The 411 Wrestling Top 5 5.12.10: Week 74 – Worst Feuds

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. Most of our topics will be based on recent events in the Wrestling World, looking at those events that make us think of times past.

So, on to this week’s topic…

Worst Feuds

Not every great wrestler gets by without a feud that makes us shake our heads and quite possibly their own as well when they look back.

So what did our group of writers select? Let’s find out…

Ryan Byers

HONORABLE MENTIONS

WWE vs. TNA (TNA 2010) – Is it really a rivalry when one side of the equation takes no damage and doesn’t care that it’s going on?

WWF vs. The WCW/ECW Alliance (WWF 2001) – Everybody complains about how this one wasn’t nearly as great as it could have been, though I can’t bump it up to the top five because, subpar booking aside, 2001 was one of the best in-ring years in WWF history, and all of the matches were built around this feud.

Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young (TNA 2007) – I was reviewing TNA for 411mania while this feud was ongoing, and I despised just about every minute of it. However, I have a hard time bumping it beyond honorable mention status just because, at the end of the day, it was a midcard angle in a distant number two promotion instead of being junk from the main event level of a major company as is the case with most of my top five.

5.Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr. (WWE 2009-2010) – Aside from a completely random, one-off cameo by Macaulay Culkin, I cannot think of a single second of the rivalry between these two wrestlers that entertained me. However, that alone doesn’t really qualify it for my top five list. After all, there have been plenty of feuds that I didn’t enjoy one second of that I’m not ranking here. What sets this particular feud apart? The fact that it JUST. WOULDN’T. DIE. This damn thing stretched on for practically six months, each week generating at least one lame “comedy” segment on Monday Night Raw with each being seemingly worse than the last. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to comedy in professional wrestling, but I’m opposed to bad comedy in professional wrestling . . . and this was bad comedy at its worst.

4.Hulk Hogan vs. The Dungeon of Doom (WCW 1995) – When Hulk Hogan joined World Championship Wrestling, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea . . . but I had some hope. After all, even though the Hogan character had gotten stale, at least there were some potentially fresh feuds for him in the Turner-owned company. He never really had a well-developed television feud with Ric Flair, battles against Vader would pit him agianst one of the greatest big men in history, and Hogan versus Sting could be a face-face matchup rivaling Hogan versus the Ultimate Warrior. Unfortunately, Hogan killed two of those potential feuds dead, as he treated neither Flair nor Vader as legitimate threats and sent them packing in short order. The feud with Sting wouldn’t be touched until three years later. So who DID Hogan decide that he was going to sell for early in his WCW run? The Dungeon of freakin’ Doom, a stable consisting primarily of Hogan’s old partners and rivals from the WWF wearing lame Halloween costumes as well as a greener than grass version of the Big Show. The skits were hokey, the matches were horrid, and and the overall effect of the feud was to create perhaps the most cartoonish era in pro wrestling history . . . and think of the ground that covers

3.Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Kidman (WCW 2000) – I swear that I don’t hate Hulk Hogan. I really don’t. He’s been involved in some great stuff during his career, but, unfortunately, his name also is attached to some of the dirt worst programs in pro wrestling history, and that’s why he pops up on my list so often. Case in point: His feud with Billy Kidman. This was booked as a part of the overaching Millionaire’s Club vs. New Blood storyline in WCW, in which the promotion’s established stars went up against guys who had never really been given a fair shake. Sounds like a great way to elevate new talent, right? Well, it would have been, if any of the established stars were willing to make the New Blood look like legitimate threats. Hogan was probably the worst offender, as Kidman couldn’t buy a decisive victory over the guy, either in a non-wrestling segment or in a match. Yes, I’m aware that Kidman did technically pin Hogan at one point, but, if you go back and look at how the match was actually executed, it was nowhere near the type of win that would portray Kidman as anything other than a guy who scored a fluke pinfall over somebody he never would have beaten legitimately. I personally don’t think that a Kidman/Hogan feud was the best choice to begin with, but, if the company was going to do it, they should have gone all the way and made the man look like a viable threat. Unfortunately, they treated him like a twelve year old playing wrestler instead of a man nipping at a legend’s heels in a legitimate attempt to unseat him.

