The Contentious Ten 03.05.12: Top 10 Most One-Sided Feuds

Hello, and welcome to The Contentious Ten! My name is Nick Bazar, and I thank you for clicking.

When two wrestlers enter a feud, it’s likely that you’re going to see an exchange of wins and loses between the two to make the rivalry competitive. Take Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle. They were as even as even gets in 2005. Angle won the first match, Michaels won the second, and they settled their feud in a 30-minute Ironman match. However, there are also times when things aren’t as even. Just the opposite- there are times when feuds are one-sided. One wrestler constantly bests the other over a period of months and even years. This list looks at such feuds. Feuds where Wrestler A seemed to always beat Wrestler B, yet they still managed to keep fans interested. And so, my Top Ten Most One-Sided Feuds…

Please Note: I’m basing the term “one-sided” on wins and losses.color=red>

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Sting vs. Abysssize=6>

Remember this feud? Interestingly enough, it kicked off with a win for Abyss that won him his one and only World Heavyweight Championship reign in TNA. Don’t let that fool you though because The Monster only won that match on a technicality as Sting was disqualified for knocking out the referee (keep in mind, this was back when TNA allowed title changes on DQs). After that, things started to go downhill for Abyss. Two months later at Final Resolution 2007, Sting pinned him about five minutes into a Triple Threat Elimination match for his World Championship- a match Christian Cage ended up winning. The following month at Against All Odds, Sting beat Abyss once again in a Prison Yard Match followed by yet another victory at Destination X in a Last Rites Match. Then, to cap it all off, Sting pinned Abyss to win a Lethal Lockdown match for his team at the Lockdown pay-per-view. After that, Sting and Abyss seemingly mended their relationship and became friends. I still firmly believe that Sting has been beneficial to TNA in the six+ years he’s been there, but that entire stretch of matches against Abyss did nothing for either guy and is better left forgotten.

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Randy Orton vs. Christiansize=6>

While many consider Randy Orton vs. Christian to be WWE’s Feud of the Year for 2011, we can’t forget how lopsided it was. Yes, every single one of their matches was fantastic, but in the grand scheme of things, Christian didn’t make things very competitive. Just looking at their PPV matches against each other, Orton had a 3-1 record against Christian, with Christian’s only win coming as a result of a disqualification. On Smackdown, Orton scored two more victories over Captain Charisma, one to win the World Heavyweight Championship and the second in a Steel Cage Match. Looking at this from the WWE’s perspective, they were in a bit of a tough situation. They had just drafted Orton over to Smackdown and intended for him to become the “John Cena of the Blue Brand” as a dominating babyface. However, Edge’s sudden retirement left the door open for a Christian World Heavyweight Championship run that many fans wanted to see. To settle this, they eventually turned Christian heel and gave him the role of the whiny bad guy who kept asking for rematches to get his championship back.

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Bret Hart vs. Steve Austinsize=6>

Surprisingly enough, the feud that turned Steve Austin into a legitimate superstar was one-sided in favor of Bret Hart when you look at wins and loses. The rivalry officially began at the 1996 Survivor Series when Hart scored the pin against Austin in a near 30-minute classic; however, in the months leading up to that match, Hart defeated Austin every time they fought each other in one-on-one matches at live events. Every single time. That continued into 1997 when Hart famously made Austin pass out to the Sharpshooter at Wrestlemania 13 in a Submission’s Match. Austin would finally get one over on Hart a couple months later at an In Your House pay-per-view, but even that victory came as a result of a disqualification. Finally, Hart got the final laugh in the feud when he fed Austin to Owen Hart for the rollup pin to end their 10-man tag team match at Canadian Stampede. So, while the crowds were clearly on Austin’s side during this run thanks in large part to the development of his character through verbal and physical attacks on Hart and his family, when they met in the ring, Hart almost always came out on top.

