5 WWE feuds that were almost real 

Wrestling is a funny old sport. While the results of matches are pre-determined, that doesn't stop wrestlers getting infuriated at booking decisions and their fellow professionals.

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The industry is notoriously cagey, and while things appeared to have changed somewhat in recent years, the history of wrestling is littered with real-life bad blood between performers.

On occasion, the WWE has capitalised on these real-life issues, allowing superstars to air their dirty laundry in the ring, and using real-life tension to bring the best out of performers between the ropes.

Wrestling is often at its best when the line between reality and fiction becomes blurred, so let's take a look at five WWE feuds where the superstars had legitimate beef with one another.

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#5 Matt Hardy Vs Edge

Lita was at the center of the feud between Matt Hardy and Edge

The love-triangle between Matt Hardy, Edge, and Lita was one of the hottest topics in the wrestling world in 2005, and the WWE was quick to capitalise on the situation.

Matt Hardy and Lita were seen as one of the most beloved real-life couples in the WWE, so when Lita left Hardy for Edge in 2005, fans were gobsmacked.

After months of tension backstage, the WWE convinced Hardy and Edge to work their real-life issues into a storyline, with Hardy coming out and attacking Edge on an episode on Raw.

Fans were shocked at what they were witnessing, and they couldn't believe that the two men were able to work together in the ring, given all the heat that must have existed between them outside of it.

Ultimately, Edge ended up coming out on top of the feud and would grow into one of the WWE's top heels, winning multiple championships before his untimely retirement in 2011.

The three former superstars appeared to have long moved on from the issue now, and Matt Hardy has even appeared on Edge and Christian's Pod of Awesomeness.

#4 Ric Flair Vs Mick Foley

Flair referred to Foley as a 'glorified stunt-man'

Ric Flair and Mick Foley are two of the most respected veterans in the wrestling industry put as it turned out, the two men didn't have a great deal of respect for each other at one point in time.

In his 2004 biography, Ric Flair described Mick Foley as a 'glorified stunt-man', a label that Foley, quite understandably, didn't take too kindly.

Foley would later take a jibe at Flair at an independent event, suggesting that Flair was a boring worker, and had taken the easy route to the top.

The two men would later put their feud behind them though, and eventually ended up working an I quit match at SummerSlam 2006.

#3 CM Punk Vs The Authority

CM Punk's pipebomb may have had a lot of truth behind it

CM Punk's iconic pipebomb promo in 2011 gave the whole wrestling industry the shake-up it needed. Punk threw back the curtain on the WWE and brought the company kicking and screaming into a post-kayfabe era.

Given what happened a few years later though, with CM Punk walking out on the WWE and then taking them to trial, it's hard to believe that Punk wasn't speaking from the heart.

Punk had been disgruntled with the company's booking for some time, and his impassioned promo resonated with an equally disgruntled fanbase.

As it would turn out, Punk was having a lot of problems backstage, and while Punk has spoken rather favorably about Triple H in several interviews since he left the WWE, it's difficult to fathom that there wasn't a lot of tension between Punk and The Authority back in 2011.

#2 John Cena Vs The Rock

The Rock and Cena had a legitimate beef in 2011

John Cena and The Rock smashed all sorts of PPV records for the WWE when they squared off at back to back WrestleManias in 2011 and 2012, but as it later turned out, the two men had real-life issues with each other as well.

The Rock had reportedly taking issues with some things that John Cena had said, and he later spoke out about it during an appearance on Johnny Kimmell, confirming that there was tension between the two men backstage.

Since then, the two men have both gone on to become two of the biggest names in Hollywood, and The Rock has stated that the two men couldn't be better friends right now.

Cena has also been cast in the lead role of the upcoming Duke Nukem reboot, which is being produced by The Rock.

#1 Bret Hart Vs Shawn Michaels

The issues between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart are well documented

Perhaps the most well-documented real-life feud in the history of the WWE is the one that took place between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

The two men were riding high at the top of the WWE in the mid-1990s, but what started out as a bit of friendly competition soon turned incredibly bitter.

Michaels and Hart have both spoken at length about their disdain for one another, and the two men would often take unscripted jabs at each other on live television.

Things got incredibly personal between the two men, with Michaels implying that Hart was having an affair with Sunny, and Hart taking several swipes at Michaels for appearing in Playgirl magazine.

This all led to one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history, The Montreal Screwjob, where Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels screwed Bret out of the WWE title live on television in his home country of Canada.

Tensions have since simmered between the two men, and they sat down for a WWE Network special documenting their rivalry together, but this is the still the best example of wrestling getting a little bit too personal.