2.Kane vs. Shane McMahon (WWE 2003) – It seemed like Kane’s career was pretty well sunk after 2002, when he got saddled with the lame “Katie Vick” storyline and was not even permitted to get his comeuppance at the end of the feud by defeating Triple H. The man was presumably banished to midcard hell until the day that either he or WWE decided to end their relationship. Then, however, something happened. The company decided that they were going to remove Kane’s mask and turn him into a psychotic, monster heel. It absolutely WORKED, as he went on a violent rampage and was, for a period of a few weeks, the hottest act in all of professional wrestling. It looked like he was going to have a career resurgence and a second chance the likes of which we rarely see a professional wrestler get. Then Shane McMahon showed up. Rather than being a psychotic, killer of a wrestler, Kane was turned into an inept cartoon character who went toe-to-toe with an out of shape forty year old non-wrestler. It completely neutered the new Kane character and killed any chance he had of once again being a main eventer who would be taken seriously.

1.Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WCW 1998) – I hate to sound like I’m beating a dead horse. Really, I do. After all, last week I pegged the Warrior’s 1998 run in WCW as one of wrestling’s Top 5 Worst Signings. I briefly thought about not mentioning the Warrior/Hogan feud again this week because I wrote so much about it just seven days ago, but then I realized that to do otherwise would be a bit dishonest. So, here you go, folks. The Ultimate Warrior’s feud with Hulk Hogan, trotted out seven years after its expiriation date, tops my list of the worst rivalries of all time for all of the same reasons that the Warrior’s WCW contract made my worst signings list last week.

Scott Rutherford

HONORABLE MENTIONS

5.Big Daddy Cool vs King Mabel – Never has a feud ever been so unwanted yet receive so hard a push. Seriously, we all know that King Mabel was a dud to headline the WWF’s second biggest show of the year but those in charge at the Wiff certainly didn’t seem to know that. Considering this was the heyday of The Clique, I’m flabbergasted that they didn’t pull rank and get things changed. It’s occurrences like this feud that makes me think the those guys weren’t as in charge as everyone else seemed to think they were. This may be the first PPV headlining match to be a bathroom break.

4.Sting vs Lex Luger – How trusting can one guy be? Seriously, Lex Luger turned on Sting so many times you had to wonder if Sting had Downs Syndrome. Two things were certain in the NWA/WCW, you never trust The Four Horsemen and Luger will betray Sting. The real pain of this was if they kept Sting and Luger apart for an extended period they could have had an extended run with Luger as champion and Sting chasing. But of course, the only thing the NWA/WCW did with any great skill was rack up debt and by repeatedly having them break up and then get back together it diluted the impact every time to the point where people just did not care.

3.Sting vs The Black Scorpion – NWA/WCW finally has a babyface that can throw a spanner in the WWF works and they saddle him with this incredibly lame storyline. This was signpost #34325 that Ole Anderson was behind the times and borderline senile and it took Ric Flair to at least salvage something and supposedly to protect Barry Windham who was the other choice to be unmasked. This pretty much tanked Sting as champion and he never really gained the same momentum that he had going in as champion.

2.NWA vs UWF – This ranks so high because this didn’t even get off the ground and can’t even blame egotistical booking as to why it didn’t work. UWF was a major hotbed at the time Crockett Promotions bought out Eric Watts with a loyal following and a bucket load of interest in an inter-promotional war. Instead the UWF and its titles were folded into the NWA and barely a mention was made of it thereafter. Seriously, the UWF had talent like Eddie Gilbert, Sting, Rick Steiner, Terry Taylor, “Dr Death” Steve Williams, The Sheepherders, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Fantastics, Chris Adams and a host of other great talent. It could have worked but for reasons unknown to most everyone, it was flushed down the toilet. I’m not saying this could have toppled the growing juggernaut that was the WWF at the time, but this certainly would have shaken things up nicely.