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John Cena vs. The Mizsize=6>

Back in 2009, The Miz was still just another name on the mid-card roster. He didn’t have any singles titles to his name, no “awesome” catchphrases and not even real wrestling trunks. That started to change when they began to insert him into a feud with John Cena. For weeks, Miz claimed to be scoring forfeited wins over the company’s biggest superstar. Nobody bought it, but he was actually bringing some attention to himself. Then, when a match between the two was finally booked for The Bash 2009, there was some decent anticipation behind it. However, once the match took place, it was a bit of a downer with Cena easily besting Miz in about five minutes. It was not a star-making performance for Miz, but it did get him noticed because within a few months, he was crowned the United States Champion. A few months after that, he won Money in the Bank and later cashed it in to win the WWE Championship. However, even during that time, whenever he and Cena faced each other, it was Cena who came out on top. When Miz finally did get a victory over Cena in a one-on-one match, it came at Wrestlemania 27 to retain his WWE Championship (thanks to interference from The Rock). After that, Cena would regain his title by pinning Miz in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match at Extreme Rules 2011 and would go on to retain his title the following month by making Miz say “I Quit” at Over the Limit. Since then, Miz has slid down the ladder in the WWE, taking even more loses to Cena along the way. Looking back, it’s been a bittersweet run against Cena for Miz; on one hand, it’s thanks to Cena that he was noticed, but on the other, it’s thanks to Cena that he’s now in limbo.

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Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrerosize=6>

“The Ultimate Underdog” Rey Mysterio sure did a lot of winning during his lengthy feud against Eddie Guerrero in a rivalry that spanned years and companies. In WCW, it was Mysterio who scored the pinfall on Guerrero at Halloween Havoc 1997- a match many consider the greatest Cruiserweight battle of all time. They later both found themselves in the WWE, but it was more of the same when they started feuding in 2005. What originally began as a feud among friends with mutual respect for one another quickly disintegrated into a strange tale of child custody and family feuding. It didn’t really matter what they were feuding over though, as Mysterio scored every single pay-per-view win against Guerrero that year beginning with Wrestlemania 21 and concluding at Summerslam in a Ladder Match. In-between those events, Mysterio also came out on top at the Judgment Day and Great American Bash PPVs. If you think about it, their feud was quite similar to Randy Orton/Christian from 2011 (minus Dominic Mysterio Jr.). Both featured a very over babyface who fans were used to watching win and an equally over heel who could keep his heat regardless of constantly losing. Not to mention, the matches were usually always very good and among the best of whatever show they were on.

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Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flairsize=6>

You can easily make the argument that every feud Hulk Hogan was in- especially in the 80s- was a one-sided affair in his favor, but I’m going to look at only the most relevant. Let’s begin with Ric Flair. If you look back at the results for their matches against each other throughout 1991 and 1992 at live events all across the country, Hogan came out on top almost every single time. They never had a big one-on-one match on pay-per-view during those years, but if they did, I’m betting I know who would’ve won. That trend continued when they both ended up in WCW. Hell, Hogan’s WCW debut saw him win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Flair at Bash at the Beach 1994 (a very good, underappreciated match by the way). A few years later, Hogan beat Flair at SuperBrawl IX and then again at Uncensored 2000 in a legendary Yappapi Strap Match. Most recently, Hogan came out on top against Flair every night of their 2009 tour of Australia and has upstaged him numerous times throughout their run in TNA. If anything, this just goes to show you how respected Flair’s work before and after his run-ins with Hogan were as many fans still look at him as Hogan’s equal.

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Triple H vs. Cactus Jacksize=6>

There is probably no other wrestler Triple H can thank more for his rise to the very top of the wrestling world than Mick Foley. At two completely different points in his career, it was because of wins against Foley that he was elevated to different spots on the card. First, he defeated Mankind in the finals of the 1997 King of the Ring tournament to solidify his rank as an upper mid-carder; second, he defeated Cactus Jack in a Street Fight a few years later at Royal Rumble 2000 to solidify his rank as a main eventer. Following the Rumble pay-per-view, HHH went on to defeat and “retire” Cactus at No Way Out in a Hell in a Cell Match, and then pinned Foley again at Wrestlemania 16 to eliminate him from the Fatal Four Way main event. At every point in their feud, Foley’s character provided the perfect nemesis to add different dimensions to HHH’s developing gimmick. In the beginning, he served as a wild lunatic that made HHH look dominant every time he managed to defeat him. Towards the end, Foley played a more sympathetic role to help HHH get over the cerebral nature of his main event heel character. Nevertheless, no matter the role Foley played, he rarely came out on top.

