Your Favorite MID CARD feud of all time

[MVP#1]

Everyone seems to talk about the Main Event feuds when they look back on rivalries like the Stone Cold vs The Rock rivalry, Undertaker vs Kane rivalries etc. you get my point. People tend to forget about mid card rivalries and I wanted to know what your favorite mid card or lower card rivalry is your favorite of all time and why?



Mine would be the Matt Hardy vs Edge and Lita rivalry because it was so intense since it blurred in the real life situation between the 3 of them and was also a rivalry that didn't need a title involved to keep people interested.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Mine was the Nation vs DX feud in the summer of 98 which concluded with the Rock/Trips ladder match at SummerSlam. Just a great feud not only between the main guys, but really everyone on both sides. You know its good when the leaders on each side would be in the main event within a year following the feud.

 

[mlp420]

^Immediately what popped into my head. The DX Nation feud involved 3 different titles. Unheard of for a midcard feud. I actually watched RAW in 98 mainly for that feud, wasn't a big Stone Cold fan.

 

[Mustang Sally]

About 25 years ago, 'Rugged' Ronnie Garvin had a feud against Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine that represented one of the first times the line between 'heel' and 'face' was blurred. They were battling for the purest reason; they didn't like each other (kayfabe, I presume).

Garvin was supposed to be the good guy and Valentine the bad, yet the few matches in which they engaged were so rugged and real that the fans were booing and cheering both men equally. There was no storyline, just two guys beating the hell out of the other. Brutal.

To this day, I'm sure they were hitting harder than we see in most wrestling matches, undoubtedly having agreed to do so beforehand......and the fans were into it because they were witnessing shots that had to hurt for real.

I don't recall who won the majority of the contests....and that's the point; it doesn't really matter. It was the action in the ring that counted.......and for a midcard feud, that one topped all, imo.

 

[theuk savior]

there have been a few midcard feuds I have liked over time.

jake and earthquake with quake crashing the snake

shane o mac vs angle and also him vs show (witch way did he go)

mr perfect against lex luger

there are more to many to list really

 

[OYDK]

Mine was the Nation vs DX feud in the summer of 98 which concluded with the Rock/Trips ladder match at SummerSlam. Just a great feud not only between the main guys, but really everyone on both sides. You know its good when the leaders on each side would be in the main event within a year following the feud.

Yup, I gotta go with this one too. This was a great feud with both guys (HHH/Rock) right on the cusp of superstardom giving it everything they had. There were some awesome segments mixed in with awesome matches and it was the first feud to jump to mind.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

The DX vs. Nation feud is definitely up there for sure.

But for me, pick any Jake Roberts feud from 1987-1992, and you've got tons of great candidates for best mid-card feud ever.

Jake Roberts to me is one of the greatest "feud wrestlers" of all-time, as every feud/program he had was absolutely memorable and well done.

The first big one was against Ricky Steamboat in 1986 which was pretty vicious with his DDT to Steamboat on the concrete floor. Then he turned babyface and had a solid feud against the Honky Tonk Man, which elevated Honky's stock in the company big time.

Then there's the feud with Rick Rude which could be the best of them all. You had two of the supreme workers and characters of the 1980's going at it over Rude hitting on Roberts' wife. So many memorable moments that would've produced some absolute barn-burners of matches had this occurred when WWE had more than 3-4 ppvs in a year.

Then he moved onto Andre the Giant and gave Andre his last great feud/program. This was really the first time that Roberts' snake was really used as the major focal point of his feud, playing on Andre's fear of snakes. This really helped elevate Jake's "snake" character.

Then there's the feud with the Million Dollar Man over the Million Dollar Belt. These guys had great matches together.

Then we get to one of my two favorites, one being his feud against Rick Martel. Martel was never hotter as a heel in the company than in late 90/early 91 while feuding with Roberts. Sure it wasn't the first "blind" angle in wrestling history, but it was so well done regardless. I know a lot of people to this day crap on the blind-fold match from WM 7, but it made total sense in relation to their story, and I feel it was a great end to the feud with Roberts getting the win.

Next up was his feud against Earthquake. This one is special to me, as this was really the first big angle that I watched first-hand when I first started actually watching wrestling (I started watching shortly after WM 7). I was devastated when Earthquake squashed Damien. It was such a dastardly thing to do, and seeing Roberts tied in the ropes absolutely helpless and not being able to do anything about it. So gooooooooddddd!

By this point, Roberts finally gets close to being in the main event as he's about to feud with Warrior, until Warrior was fired, then moves on to probably one of my 2-3 favorite feuds of all-time against Randy Savage. Not really sure that this qualifies as a mid-card feud, as it did headline a number of house shows on it's own, but I'll acknowledge it anyway, because it's one of the best feuds ever. For me, Savage getting bitten by the snake, from a performing standpoint, is the greatest segment (non-match) I've ever seen in pro wrestling. After Savage is being carried off, and the snake is staring back at Jake, and he's smiling, laughing at it, to me that is Jake's finest moment from a psychology and character standpoint. At that exact moment, he was the greatest villain of all-time in wrestling, in my book.