1.RAW vs Smackdown! – So the WWE runs it’s competition out of town and enjoys the spoils. But the body gets fat and bloated and interest starts to wane. So with all rivals squashed Vince decided to turn to himself to get things back on track. On paper this looked like a great idea. On paper, it STILL looks like a great idea but the execution has been lacking and it’s still dragging on today. Seriously, how can you fuck this up? Not only would you be able to shine a light on more talent but you can also slow down the increasing shrinking timeline for feuds and storylines and stretch things out. Off course, the brand extension is all but in name only and is still in effect basically for the house show circuit. Guys like Chris Jericho and The Big Show have been regulars on almost every WWE show which make a mockery of the WWE’s own creation. The fans were willing to give this a go but like every other idea worth a damn to come out of the WWE in the last 6 years, it was watered down and screwed up in no time flat.

Aaron Hubbard

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Big Show vs. The Big Boss Man – Two decent workers who would never have a good match against each other, and a feud involving Big Show’s dead father. Uh, what?

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash – This was around the time that I wanted anyone to beat Triple H to end his title reign; then I saw their Hell in a Cell match and realized it was a good thing Nash didn’t win the belt.

Hulk Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom – I would rather watch the best of Al Snow (which doesn’t exist) then another Hulk Hogan vs. DOD match, ever again.

5.Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WCW) – Signing a talentless meathead to fight with a paste his prime star as you near the end of the decade and might want to look to your future? Check. Have some of the dumbest storytelling ever involving nightmares and illusions? Check. One of the worst matches of all time? Check. A feud that was only relevent eight years prior in another company? Check. A pointless ego stroking of a guy who does not need any more pampering? Check.

4.Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal – This is Exhibit A on why the X-Division should just be about the really good wrestling and not about anything else. These guys were best friends until Lethal got the X-Division champion, Dutt got jealous, turned on his friend, stole his girl, and they fought a bunch. This includes things like the Black Tie Brawl and Chain Match. What the Hell does that even mean? Terrible matches, terrible storyline, and it JUST. WOULDN’T. DIE! These guys fought each other for most of a year! And NOBODY cared! I’d make a caste system joke here but since Dutt is actually Indian I should refrain.

3.Roddy Piper vs. Mr. America – “Rowdy” Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan is one of the most important rivalries of all time. When wrestling hit it’s stride in the mid-1980’s due to the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling connection, it was these two who were on top in a compelling rivalry. In the late 1990’s, this retread was a bit ridiculous but not completely stupid; people wanted anyone to beat Hogan at this time. But having a Piper that can barely move feud with a Hogan who can barely move in 2003? Really? Using Piper as a scapegoat for the bigger Hogan vs. McMahon feud? Really?? With Sean O’Haire and Zach Gowan as the proteges? REALLY??? Oh, and Hogan is wearing a mask and is “Mr. America” because Hogan was “fired”. Kill me.

2.Sting vs. The Black Scorpion – It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Heck, maybe it would have worked out if the original guy stayed under the mask. Instead, we got multiple Black Scorpions, horrible promos, and a shocking reveal that it was Flair under the mask. Because the confidant, arrogant, pompous, do everything in the grandest, most over the top way possible Ric Flair would hide under a mask to cost Sting the world title. Yeah. Whatever. This is what happens when a babyface champion has no credible opponents. Do NOT let this happen to your top face!

