A great feud is the cornerstone of professional wrestling because storylines, characters, promos, and everything else revolve around a fantastic rivalry. When two wrestlers, tag teams, or stables deliver an awe-inspiring feud, they create what keeps the fans invested in the product to tune in every single week.
WWE has become PG today. The feuds that worked for the company in the Golden Era, Attitude Era, or Ruthless Aggression Era might not work now because the WWE's targeted audience has changed. The same goes for other promotions, as most companies produce different types of shows from old-school wrestling.
9 Val Venis Vs Goldust
Having a feud between the two most fascinating characters was certainly a dream for many fans. It all started when Venis gave Dustin Runnels a preview of his new adult movie, and it featured the wife of the latter, Terri Runnels. In fact, Terri and Venis became an on-screen couple for a while during the feud.
Dustin Runnels brought back the Goldust character, facing Val Venis at Judgement Day: In House and Capital Carnage respectively. While Goldust won the first bout, Val Venis won be the rematch. Such a storyline of stealing someone's wife and featuring her in an adult movie wouldn't work today in WWE. Also, a character like Val Venis was only suitable in the Attitude Era.
8 Jake The Snake Roberts Vs Randy Savage
Jake "The Snake" Roberts was a character who would never work in today's product. The reason is WWE wouldn't allow snakes on live TV. Moreover, animal rights activists might not like it if a character uses snakes for entertainment purposes.
Nevertheless, three decades back, one of Jake's best feuds was with Randy Savage. The memorable segment of their feud was when Jake brought a King Cobra, which bit Savage while the latter was stuck in between ropes. The Cobra kept hanging on Savage's arm longer than expected, giving Macho Man a grisly scar. Something like that can not be even imagined on live wrestling shows now.
7 Kane Vs Matt Hardy (With Lita)
During his feud with Matt Hardy, Kane produced a feud that also involved Lita. Kane was obsessed with Lita, and he also claimed to be the father of Lita's child. Kane married Lita after defeating Matt Hardy at SummerSlam 2004. Later, Lita faced a kayfabe miscarriage after Kane started a feud with Gene Snitsky.
A storyline like that would never work today because a large number of WWE's current fans are kids.
6 Bret Hart Vs Shawn Michaels
The feud between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels was one of the greatest feuds in history, not just in the 1990s. These two actually despised each other in real life, which made their feud spectacular. As the two best performers in their era, they delivered incredible matches whenever they locked horns in the ring. Their rivalry created the most infamous incident in professional wrestling, The Montreal Screwjob.
While wrestlers with real-life heat could still work now, an unscripted incident like the ending of Survivor Series '98 would never happen today. The current WWE wrestlers don't have much creative freedom, even the top stars. The Montreal Screwjob happened because Vince thought Bret Hart might show up in WCW with the WWE Championship belt like Madusa, who brought the Women's Title to drop in a waste bin on an episode of Nitro. Presently, if someone jumps ship like Bret Hart, a wrestler wouldn't be able to perform for 90 days after getting released from WWE.
5 The Undertaker Vs Big Boss Man
At the peak of the Attitude Era, the feud between The Corporation and The Ministry of Darkness was nothing short of spectacular. The feud led to a match between the leader of The Ministry of Darkness, The Undertaker, and The Corporation member, Big Boss Man.
The Undertaker won the Hell in a Cell match, but what he did afterward startled the fans. He hung Big Boss Man in the middle of the ring, which would be unfathomable in PG WWE.
4 Mankind Vs The Rock
Mankind and The Rock had a stupendously good feud in the late 1990s. While The Rock was a chosen corporate champion, Mankind was the complete opposite. The most memorable match of the rivalry was at Royal Rumble, where they squared off in an 'I Quit' match. Mankind endured a lot of pain in that WWE Championship match after getting many chair shots to the head.
It was one of the best feuds of the Attitude Era, but such a storyline would be repetitive today. Also, chair shots to the head are banned in WWE now, so the current wrestlers can't wrestle in such hardcore matches.
3 Roddy Piper Vs Hulk Hogan
Roddy Piper was one of the hated heels in the 1980s, while Hulk Hogan was the hero everyone aspired to be. As a result, Hogan and Piper were bitter rivals in the ring, and they had many matches. But surprisingly, neither man cleanly pinned each other until wrestling in WCW.
Whenever Piper and Hogan met in the 1980s, their matches had finishes like disqualification, no-contest, submission, or count-out. Today, WWE books many matches with finishes like no contest or disqualification. But the fans are unlikely to see a feud for a lengthy period between two wrestlers without at least one or two pinfalls.
2 Edge Vs Matt Hardy (With Lita)
A real-life romantic angle turned into a WWE storyline when Matt Hardy started a rivalry with Edge. Lita cheated on Matt Hardy and began dating Edge in real-life. The feud was exceptional between these two Superstars with real emotions behind it.
However, such a feud with a real-life story can not be executed successfully today due to social media. While Lita still created nuclear heat from the fans back then, the hatred would erupt more on social media platforms, and WWE wouldn't like to put their employees in such a situation.
1 Shawn Michaels Vs Diesel
Shawn Michaels and Diesel produced an interesting rivalry in the New Generation Era. Diesel was the bodyguard of Shawn Michaels but after a while, they squared off in the ring.
The idea of a bodyguard turning on a wrestler wouldn't work nowadays, with the recent example being Omos and AJ Styles. They split up, but the feud failed to reach a great height.