Then his final feud was a highly underrated one with the Undertaker. Which was another great feud between WWE's two darkest characters.


So yeah, Jake Roberts to me is the greatest mid-card feud wrestler of all-time, if not the best feud wrestler, period. Take your pick. Whether it's Rude, Andre, Martel, Savage, Quake, or Taker. Any are great candidates.


I'll go with Martel between all of them (as again, the feud with Savage was more of a main event feud). To me, it was the best one.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

Another one I'll bring up is the feud between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit.

Angle and Benoit were to the early 00's, what Flair/Steamboat was to the 80's, and what Bret/Shawn were for the 90's. Two of the absolute best workers having nothing but killer matches.

Eventually Angle/Benoit moved to the main event, particularly at Royal Rumble 03, but most of their feud was in the mid card from 2000-2002 (even their great run together as the Smackdown tag champs in 2002). So I'll throw that one out there as one of the best.

As far as WCW/NWA goes, Tully Blanchard and Magnum TA should be considered. As well as Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page from 1997. Both feuds were amazing.

 

[AustinHartLesnarHBKTaz80]

The best midcard feud of all time:

CHRIS BENOIT vs BOOKER T.

The best of 7 series they had in WCW in 1998 produced some of the greatest matches in the history of WCW. Totally under-rated feud that i will never forget. The match at Spring Stampede 1998 was my favorite. Check it out on the WWE Network people. Its a hidden gem.

They tried to recreate the feud again in the WWE in 2005 i believe, but nowhere near the quality it was back in 1998.

 

[rocloc]

What *should have* been a favorite mid card feud for any child of the 80s was the Shawn Michaels/Marty Jannetty fued of (I believe) 1991. I still remember (vividly) watching Marty return and accidentally hit Sherry with the mirror (funny story, I was watching with my older brothers [i was probably 7 or 8 at the time] and my mother happened to be in the room and, shocked, she exclaimed "did he just hit a woman!?"...funny how we remember those things).

We were so pumped to see Marty return, and I remember my brother was rooting for HBK and I was rooting for Jannetty (which, perhaps, made the feud feel even more special as those were our respective "favorites" from their Rocker days). However, as we all know, for whatever reason ( I think I've heard Jannetty had his personal issues), not much became of what should've been a huge feud, sans the IC belt being exchanged a few times in forgettable matches. What a let down.

I also really enjoyed Brian pillman/Goldust (over Marlena) from the summer of '97...really seemed personal, and very risqué at the time (you'd never see that today, and I'm pretty sure they were still PG then). I'm assuming Pillman's untimely death killed (wow, poor word choice) what could've lasted and bloomed into one of the great all time mid card feuds. Pillman, Dustin, and Marlena all played their parts perfectly, IMHO.

Does SCSA/Bret Hart from late 96 thru summer 97 count ( maybe, technically upper/mid card)??

If not, I'd agree with the above posts that the Nation/DX feuds through 98 will likely go down as one of, if not the best mid card feud of all time (or the 90s at least).

I'm trying to remember some mid card WCW stuff, but I'm really struggling to remember anything that compares...maybe some other posters can refresh my memory on some good mid card feuds from 90s WCW...maybe sting/cactus jack...?

Honorable mention to Val Venus and kaentii (spelling error, I'm sure).

 

[HBKperfect23]

My favorite 2 were already mentioned

triple H and DX vs the Rock and the nation in the summer of 98. The summerslam ladder match was so awesome. I hated the Rock so much and triple H was probably my favorite wrestler at the time. I also remember on raw when D-Lo took the euro title from H and then the ROck and XPac had an awesome match for the IC title later that night.

Savage vs Jake first feud I ever really got into. I am a terrified of snakes and I swear the snake attack had a lot to do with that fear. I do wish they had a cage match to end the feud.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

My favourite mid-card feud is probably Marty Jannetty VS HBK in 1993. It was such a shame that Jannetty kept getting fired because the 2 of them had some fine matches together.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Kind of cheating here but... I'll go with The Ultimate Warrior vs The Macho King Randy Savage before Wrestlemania 6. Probably one of the biggest mid-card rivalry's in wrestling lore. Macho Man nailed Warrior with the Scepter at The Royal Rumble costing The Warrior the WWF Heavyweight Title against ( UGH ) Sgt. Slaughter. I really hated Slaughter winning the top belt at that time, especially off The Warrior. He just seemed like a guy barely qualified to be a jobber IMO. Then Sgt. followed up that with some awesome promo's for WM6 so that opened my eyes to his character at that time. But The Warrior vs Macho Man , career vs career at Wrestlemania 6 will be one of those super important mid card fights that will go down as the greatest ever in my books. Especially after Macho hit his flying elbow five or six times and the Warrior kicked out, I remember yelling , " No fucking way ... " and my mother growling at me from the kitchen.