1.Kane vs. Gene Snitsky – Kane feuds suck as a rule. While he is a competant wrestler and was actually very good from about 1998 to mid 2002, Kane has never gotten the chance to be involved in a serious, quality wrestling based feud. So the wrestling sucks. He’s also usually involved in the most ridiculous storylines that creative can think of. It’s a miracle he’s still over. But this gem was awful. Coming off the heels of the forced marriage of Lita and Kane after he forced her to have sex with him so he wouldn’t kill Matt Hardy, we have Gene Snistky accidently knock Kane onto Lita, killing her baby. Yeah. KILLING HER UNBORN CHILD! You know, one of the worst possible things you can do to some one. Beyond offensive. Horrible matches, wors storyline, accomplished nothing but a lame one liner.

Michael Uphoff

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Big Bossman/ The Big Show – This was in late 1999, when the Big Show had just won the WWF title. Bossman challenged him, which we all knew right away would be a match that sucked. However, Bossman went way too far with the whole crashing the dad’s funeral and dragging off the casket.

Sonjay Dutt/ Jay Lethal – These two were great as a part of the X-Division. However, TNA decided to have them feud, which I could have gone along with, but the matches and booking turned this into utter crap. Also, it went on FOREVER. FOREVER. FOREVER.

Sting vs. the Black Scorpion – This is Exhibit A in Booking 101 on how to NOT book your top babyface. Sting had just won the title, and then this feud pretty much killed any momentum he had with its decrepit booking.

5.Chavo Guerrero/Hornswoggle There was nothing redeeming about this feud. At all. One of the most underrated and gifted wrestlers in the WWE was made to look like an absolute tool by someone who is a midget. This was a waste of what Chavo could do, provided absolutely nothing in terms of good or decent, and only served to waste time on Monday Night RAW. That’s why it’s #5. I seriously questioned the sanity of Vince McMahon when he repeatedly allowed this on television, but then I remembered Katie Vick, and the Kane/Gene Snitsky feud, so I understood.

4.Sting/ Lex Luger – I have to agree with Rutherford on this one. This was completely asinine. How trusting can you really be if you’re Sting and Lex Luger wants to partner up with you? Scratch that. How insane are you to do that? This was awful booking by the NWA/WCW. How many times can you turn Lex on Sting before the crowd doesn’t care anymore? This really killed Sting, and did no favors to Lex Luger either. They could have a decent feud with each other if they had gone the Cena/Edge or Cena/ Orton route. Have them feud for awhile, take some time off from one another, then come back a couple years later, and revisit the rivalry.

3.The Main Event Mafia/ The Frontline – I may catch flack for this one, but to me, this has to be in the Top 5, because it is definitely in the Top 3 Worst TNA feuds. This started out as a great concept, with the Mafia and the Frontline battling to see who would dominate TNA, but the Frontline got bitched out EVERY SHOW and EVERY PPV for months to old wrestlers beyond their prime. I know that the eventual goal was to put over the Frontline, but after awhile, no one cared anymore. This feud had no redeemable ending, the booking was appalling, true stars like Samoa Joe and AJ Styles were made to look like shit, and so on and so forth. This was really the time that TNA started to feel like WCW again, and when it started to die, not when Hogan and Co. took over. The only reason why this isn’t higher in my mind is that the next two represent the worst feuds in both WWE and WCW.

2.Hulk Hogan/ Ultimate Warrior – What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this feud? This feud was AWFUL. This feud was several years after anyone cared. It was only done to stroke the massive ego of Hogan, so that he could get his win back. This was one of the worst matches of all time. The buildup to this match was nothing short of laughably atrocious. Parlor tricks and illusions and nightmares? Really? REALLY? I may be wrong for saying this, but this has to be the worst feud in WCW history. Nothing redeemable at all, whatsoever.

