner, and the duo would go on to feud in epic matches that haunted El Santo for the rest of his career.  When two legends actually meet in the ring, it is bigger than life.  McMahon has kept that from American fans (see the lack of Hogan vs. Flair or Hogan vs. Piper or even Hogan vs. Harley Race).  Mexico actually got to see it.

16. Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahan

This feud saved WWE from real trouble and launched the attitude era.  It was sort of one sided since only one of them was actually a wrestler, but it did include a cage match so it did have a pay off where both men wrestled.  Austin became a household name and McMahann a billionaire off of this.  For that alone it deserves a spot.  But it gets such a high spot because who has not wanted to beat up their boss?  

Greatest Wrestling Feuds: 25-21

25. Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar

These matches were always great.  The Iron Man match, the match where Lesnar did a moonsault.  Angle is underrated on the mic, and he made Lesnar interesting.  The tail end of the the attitude era, but it was a great run between the two of them.

24. Rowdy Piper vs. Mr. T

Let's face it.  Piper's feud was really with Mr. T rather than Hogan.  Hogan and Piper had one go that ended in a DQ.  They then brought in Mr. T, and the blow off to the feud was Mr. T vs. Piper at Wrestlemania 2 while Hogan fought a match no one remembers against King Kong Bundy.  Piper made the feud, he made Hogan, and he made Wrestlemania by facing off against a TV star for the first two Wrestlemanias.  

23. Flair vs. Terry Funk

Ric Flair getting pile driven through a table is a lasting image.  Funk got the best of the cheap shot artist himself and started a feud that began with words, escalated with the table, and ended in a brutal "I Quit" match where Funk screamed and Flair retained his title.  Good stuff from start to finish.

22. Hogan vs. Bobby the Brain Hennan.

The only good feud Hogan ever took part or finished was with a manager.  It was the Brain who put person after person up against the mighty Hulk.  It was really Bobby Hennan who made the Andre the Giant match at Wrestlemania III even seem remotely plausible.  Only the Brain could make the gentle giant into a bad guy.  This feud set the indoor attendance record.  Bobby was the straw that stirred the drink.

21. Dusty Rhodes vs. Superstar Billy Graham

This trio of matches sold out the Garden.  It began over Graham's WWF title, but ended when the duo fought for honor and the right to be the best.  Blood was spilled, bull ropes were used, and some really great promos were cut.  This underrated and often forgotten feud was a money maker for both men, gave the WWE champ someone interesting to fight, and helped launch Rhodes to national stardom.

Top 25 All Time Feuds - Honorable mentions

I will be starting a list of the greatest feuds of all time.  The majority of these are from big time promotions, but a few may not be.  Later we can get into the smaller stuff, but this is where we begin.  We will count down.  So let us start with the honorable mentions.

CM Punk vs. John Cena

This feud was great and Punk can do a promo like few others.  Cena was at the top of his game both in ring and on the mic.  However, the walk out of the company win of Punk was cheapened by his quick return to the company, and the quick return sort of under cut his epic "shoot" promo.  Also this was a little more derivative of Edge vs. Cena than more people would like to admit (Edge talked about not having to be the biggest and the WWE look).  Those factors keep Punk v. Cena off the list.  

Edge vs. John Cena

This was a good feud with the Money in the Bank cash in making it ground breaking.  However, Edge really carried it.  It was Cena's first good feud, but ultimately is not quite enough to crack the top 25.

 Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer

This feud was what ECW was really all about.  Violence and sub-par wrestling ability making a lovable loser.  Dreamer is no wrestling legend, but he can take shots to the head and bleed.  He and Raven had some nasty fights that are not for the queesy stomach types to watch.  He did finally beat Raven after 2 years, but it was always ECW and what it meant.

Flair vs. Harley Race

This was the end of Harley's prime and the beginning of Flair's.  The matches were great and the promos were pretty good.  However, both these guys are better as heels, and that made the rivalry miss this list.

The End of Daniel Bryan?

We will now see how committed WWE is to Daniel Bryan.  They took the title off of him, and probably had to do it.  So, I don't blame them for that move.  In fact, I think this helps the Money in the Bank concept over all.  Take a year off from a guy with a brief case, and have an epic ladder match for the title.  Although they sort of just did that and then it was two titles.  Will it be two again?

But WWE finally caved and changed Wrestlemania at the last minute to include Daniel Bryan.  But now he is on the shelf.  We all know what happens when John Cena is on the shelf for surgery.  He comes back and is booked amazingly strong.  In fact, he dropped the title to Bryan (for a full minute) and as soon as Cena was back, he won the World Title from Del Rio, and the next night successfully fended off a Money in the Bank cash in attempt.

