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Any good and enduring protagonist in popular culture needs a rogues gallery, and within that motley crew there usually needs to be that one arch-nemesis.The one bad guy that, when the two come face to face, you know there's going to be fireworks.
The same absolutely applies to WWE.
Some of the best professional wrestling stories are based around two guys with a long and storied history together - who have always hated each other. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon. Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. John Cena and Edge. These are just a few of WWE's best examples of this.
However the modern 'PG era' product from WWE seems to get a lot of criticism that it doesn't have long-form storytelling - that because things get changed on the fly so often, there are no build-ups towards iconic rivalries that will go down in history.
But I'd argue that WWE currently has several long-term feuds and storylines that have been built up over the last few years and will undoubtedly continue into the future. So, let's take a look at the five current long-term feuds and rivalries in the WWE.
#5. Andrade and Rey Mysterio
Mysterio and Andrade first wrestled each other in WWE on November 8th, 2019 and since then, they've been bitter rivals putting on a vast number of impressive performances every time they clash.
Mysterio triumphed in their first encounter, but wouldn't meet Andrade again until January, 2019 - losing in a tag match with Ali against Samoa Joe and 'El Idolo'.
Andrade would then beat Mysterio in singles action the following week, before the pair would wrestle to a draw in a 2-out-3 falls match the week after that. This was an important booking decision because it was portrayed as the rubber match, but didn't end up providing a conclusion.
Andrade and Mysterio were then given a month off from each other while the Royal Rumble happened, and wouldn't fight each other again until February 26th when their animosity towards each-other prevented them from beating R-Truth to win the United States title.
This feuding pair alongside R-Truth and Samoa Joe were then involved in three more matches in various combinations, including a United States title match at WWE Fastlane. It seemed like we were getting a Mysterio Vs. Andrade match for WrestleMania, but for some reason that never happened.
Then the Superstar shakeup happened and Andrade swapped brands on a weekly basis until he and Mysterio ended up on separate brands. This seemingly put an end to their rivalry until the Wild Card rule happened.
Then, on July 29th, 2019 Andrade and Mysterio reignited their feud in a big way when Andrade eliminated Rey Mysterio from a United States #1 Contender Gauntlet match and then, in a sign of total disrespect, ripped off Mysterio's mask,
Mysterio would get a modicum of revenge on the Monday Night Raw, the week after the above incident took place, when he would beat his rival. However, on this week's episode of RAW (12th August, 2018) Andrade would emphatically win a 2-out-of-three falls match with two wins, albeit cheating to get the first fall.
It seems that Andrade and Mysterio are always going to be at odds with each other, but we've yet to get that one big blow-off match to pay-off all of the animosity they've developed towards each-other. Hopefully we'll get that Hair Vs. Mask that everyone is clamoring for.
#4. Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston
Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston's rivalry spans over a decade. It got off to an explosive start, kind of dropping dead in the middle, and now it's been reincarnated off of the back of SummerSlam as we now head towards Clash of Champions.
It all started ten years ago when Randy Orton was poised to win the WWE Championship from John Cena with the help of his Legacy teammates Ted DiBiase Jr and Cody Rhodes. That was until Kofi Kingston ran out to even the odds with a steel chair, and thus a feud between the two was born!
There are some now iconic WWE moments that emanated from this feud including the unforgettable time that Kingston destroyed a NASCAR car that had been gifted to Orton by his Legacy stablemates and the Survivor Series go-home episode of Monday Night RAW that saw Kingston hit the Madison Square Garden boom drop heard around the world.
At this time, Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton were the captains of respective Survivor Series teams at Survivor Series 2009, where Kingston would go on to pick up the biggest win of his career at the time, pinning CM Punk and Orton himself.
On November 30th, 2019 and December 7th, 2019, the two traded wins, leading to a rubber match at Tables, Ladders and Chairs that Randy Orton would win, despite Legacy being banned from ringside.
Orton then beat Kofi Kingston in singles action again and would go on to pin Kofi Kingston in a Triple Threat match also involving John Cena on the January 11th, 2019 episode of Monday Night RAW. What would happen during this match would form the crux of Kingston and Orton's future rivalry, as well as end Kingston's push both onscreen and backstage.
During the match Orton was allegedly supposed to beat Kingston with his deadly punt kick, but Kingston wouldn't stay down on the mat, getting up for an RKO. An increasingly frustrated Orton downed Kingston with a second RKO and then shouted 'Stupid' at Kingston in a now iconic moment.
It is alleged that this moment caused Kingston to be de-pushed, halting plans to have him win the Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 26 - something that Kingston himself has alluded to.