1.Triple H/ Scott Steiner – I cannot honestly believe I am the only one to come up with this one. This has to be the worst WWE feud ever. Steiner was built up to be this monster, but when he feuded with the Game, they produced shit of the highest caliber. Their matches at Royal Rumble 2003 and No Way Out 2003 were appallingly abominable. The match that never deserved another one happened at Royal Rumble. It was worse than Goldberg/ Lesnar at Wrestlemania XX. The booking was just plain dreadful. No one cared, Steiner couldn’t wrestle, Triple H couldn’t carry him to anything, and what we get is the worst feud in the WWE. If you think about it, Triple H had the worst year ever in 2003. This feud wasn’t the only bad feud he had in the year. He started with Scott Steiner, moved on to Kevin Nash, and then feuded with Goldberg. It wasn’t until he started feuding with Shawn Michaels again that he finally moved on. I digress. Triple H/Scott Steiner featured matches that made Goldberg/Lesnar look like a classic, and booking that was worse than that of Sting/Luger. That is why this is the worst feud of all time.

Jeremy Thomas

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Mark Madden vs. “Mean” Gene Okerlund (WCW) – Remember this? Mark Madden and Mean Gene were fed up with each other, so they faced off twice. First in a Bagwell/Okerland vs. Madden/Kanyon tag match, and the second time in a one-on-one match. Yeah, that’ll put butts in seats.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Jay Lethal (TNA) – This feud could have had potential. You had two good workers, both of whom had charisma, fighting over a hot girl. The problem was that the feud went on forever and just wasted everyone’s time with dumb plot twists and retarded segments. TNA drop
ped the ball on this one big-time.

Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Kidman (WCW) – Russo’s gonna push the new faces of WCW…so he puts a guy with creative control and a history of not doing the job against the guy he most seems to want to get over right off the bat. Way to kill a guy’s credibility, Vince.

5.Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young (TNA) – I hated this storyline/rivalry so much. Can anyone explain the overall plot progression of this whole thing in less than 300 words? I doubt it. This whole thing was so convoluted, so pointlessly twisted and had so many stupipd things that happened that I can’t even begin to remember it all. But several terrible moments stick out for me, like the tar and feathering, Young cleaning Roode’s toilets and so on. Despite his attempts to make the program work as well as it could, I was never able to look at Young with the same level of respect again and neither could most of TNA’s fans.

4.Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie (WWE) – I’ve commented about this before in one of the Top 5’s about the worst storylines, and so it stands to reason it would fit here. I’m not going to comment so much on the storyline itself this time as I am the problems with putting these two against each other. This was at a time when we had some good women’s wrestling in the WWE. Granted, it was happening on Raw, but it was there. Meanwhile, SmackDown had two Divas who were never worth much in the ring running through this whole thing. Now, both women are very attractive, I will give them that. However, Torrie had the acting skills of a 2X4 at this time and she had no dynamic with Dawn Marie here. The scenes where they would face off were hilariously, MST3K-level painful. And then when they finally got in the ring, the laughter was over and it was just the pain. There was flat-out nothing good about pitting these two together against each other, and like some of the rivalries on this list it went on for way, WAY too long.

3.Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior (WCW) – It’s hard to say much more about how stupid this rivalry was. Hogan was looking to get his win back, but I also believe he legitimately thought this would draw fans back to WCW. That shows how deluded and out of touch with the fans of that era he was. Warrior was in full-out nutjob mode and was delivering promos that were almost more snorts then actual words…and what words he used were–well, not very sensical. We had a stupid storyline involving Warrior getting into Hogan’s head, on a literal basis with the whole mirror thing, and then one of the most agonizing matches ever seen. This match turned the Spirit of WrestleMania VI into a crying self-cutter. That’s how bad it was.

2.Sting vs. Black Scorpion (WCW) – I don’t have enough time or enough space to talk about how silly this whole thing was. The Black Scorpion character was doomed from the conception point. Remember all his magic tricks? Yeah, they were pretty stupid. Remember the match at StarrCade where Scorpion showed up in a terrible, low-budget spaceship? How about the silly voice demodulator? This whole thing played out in such a poor, haphazard way that it’s difficult to believe that someone was paid to come up with this thing. And in the end, it was revealed that Sting’s mystery rival was…Ric Flair, because they didn’t know how to end this. There were a thousand great ways they could have booked Sting, and this was what they went with. Great going, guys.