At close second would be The Intercontinental Champion, Macho Man Randy Savage vs Ricky The Dragon Steamboat. The whole story of Macho damaging Steamboats neck and the lead up to The Wrestlemania 3 match itself was quite good.

Third would be Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Bret The Hitman Hart. Stone Cold was only just beginning to build his character in these times and brutally attacked other wrestlers out of the blue in back stage areas while yelling and trash talking them. Hit Man was the latest of faces to be attacked and the ending result was a brutal, hard hitting contest that left a lasting image of Stone Cold yelling while in the sharpshooter and blood streaming down his face. The mid card feud also culminated as Stone Cold turning FACE and Bret Hart turning HEEL all in one match. Something that will probably never happen that way ever again.

 

[theuk savior]

Kind of cheating here but... I'll go with The Ultimate Warrior vs The Macho King Randy Savage before Wrestlemania 6. Probably one of the biggest mid-card rivalry's in wrestling lore. Macho Man nailed Warrior with the Scepter at The Royal Rumble costing The Warrior the WWF Heavyweight Title against ( UGH ) Sgt. Slaughter. I really hated Slaughter winning the top belt at that time, especially off The Warrior. He just seemed like a guy barely qualified to be a jobber IMO. Then Sgt. followed up that with some awesome promo's for WM6 so that opened my eyes to his character at that time. But The Warrior vs Macho Man , career vs career at Wrestlemania 6 will be one of those super important mid card fights that will go down as the greatest ever in my books. Especially after Macho hit his flying elbow five or six times and the Warrior kicked out, I remember yelling , " No fucking way ... " and my mother growling at me from the kitchen.


the feud your talking about wm8 wm six was champ vs chap warrior vs hulk hogan

 

[Celtic Tiger]

Well there is one feud I could watch over and over again,many ppv matches..

Benoit-Y2J,from Backlash 2000- Royal rumble 2001

The mic skills of Jericho and the matches they had like the submission match at judgement day,2-3 falls match at summerslam and of course the ladder match at the royal rumble these guys just clicked together and still to this day I love lookin back on it

 

[TDFG]

I'd pick the NOD vs D-X as well.

The ladder match was great, the back an forth over the IC & European Titles, the one-upmanship it was great and it propelled the WWE's then midcard.

Compare the matches then between The Rock & HHH to the time Rocky first beat him for the IC Title, hell of a difference.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Perhaps it's a little too recent, but I'm going with Kevin Owens vs. John Cena, if it qualifies of course. We got some excellent promos, MOTY candidates, and Owens looked really good (though he shouldn't have tapped out). It also took Cena out of the main event scene; he really needed it.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

^Immediately what popped into my head. The DX Nation feud involved 3 different titles. Unheard of for a midcard feud. I actually watched RAW in 98 mainly for that feud, wasn't a big Stone Cold fan.

You just described me back in 98. I was all about the NWO and it wasn't until this feud that I came back to the WWF.

 

[roipdh123]

I agree with a lot of the ones that were already brought up so I will just give you a few new ones:

Christian vs Chris Jericho in 2004 with the involvment of Trish Stratus.
Randy Orton vs Mick Foley in 2003-2004.
Edge vs Mick Foley in 2006
Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero in 2005
Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy in 2009
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins in 2014
John Cena vs R Truth in 2011 (even though it ME a PPV and was the main feud heading into it I will count is as a mid-card feud that I really enjoyed).
The Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude in 1989
Roddy Piper vs Goldust in 1996
Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels in 1993-1994
Goldust vs Triple H - 1997
Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit - 2001
Chris Jericho vs William Regal - 2001
DX vs The Nation Of Domination - 1998
Brian Pillman vs Goldust - 1997
The Rhodes Family vs The Shield - 2013
Cody Rhodes vs Damien Sandow - 2013 (From what we got..)
Cm Punk vs JBL - 2008
Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels - 2003 & 2008 (if the last one is not count as ME)
Triple H vs Kurt Angle - 2000 (Again if not count as a ME feud).
Roberts vs Earthquake - 1990
Roberts vs Martel - 1991
Roberts vs Savage - 1991
Roberts vs Taker - 1992
Roberts vs Dibiase - 1990


But at the end no matter what my favorite mid-card feud of all time is Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship in the Spring and Summer of 2009 - just a pheonmenal mid-card feud in a time that almost didn't have them.

 

[ECPirate37]

Hey Mustang Sally, Great call on the Ronnie Garvin Vs. Greg Valentine Feud. I was just talking about that yesterday.