He started alluding to this again when the rivalry with Orton was reignited in the build-up towards SummerSlam. However, the renewal of the rivalry started slightly earlier when Kingston faced Orton in a six-man tag-team match and did this!
It wasn't long until Orton returned the favor by calling Kingston 'stupid' again during a gauntlet match that Kingston needed to win to earn the WWE title match at WrestleMania, something that he did in fact do.
Between March and July, the two didn't cross paths but then wrestled on opposite teams of another six-man tag-team match and 'The Viper' pinned the WWE Champion. The following week Orton was confirmed as Kingston's next challenger and the feud was well and truly on fire again.
At SummerSlam, Orton would get distracted while he goaded Kingston's wife and kids at ringside, resulting in both himself and Kingston being counted out. Kingston then beat Orton to a pulp with a keno stick.
I already thought this feud was personal as it leaned very heavily into the real-life territory. But now that Kingston's family are involved, it seems this decade spanning feud between the two is about to go to the next level.
Kevin Owens Vs Shane McMahon
Becky Lynch Vs Charlotte
Pete Dunne Vs Roderick Strong
#3. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne
The main roster isn't the only WWE brand getting all the fun of having two guys who simply just hate each other and are destined to be enemies forever. I am, of course, talking about NXT.
But, you may think I'm talking about Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. However, I am not! They both seemed to bury the hatchet during Ciampa's last appearance, and Gargano has moved on to Adam Cole, which is likely also finished as well.
So what is NXT's longest running ongoing feud based on two people who have the desire to hurt each other? Well, it's Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong, of course The hatred between these two goes all the way back to this dramatic moment right here:
This thrown together pair had just wrestled each other for the United Kingdom Championship, during which Dunne got the better of Strong. However, they would join forces in the third Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic, beating Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan and SAnitY to reach the finals.
Their final was against the previous tournament's winners, the Authors of Pain, and ended in a double disqualification draw when, then-NXT Tag team Champs Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Cole interfered and attacked both teams. This, in turn, led to a Triple Threat match between the three teams at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
And during that Triple Threat match, it looked like Dunne was going to secure the win for himself and Strong - until Strong ambushed him and aligned himself with Undisputed Era as you have seen in the top video!
The pair then wrestled each other six times in various match-types including tag-team matches and one-on-one contests before the next NXT TakeOver with Dunne winning five of the six.
Dunne then teamed up with War Raiders (still War Machine at the time) and Ricochet to face all four men in Undisputed Era, which included Roderick Strong in a WarGames match, during which the babyface team emerged victorious.
Dunne and Strong then capped off their rivalry, at least for then, with a 5 vs 5 tag-team match that took place on the WWE Madison Square Garden show on Boxing Day, 2018.
Jump to July 24th, 2019 and we're in the midst of a feud between Roderick Strong and Velveteen Dream over the NXT North American Title. The two men are having a verbal altercation in the ring when the roof would be blown off the place as Pete Dunne interrupted. This led to the NXT North American Title match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto being turned into a Triple Threat.
Dunne and Strong then wrestled in singles action on the following week's NXT, with Dunne picking up the win. However on the night of NXT TakeOver: Toronto neither Dunne nor Strong were able to dethrone Velveteen Dream.
Regardless of what's next for these two men it's clear that they still absolutely hate each other - meaning there's sure to be fireworks if/when they end up fighting each other again!
#2. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair are unarguably the top two female talents the WWE has right now - and they're also former friends turned worst of enemies. Sure, they're currently separated by the brand split (ha ha) but it's only a matter of time before these two behemoths of the women's division reprise their animosity towards each other.
Lynch and Flair's feud has been so epic that it feels like it's always been a thing and is simply just a factual part of life, like the moon landing, global warming and taxes.
But, this all started when they were actually friends, and it goes much further back than that infamous SummerSlam moment that lead to Becky Lynch becoming 'The Man'.
No, it was Flair that turned on Lynch first, all the way back on the January 4th, 2016 episode of Monday Night RAW.
This led to Charlotte successfully defending her title against Lynch, first on the episode of SmackDown Live the same week and then again, later on in the month, at Royal Rumble 2016.
The feud between Charlotte and Lynch continued all the way until WrestleMania 32, and ultimately ended up involving Sasha Banks as well. The three women then competed to crown the inaugural WWE Women's Champion after the Diva's belt was shelved.
The two women continued to be a thorn in each other's side until July that year, with another match taking place at Money in the Bank. This time a tag-team match with Natalya against Dana Brook and Charlotte.