1.Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero (WWE) – Some may think I overrated this rivalry on this list. After all, it’s just a couple comedy guys showing up to get paid every week, right? That’s part of the problem. It went on week after week, after week, after week, after week, after week, after week…you get the idea. None of it was funny. Not one thing they ever did with Chavo and Hornswoggle made me laugh. Yes, I realize that this wasn’t booked for people like me, it was booked for the kids. Doesn’t mean I have to give it a pass. I’m not even that bothered by the fact that it had a talented guy like Chavo jobbing to and being humiliated by a leprechaun week in and week out. What bothers me is that during this time, the ‘E had a lot of things going on, and most of it didn’t get the time it needed. Why? Because we needed to see Chavo in a cow suit. Oh, and there also wasn’t any storyline progression, either. There was a point where they almost turned the corner with it and Chavo looked like he was going to turn face and be Hornswoggle’s ally. That could have been at least somewhat interesting. But then, without explanation, he was right back to being the heel. I loathed this with such a fiery passion that at this point every time I see Hornswoggle in a segment with someone I cringe, wondering if they’re going to become the “new Chavo.”

Chad Nevett

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Triple H/Scott Steiner – Steiner couldn’t wrestle and Trips couldn’t carry him.

Kane/Snitsky – Any feud that includes a miscarriage from violence is a bad one.

Team 3D/Nasty Boys – Had this continued longer, this would have no doubt made the top five, but this was cut thankfully short by the Nasty Boys parting ways with TNA.

5.Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior (WCW) – Their feud in the WWF was big, one of the biggest of its eras. This one was nothing but a joke thanks to the Warrior not being able to work and thinking himself more valuable than he really was. None of the matches were good, often with others picking up the slack for the Warrior. Another sequel that just didn’t pay off.

4.Mickie James/Michelle McCool – The low point in pretty much every episode of Smackdown it appeared on, this feud was uncomfortable to watch. The whole ‘Piggie James’ thing was just in bad taste given the actual level of fitness James is at. Does the WWE, who is targeting younger audiences, really want to send the message that James was somehow fat? Plus, the feud never really got any big payoff, which might have redeemed it somewhat (probably not). James won the belt much too late and for too short a time, while McCool never really got her comeuppance until Beth Phoenix eventually won the Women’s title from her. Mostly, this feud just made me feel horrible after seeing any segment.

3.Chavo Guerrero/Hornswoggle – Even if you ignore Chavo’s skill in the ring, which is pretty high, this feud was godawful. A Leprechaun picking on a heel who is constantly put at a disadvantage — and made to look a monster should he ever fight back? That’s just bad writing since the longer it went on, the more Chavo looked like the person people should cheer. This was just a string of awful, insulting matches that, thankfully, died a long overdue death when someone realised that, yeah, this wasn’t good.

2.Abyss & Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair – Still ongoing, but at the centre of it? A magic ring that’s actually the Hall of Fame ring from TNA’s largest rival. Vince McMahon’s magic ring! This feud has been nothing but bad matches and cheesy, cartoonish gimmicks. Abyss turns from the Monster into the newest Hulkamaniac, imune to every weapon known to man aside from brass knucks to the balls. Ric Flair gets busted open instantly at every opportunity. Hogan shifts between getting involved and trying to stay above the fray without any explanation. Still, the idea that the feud is over the prestige of the WWE Hall of Fame rings? Who thought that would be a good idea?

1.Kane/Triple H – Two words: Katie Vick. Kane’s been involved in his share of bad feuds, but this one takes the cake with the revelation of Kane’s ex-girlfriend who died in a car accident that Triple H then… had sex with it…? Really? As a result, the name Katie Vick is infamous among fans. Thankfully, this story was short-lived, but Kane never recovered from it. From there, it was the unmasking and other awful/cheesy feuds. Still, I can’t get over a feud that centred on making Kane a killer (or, at the very least, guilty of manslaughter) and Triple H having sex with a dead girl’s corpse.