But for me, it was Big Boss Man vs. The Mountie. I was a kid, so to me the Big Boss Man WAS a corrections officer from Cobb County Georgia, and the Mountie was a foreigner that was going to ruin our legal system.

Looking back, I know how silly that is, but as a kid, I NEEDED Big Boss Man to win. haha

My 2nd best would Ted Diabase vs. Virgil. I wanted to see Virgil win so bad! What a great feud.

 

[kadroan]

D'Lo Brown vs. Jeff Jarrett Fall 1999. It was pretty cool seeing the IC and European champion go at it. I would have thought D'Lo could have been WWE Champion but unfortunately they never pulled the trigger.

 

[The Brain]

About 25 years ago, 'Rugged' Ronnie Garvin had a feud against Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine that represented one of the first times the line between 'heel' and 'face' was blurred. They were battling for the purest reason; they didn't like each other (kayfabe, I presume).

Interesting choice. I never really thought about them blurring the lines between face and heel but I see your point. At nine years old I was usually pulling for the good guys but I found myself rooting for Valentine in this feud. I actually felt kind of bad for him as Garvin just came off as a bitter bully to me.

To elaborate on the feud a bit more in the spring of 1989 Garvin and Valentine exchanged a couple wins and losses and for whatever reason, as Sally mentioned, these two just flat out did not like each other (kayfabe). Their personalities were like oil and water. Eventually they had a career ending match which Valentine won. Instead of leaving the WWF Garvin showed up as a referee and would regularly get physical with the heels, especially Valentine. This continued throughout the summer until finally Jack Tunney threatened to fire Garvin from his referee job if he ever put his hands on a wrestler again. Well Garvin just couldn't help himself as he got physical with Valentine again during a match with Jimmy Snuka on SNME. Garvin was fired and it looked like Valentine was finally rid of him. That is until SummerSlam when Ronnie Garvin was the guest ring announcer for Greg Valentine vs. Hercules. During the introduction Garvin completely belittled Valentine and even announced Hercules as the winner despite the referee raising Valentine's hand after getting the pin. This was the point where I starting feeling bad for Valentine as Garvin just would not leave the guy alone. Garvin was basically trolling Valentine for no reason. Valentine did nothing wrong. Eventually Garvin was reinstated upon Valentine's request. He figured if Garvin was going to continue to torment him he may as well be reinstated so Valentine could punish him in the ring. The feud culminated in a submission match at The Royal Rumble which Garvin won.

It was a unique feud considering how much time Garvin spent out of action. I wonder if he had an injury and wasn't able to compete and they went this route to keep him on tv. Either way this was an interesting choice and kudos to Sally (sorry I have to spread rep before getting you again) for picking out a pretty obscure feud.

 

[LBGetBack]

A lot of the best ones have already been mentioned, so I'll name a few that I didn't see mentioned that I enjoyed....

Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect. I only wish this had been able to go on for longer, but it gave us the first great Monday Night Raw match as Perfect beat Flair in a loser leaves WWF match. Great match. Those two had great chemistry with each other, whether friend or foe over the years.

Rick Martel vs. Tito Santana. The classic heel turn by Martel, leading to a feud and rivalry that went on for a long time. They always put on good matches, and I loved how "history" wasn't forgotten or ignored. Like, they'd wrestle years later and the animosity was still there. Too often nowadays, feuds and past history between wrestlers is completely forgotten once they are on to a new "storyline".

Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James. McCool had a strong character that would really get into Mickie's head in that feud. Some people took real offense to the "piggy" thing which was absolutely ridiculous IMO. Male wrestlers can do all types of over the line stuff to each other and it's cool, but a woman calling another woman fat is too much? And obviously Mickie was/is more attractive than probably 99% of the world's population. But in the feud, that really got into her head and McCool and James(and Layla) deserved a lot of credit for how well they pulled it off.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Another good mid card feud was Big Van Vader vs Cactus Jack. They had some pretty intense matches in WCW on the mid card. I remember Vader giving Cactus a powerbomb right on the concrete floor.

 

[FlairFan2003]

It seems people think a mid card feud is anything that didn't get the main event spot. Fact is there are usually two or three "Main" or "Top Tier" feuds at any time that are main event level. I cant see Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior in a Win Or Retire Match at Mania as a mid card feud, basically the same as an unproven low tier HBK battling Rick Martel in 1992.

To me the MID CARD is not where main event level matches take place. The performers usually are not main event caliber, sometimes these fueds can lead to someone being elevated up the card.

A relatively young Tully Blanchard against a struggling Ricky Steamboat in 1984 was a Mid card feud. Steamboat vs Savage in 1987 was not. Neither was Blanchard vs Magnum TA in 1985, those were main event caliber fueds that drove a lot of ticket sales and sometimes did main event arenas.