It wouldn't be until November that year that the pair would clash again, but shortly after that they reconciled and became friends all the way until SummerSlam 2018 when Charlotte Flair came back from injury and was added to the title match between Carmella and Becky Lynch, making it a Triple Threat.
Charlotte won the title at SummerSlam and what happened next was supposed to be a heel turn for Lynch, frustrated that her friend kept getting handed opportunities she didn't deserve and upset she had lost - so she attacked Flair.
Charlotte and Lynch then had a series of high profile matches over the SmackDown Women's Title spanning multiple pay-per-views, with the pair fighting at Hell in a Cell, Super Show-Down (in Australia), Evolution and Tables, Ladders and Chairs. It was during this last event thay Asuka would win the title, after Ronda Rousey repaid both Lynch and Flair's indiscretions against her and cost them both the match.
An injured Lynch then won the Royal Rumble match - one that she wasn't even a part of (after losing a match against Asuka for the SmackDown Women's Title earlier on in the night) and eliminating Flair as the last competitor. She would then have to defeat Charlotte to be added back into the Raw Championship match at WrestleMania, after being taken out because she was too injured.
Ultimately Lynch and Flair's feud would incorporate Rousey, with all three women hating each other. They would then go on to be the first three women to ever main event a WrestleMania competing for both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Titles. There, Lynch ultimately triumphed by pinning Ronda Rousey.
Rousey stepped away from WWE after this match, allowing Flair and Lynch to continue right where they left off, as they would go on to Money in the Bank to compete for the SmackDown Women's Title, with Lynch also defending the Raw Women's Title on the same night. While Lynch was able to keep the Raw Title, she ultimately lost to Charlotte.
The last interaction between Lynch and Flair was August 5th, 2019 episode of Monday Night RAW when they were forced to team up against their respective SummerSlam opponents Natalya and Trish Stratus. Needless to say it didn't go well.
As I mentioned previously, the pair are now separated by the Raw/SmackDown divide (even though it can be crossed) and their stories are pulling them in different directions. But it's only a matter of time until they fight again. I'm sure of it.
#1. Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon
Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon have been enemies for years now. However, both men have managed to play both the hero and the villain in their two year long rivalry that has seen some truly epic moments.
This all started back in 2017 when Shane McMahon was appointed Commissioner of SmackDown Live, and Kevin Owens became unhappy with the level of officiating during his United States title feud with A.J. Styles.
Styles ended up coming out of his feud with Owens as champion, mostly thanks to Shane McMahon's repeated efforts to thwart Kevin Owens. This ultimately led to Owens asking for another United States Title match, despite there now being a stipulation that he couldn't have one as long as Styles was champion, and McMahon refusing. Then this happened.
Kevin Owens brought Shane McMahon's kids into it, and Shane understandably lost his temper. Daniel Bryan, the General Manager of SmackDown Live at the time, suspended McMahon and announced that Vince McMahon himself would be on the following week's SmackDown Live to discuss the situation.
Vince announced that Kevin Owens and his son Shane would face each other in Hell in a Cell. Owens then shook Mr. McMahon's hand, but then brutally headbutted him and attacked the Chairman.
Owens and McMahon would then compete in Hell in a Cell with the two having an incredibly brutal match that saw Shane almost kill Owens - and perhaps he would have were it not for the timely intervention of Sami Zayn, who pulled Owens off of the commentary table mere moments before McMahon could elbow drop him from the top of the 'Satanic Structure'.
Owens and Zayn then formed a tag-team and continued to rebel against SmackDown Live's authority, ultimately leading to a WrestleMania match between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon in what would be Bryan's first match back after returning from retirement. The pair lost the match and were ultimately fired from SmackDown Live.
Zayn and Owens were moved over to Monday Night RAW, where Owens didn't have anything to do with Shane McMahon at all. He wouldn't have anything to do with him until over a year later when he would confront Shane McMahon about his behavior since becoming 'Best in the World'.
This time Shane McMahon, who was unpinned and terrorizing WWE Superstars, having picked up victories over The Miz and Roman Reigns was a villain and Owens was the returning hero.
In another neat little full-circle move, the above promo also led to Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon wrestling each other at SummerSlam 2019, and once again Owens would find himself up against the bosses' son with his job on the line if he lost. However Owens emphatically won.
Naturally this was expected to be the end of the feud between these two men, but Shane McMahon had other plans when he fined Kevin Owens $100,000 dollars for attacking special enforcer Elias at ringside during their match.
This means that there's a long, long way to go in the saga of Kevin Owens Vs. Shane McMahon yet.
Are there any other current feuds in WWE that are set to boil over? Share them in the comments below!
