Top 10 Real Life Wrestling Feuds
For this list, we're looking at rivalries that transcend the in-ring feuds and take a peak at when they spill out into real life. No matter what federation these feuds began in, they eventually found their way to WWE and became the source of much chatter backstage and online.
#10: JBL vs. The Blue Meanie
Top 10 Darkest Real Life Wrestling Stories
This feud started after The Blue Meanie left WWE for the first time in 2000 and made some comments about JBL online, but it escalated at the ECW reunion pay-per-view One Night Stand in 2005. Meanie called JBL a “bully” and an “asshole” in a Web interview and Bradshaw never forgot about it. So, when the two met again in a WWE vs. ECW match at One Night Stand, JBL beat the ever-loving hell out of The Blue Meanie for his comments, leaving him bruised and bloodied. Barbs between the two would be traded back and forth over the years, but they eventually made up and are currently “Twitter Buddies.”
#9: CM Punk vs. Ryback
Top 10 Times Real Fights Broke Out in Wrestling
Ryback was red hot in the WWE back in 2012. “The Big Guy” was being fed top talent and crushing them on his way to a series of top-tier matches with CM Punk. But, after working together a few times, Ryback claimed that Punk went to WWE management claiming that he was dangerous in the ring and that Punk no longer wanted to work with him. Of course, being the champ, Punk got his wish, and the blow to Ryback’s career was immense; he’d eventually leave the company in 2016. Punk claims that working with Ryback shaved years off his career and continues to be very critical of “The Big Guy’s” in-ring work.
#8: Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair
In his first book titled Have a Nice Day, Mick Foley made some legit criticisms of Ric Flair during his WCW days, mainly that he seemed to wrestle the exact same match over and over again. Of course, Flair took great offence to these comments and came back at Foley calling him nothing more than a “glorified stuntman” and claiming the only reason he made it to the top of WWE was because he was willing to accept insane levels of punishment. The shots continued back and forth for sometime, and the two Hall Of Famers even used their heat with each other to have a few spectacular matches before making up and becoming friends.
#7: Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg
The Chilling Real-Life Story of Chris Benoit
In WCW in the Mid 90s, Goldberg was The Guy, while Chris Jericho was struggling to be recognized as a top talent. Because of this, Goldberg refused multiple times to work with Jericho, which upset Y2J greatly. Eventually Jericho would call out Goldberg on WCW TV, angering management, who then booked Jericho into a “squash match” against Goldberg in which Y2J refused. This heat between the two spilled over to WWE and in 2002, Jericho and Goldberg got into an incident backstage where the two got into a screaming match and Jericho put the much bigger Goldberg into a headlock.
#6: Eric Bischoff vs. Bret Hart
What If Eric Lindros Stayed With The Nordiques And Didn't Get Traded To Philadelphia? - Future Considerations
The Excellence of Execution’s run in WCW was anything but excellent, and Eric Bischoff was very vocal over this very fact. While Bret claims that Eric knew nothing about the wrestling business and booked his WCW run poorly, Bischoff claims that Bret was an absolute nightmare to work with during this time due to his negative attitude and lack of passion, and that’s why The Hitman’s WCW run was a failure. Bret fired back, calling Bischoff a “loser maggot” and the whole thing devolved even further from there. This is one of those real life feuds where we have very little hope of the two ever kissing and making up.
#5: Edge vs. Matt Hardy
Top 10 Cutting-Edge Airports That Are Destinations Themselves
This real life feud got a wee-bit personal, as it involved Matt Hardy’s girlfriend, Lita, cheating on him with the Rated-R Superstar Edge. Interestingly enough, however, the two didn’t feud back and forth in the dirt sheets, but instead saw their feud play out on WWE TV! And, financially speaking, it made a lot of sense, as – no doubt – the two men hated each other at the time. Thus, it’s really hard to tell where actual tensions end and storyline heat begins, but it’s fair to say that both men used real emotions to underpin their feud on live TV but, somehow, they managed to break the bread later down the line.
#4: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage
Top 10 Hulk Hogan Matches of All Time
Talk about deja-vu! Here’s another love affair between three top WWE stars that played out in front and behind the cameras. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were undeniably the two biggest stars in WWE during the Early 90s and their tag duo –aptly named “The Mega Powers” – was fronted by Macho Man’s wife Elizabeth. A TV angle that saw Hogan and Elizabeth relationship come into question eventually split the superhuman tag team and, shockingly, came to pass in real life as well. Macho Man was none to pleased, and resented Hogan almost until his death in 2011, but luckily the two would finally bury the hatchet months before his passing.
#3: CM Punk vs. The Authority
The Tragic Real Life Story of Chyna
Punk makes his second appearance on the list in a much more publicized feud with two of WWE’s most powerful people in Triple H and Vince McMahon. Punk has long claimed the Triple H kept younger talent down in an effort to put himself over and that he’s only in the position he’s in because he’s married to the boss’ daughter. The Game denies these claims of course, and was rightfully upset by them, calling Punk a diva for his erratic behaviour backstage and his constant complaining. There’s no love loss between Mr. McMahon and Punk either, as their long-standing beef lead to Punk’s infamous “Pipe Bomb” promo that lit up the Internet in 2011.
#2: Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart
Top 10 Biggest Vince McMahon Controversies
Once WWE’s front man, Bret Hart was told by Vince McMahon that his current, 20-year contract was unaffordable, and that he should seek to wrestle elsewhere. The incidents that followed, including the Montreal Screwjob, are the stuff of legend and part of the brilliant documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows. Bret felt betrayed, while Vince felt that, “Bret screwed Bret.” Further, The Hitman’s younger brother, Owen, died in a stunt gone wrong on a WWE pay per view in 1999 – an incident that Bret deeply disapproved of and placed at the feet of Mr. McMahon. Bret has since made amends with WWE, but one has to wonder just how far he’d trust its owner considering their long, stormy past.
#1: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
It’s no shock that Shawn Michaels versus Bret Hart is the number one real life feud, considering their bitter hatred of one another came to define one of the finest eras in wrestling in The Attitude Era. Feuding in and out of the ring, the tension came to a boil at 1997’s Survivor Series (aka, The Montreal Screwjob) where Michaels along with Vince McMahon duped Bret out of the WWE title. Though the pair would battle publically for many years afterward through shoot interviews, trading barbs with each other in a game of one-upmanship, they claim to have put the past behind them and moved on. Here’s hoping they can both forgive and forget.