So, how they bring Daniel Bryan back will help us know for sure whether they have bought into Daniel Bryan as being the man.  Will he immediately be in the title hunt?  Will get an automatic rematch when he is healthy?  Will he win it back fairly quickly?  Or will he come back and continue a feud with the authority and not be allowed near the title?  Will he come back and lose in an attempt to gain back the title?

I like Daniel Bryan almost as much as I liked Bryan Danielson.  But the WWE may not like him as much.  Soon, we will know for sure.

Who is next for Rob Conway

Rob Conway is the NWA World Champ again.  The question is who does he feud with next?

Now Rob is one of those guys who can be both a heel and a face.  Grease the hair back a little and throw some sunglasses, and Rob will flash that heel smirk with the best of them.  But you go with his natural look and maybe a full beard and Rob can draw you in as the working hard face.  Technically he was the heel in his feud with Kojima since most of it took place in Japan, but probably he will have this run as champ as the face.

This leaves several possibilities.  I think the top heel in all of the NWA is Lou Marconi.  Marconi even wrestles like a heel.  He can tick crowds off by his pace of wrestling.  He is solid in the ring too.  A Marconi / Conway feud would be great.  However, Marconi is not really done with Nitro over the National Title, so I don't know if this is the way they will go.

The other guy who has a claim as the top heel is Chase Owens.  Chase is the current World Junior Champ, so he is probably off the table.  Great mic work, great ring work.  The guy is good, but probably not going to get his shot at the big table.

You also have Wilcott, but they have already had a feud.  Not to mention Wilcott just regained the North American Title.  Kahagas is now free after dropping the title to Wilcott.  Kahagas is usually a heel, and has good in ring work.  However, Kahagas had the title before Conway's first run.  The NWA needs to avoid just handing around the belts between a few guys.  Conway has regained the title.  Wilcott just regained the Title.  Marconi and Nitro are just trading their title.  Owens has regained twice now.  And Kahagas has had all three national titles for heavyweights.  Not a lot of variety there.  They need some new blood.

This leaves Chris Richards.  Richards regularly wrestles in Southern All Star Wrestling and Smoky Mtn Wrestling.  Richards just defeated Jax Dane and Rob Conway in a weekend giving him good reason to demand a title shot.  The Tennessee Redneck Chris Richards is my pick for the first feud of the new Conway reign.  This has the side benefit of being able to involve Chase Owens as the two are part of the Illuminati.  They have already wrestled in a three way match for the World Tag Championship as well, which can be built upon for a good feud.

Now it is possible that Conway goes heel, remote but possible.  If that is the case then the list is a bit longer.

Jason Kincaid would be a top choice.  His amazing multi-year run as Smoky Mtn Champ shows he can draw at least in TN.  And he has been NWA World Junior Champ, a title he gets another shot at this weekend.  Kincaid does have a World Title Shot earned already if I understand the stipulations of the Crockett Cup correctly, which Kincaid won.

You could also have Michael Tarver and Wes Brisco.  Both have name and face recognition.  Damien Wayne and Lance Erickson would have to be near the top of that list as well.  Wayne and Erickson make the most sense since they chased Conway when he was one half of the World Tag Team Champs.  Erickson has multiple regional titles under his belt, and Wayne is a former National champ.  But both currently hold multiple regional tag titles together and are the current US Tag Team Champs.

Ultimately, I think Conway is going to be a face and Chris Richards is going to get a chance to make some money with the champ.  It should be good.

New NWA World Heavyweight Champion

Kojima delivered on his American tour.  I have to admit I thought his reign was a little long, but for this ending, I will take it.  He defeated Jermiah Plunkett at NWA SAW, and also Damien Wayne.  Rob Conway then challenged him for the June 2 Las Vegas show.
Kojima then defeated Carson at NWA Houston on May 31.  And by the way on that card Lou Marconi lost to Bryan Wilcott in a NWA North American Title match.  Wilcott had recently won it from Kahagas.  And then the inevitable.  Rob Conway defeated Kojima to reclaim the World Title in Las Vegas.

I like Conway as the champ.  I think he has the talent and charisma.  Conway should now find a new opponent for a new feud.  Marconi is an option, but he really has some unfinished business with Nitro and the National Title.  Kojima is still one half of the NWA World Tag Team Champs, and I do hope that they do not lose that title back to Conway/Dane: the Irongodz.  When they drop the titles, it should be to a new team.

I would have to say that the NWA should be pleased with this little foray into New Japan Wrestling, and now it is time to build some US momentum.  Conway is now a two time champ.