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The era of SmackDown Live is coming to an end. SmackDown is set to open a brand new chapter, as the show will move to FOX next week. SmackDown Live will be hosted every Friday and the Blue Brand will reportedly become Friday Night SmackDown.
In this slideshow, we take a look at some of the best rivalries in SmackDown LIVE history (in no particular order).
5. Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan (and Vince McMahon)
Kofi Kingston's rise to the top of SmackDown was unexpected. In January 2019, no one would have believed that Kingston would have become WWE Champion at WrestleMania.
After Mustafa Ali was injured, WWE used Kofi Kingston to fill his place at Elimination Chamber 2019. Kingston made full use of the opportunity. Kingston had an amazing showing during the Gauntlet Match before Elimination Chamber by surviving three opponents.
At Elimination Chamber, Kingston eventually tapped out to AJ Styles' Calf Crusher, but was still able to get himself over with fans.Kingston also proved his resiliency by kicking out of the Running Knee, a move that only the likes of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns had previously overcome. Despite the strong showing, Kingston came up just short of clinching his maiden WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber.
After the event, Vince McMahon deliberately set up a bunch of hurdles for Kofi to overcome. Kingston even had to endure another Gauntlet Match to earn his ticket to WrestleMania 35. Even his tag team partners, Big E and Xavier Woods, were put into an arduous test in order to help Kingston earn a WWE Championship opportunity at WrestleMania.
The entire WWE Universe was behind Kingston. Bryan also played his part to perfection and garnered some brilliant heel heat. The feud's climax was intensely satisfying and that's why it makes our list.
4. Daniel Bryan and The Miz
Before turning babyface, The Miz was an amazing heel, who could hold his own against even the best mic workers in WWE. However, the WWE Universe barely took him seriously since WWE rarely booked 'The A-Lister' as a strong contender. However, in mid-2016, during an episode of Talking Smack, we all saw how good The Miz was on the mic.
The Miz had a heated altercation with Daniel Bryan. He ended the altercation by spitting hard facts at Bryan and the WWE Universe in an attempt to coax the retired Superstar back into the ring. Although the rivalry between The Miz and Daniel Bryan had been brewing since the first season of NXT, this promo reignited the WWE Universe's interest in a Bryan vs The Miz feud. Still, Bryan was yet to be cleared by the WWE medical team.
A year and a half later, WWE cleared Bryan to return to in-ring action. Bryan teamed up with Shane McMahon to face off against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34. After Bryan's big return bout, WWE began rekindling the rivalry between 'The American Dragon' and The Miz.
At SummerSlam 2018, WWE booked a match between Daniel Bryan and The Miz. The Miz won the bout after knocking Bryan down with an illegal object. The Miz defeated Bryan at Hell in a Cell 2018 in a mixed tag team match that also involved their wives, Maryse and Brie Bella.
Their heated feud came to an end at WWE Super ShowDown in Australia where Bryan finally defeated The Miz and earned an opportunity to challenge the WWE Champion AJ Styles.
The feud featured a strong build and deserves to be on our list.
3. AJ Styles and John Cena (WWE Championship feud)
AJ Styles and John Cena are two of the most iconic names in professional wrestling history, however both Superstars took very different paths to the top of WWE.
John Cena has always been a WWE guy. WWE molded Cena to be a sports entertainer and hand picked Cena as the face of the franchise. In fact, Cena has never even wrestled for another promotion.
To the contrary, AJ Styles traveled all around the world before signing with WWE. Styles has been with some of the best professional wrestling promotions like TNA, NJPW, and ROH. Styles has also won the World Championship in almost every promotion he's ever worked for.
This nuance in their background was the major highlight for John Cena's early 2017 WWE Championship feud against AJ Styles. The build to the match featured a number of work/shoot style promos and they were all believable. Styles and Cena were at their very best.
The two Superstars put on a stellar performance at WWE Royal Rumble 2017 and it was voted match of the year by the WWE Universe.
2. New Day and The Usos
In 2017, the SmackDown Live Tag Team Division was miles ahead of RAW's. The Blue Brand has to thank the outstanding rivalry between The New Day and The Usos for that.
Although New Day and The Usos had some decent matches in 2015 and 2016, WWE began taking their feud seriously after WrestleMania 33 in 2017. The Usos were the SmackDown Tag Team Champions at that time and kicked off their epic saga at Money in the Bank 2017, but it all ended in a count-out.
Their subsequent battles at Battleground and SummerSlam 2017 were brilliant - especially the latter. WWE fans criticized the company for putting such an epic match on the SummerSlam Kickoff Show. WWE realized their mistake and started giving the rivalry the limelight it deserved.
WWE scheduled a Chicago Street Fight between the two teams on SmackDown. At Hell in a Cell, the two teams went to war inside the demonic structure.
WWE did a good job finishing the feud. After Hell in a Cell, there was a segment where The Usos and The New Day called for a truce and ended their rivalry with mutual respect.
Although this rivalry had more than five marquee bouts in five months, things never became stale. Both teams always brought something new to the table and most importantly, they elevated SmackDown's Tag Team Division.
1. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
From NXT to the main roster, Becky Lynch was always in Charlotte Flair's shadow. Although Lynch became the inaugural SmackDown Women's WWE Champion, the company never used Lynch to her full potential. She soon dropped the title, while her best friend Charlotte made history by being the first woman to headline a pay-per-view.
After dropping her title, Lynch did not get many opportunities at the championship. However, before SummerSlam 2018, Lynch defeated then SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella and earned a one-on-one shot at the title at SummerSlam. SmackDown General Manager Paige inserted Charlotte into the match - which began irritating Lynch, who was denied a one-on-one opportunity at the SmackDown Women's Championship.
At SummerSlam, Charlotte pinned Lynch to capture the title. Lynch had enough and turned on her best friend, starting a movement that would eventually elevate her to headline WrestleMania 35 a few months later.
Reminiscent of the Yes Movement a half decade earlier, the WWE Universe began backing Lynch. Even though WWE tried to turn her against the audience, the fans did not care. They chanted for Becky whenever 'The Irish Lass Kicker' was in the ring.
Eventually, Lynch and Charlotte had an outstanding match at Evolution - outshining the main event between Ronda Rousey and Nikki Bella. Lynch, Flair, and Asuka went on to headline TLC 2018 in a Triple Threat Match.
Both Superstars would go on to feud until WrestleMania 35, where Becky Lynch defeated both Ronda Rousey and Charlotte in the main event to capture the RAW and SmackDown Women's Championships. Flair and Lynch would end their feud at Money in the Bank 2019, after Flair defeated 'The Man.'
We know women's wrestling has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 years, but many wrestling fans never thought WWE would put the women in the main event of WrestleMania. This rivalry between former best friends played a historic role in elevating women's wrestling to such heights.
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