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Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savagesize=6>

From 1987 to 1989, matches between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage ended one of two ways: most of the time, Hogan pinned Savage; the rest of the time, Savage won via countout. That’s it. And they had a lot of matches against each other in that time period. In the WWF, Hogan either beat Savage cleanly, or lost to Savage via countout. I couldn’t find a one-on-one match between them where Savage pinned Hogan or won more cleanly than by countout. I know that was usually the case with Hogan matches during that time, but his lengthy series against Savage at live events takes the cake when it comes to lopsidedness. Obviously, the most well-known match between the two took place at Wrestlemania 5 when Hogan defeated his former Mega Powers teammate to win the WWF Championship. However, the trend continued when they both met up in WCW and reignited their feud- the matches were still in Hogan’s favor. In 1996, just a few months into the New World Order storyline, Hogan defeated Savage at Halloween Havoc; in 1998, Hogan defeated Savage in a Steel Cage Match at Uncensored; then finally, Hogan regained the World Heavyweight Championship from Savage on an episode of Nitro in 1999 in one of Savage’s last matches. Again, it’s a testament to how over and talented Savage was (like Flair) that his losing record against Hogan didn’t slow him down throughout his career.

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Triple H vs. Randy Ortonsize=6>

I put Triple H/Randy Orton ahead of Hulk Hogan/Randy Savage on this list because unlike Savage losing to Hogan, Orton constantly losing to HHH hurt the young rising star at a certain point in his career. It began at Unforgiven 2004, just a month after Orton won the World Heavyweight Championship for the very first time at Summerslam. What happened? The rug was pulled out from under him to get the title back on The Game. A few months later at the Royal Rumble- when Orton had been rebuilt enough to challenge for the title once again- he was sent packing just like the first time. So, instead of having a promising new babyface on your brand, you had a guy who was put down by HHH twice in a row on pay-per-view. The next time they met one-on-one on a big stage was at No Mercy 2007 where they fought twice in the same night, splitting the series. It wasn’t as even when they met again the following year as Triple H took the WWE Championship from Orton, eliminating him from a Fatal Four Way Match at Backlash 2008, then continued to beat him on the next two PPVs, first in a Steel Cage Match at Judgment Day and then in a Last Man Standing Match at One Night Stand (a match that put Orton on the shelf for months with a broken collarbone). The beating doesn’t end there though, as HHH would once again come out on top against The Viper in the main event of Wrestlemania 25.

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Raven vs. Tommy Dreamersize=6>

No other one-sided feud in professional wrestling was as meticulously and purposefully carried out as Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer in ECW. Back in those days, if you ever saw that Raven was going up against Dreamer, you pretty much knew the outcome because Dreamer could never seem to get one over on Raven in a one-on-one match. From 1995 until 1997, Dreamer was only able to get a win over Raven three times; however, only the last of the three is remembered as it was the one that was billed as a Loser Leaves ECW Match, and the one that finally got the Raven monkey off Dreamer’s back. It also showed off the genius behind Paul Heyman’s storytelling. They emphasized the fact that Raven always beat Dreamer. They emphasized the fact that Dreamer desperately wanted payback on Raven. Then, when it finally happened at Wrestlepalooza 1997, it resulted in as good a payoff as you can get in wrestling. When Dreamer finally beat Raven, you knew it was a milestone moment in the company’s history. It wrote the blueprint on how to book a one-sided feud so that in the end, everyone walks out a winner.