'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are those of the writer and do not reflect those of Sportskeeda
2018 wasn't exactly a great year for feuds. Only a select handful really became world shakers. In many respects, choosing the best from the feuds that we were served up is only choosing the ones which disappointed the least to a certain extent.
That handful of world shaking feuds, though, specifically the top two, were revolutionary, and will define the industry for years to come.
So, which were the best?
#10 Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre
Less a proper storyline than a succession of good matches, this rivalry was one of the few things that highlighted Raw throughout a tedious summer. Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler would trade the Intercontinental Championship back and forth and the combination of the three of them would have many notable matches on Raw.
Eventually, this rivalry dovetailed into the Shield reunion after SummerSlam. At Hell in a Cell, it gave us one of the main roster's best matches of the year with Dean Ambrose added to the equation.
This wasn't a spectacular feud because the story wasn't quite there, but by 2018 standards, it was very good.
#9 Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
Unfortunately, this feud was a big disappointment. It fell far short of the high expectations we had for it. That's not to say that the feud wasn't good, of course. It was. It just didn't feel like something we were waiting two years to see.
The first match at SummerSlam was solid, if unspectacular. It got dragged down when Brie Bella and Maryse entered the picture in September and ended on a sudden and anticlimactic note at Super Show-Down.
So what made this notable? The segments. The Miz and Bryan had very good segments with each other, from Miz pretending that Bryan harmed his infant daughter to that time where the Yes man was told he would never win the WWE title because of his moral compass.
As it turned out, Miz was right! Bryan had to become the NEW Daniel Bryan to actually take home the gold.
That begs for a resumption of the feud at a hotter temperature than before, but with Miz currently embroiled in a lackluster angle with Shane McMahon, that, unfortunately, appears unlikely.
#8 AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Much like Miz vs. Bryan, this feud was solid, but fell far short of the high expectations that we had for it. It started hot with Nakamura's acclaimed Royal Rumble victory, but ultimately petered out at WrestleMania 34.
Nakamura then turned heel in one of the best moments of the year, and his new persona was well-received. Unfortunately, the feud again petered out, descending into excessive low blows and screwy finishes at the Greatest Royal Rumble and Backlash.
We ultimately did get a very good last man standing match at Money in the Bank. Unfortunately, it felt like the feud had been going on forever by that point, so it wasn't as well-received as it perhaps should have been.
High expectations may have dragged this feud down for its failure to meet an imaginary standard, but it was still good by 2018 metrics.
#7 Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream
"Anything Ricochet can do, the Dream can do better!"
"Prove it!"
Sometimes, a few simple words is all it takes. That's what's made Velveteen Dream's young career so brilliant already. He first did it with his quest for recognition with Aleister Black in 2017. Next on his list was Ricochet, who he thought was unfairly leapfrogging him in the NXT hierarchy.
Ricochet's flip outside the ring made it clear to Velveteen Dream that the "King of Flight" wasn't just an empty phrase.
It culminated at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, where Dream did his best to try to one-up Ricochet and nearly succeeded, but nearly isn't good enough. Dream's aerial mistake at the end cost him the match and proved that there was one and only Ricochet, all the while allowing the young upstart to show the world what he could do in turn.
#6 Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas
Johnny Gargano started 2018 as the #1 contender to the NXT title after a string of big, emotional losses, including twice to the then-champion, Andrade "Cien" Almas. The champion's manager wasn't startled. In an echo of things that were and things that were still to come, she called Gargano a "broken man."
These doubts lingered over Gargano's head throughout the rivalry, showing themselves in an all-time classic in Philadelphia and another great match on NXT TV in February. Gargano gambled that he could beat Almas for the title on condition that he would leave NXT if he lost, and lose he did, ending the feud.
For Gargano, it was just the preview of another one, because on the verge of success, Tommaso Ciampa cost him.
Gargano seemed to prove himself over Almas even without winning the title. Now he would need to go up against his greatest enemy.
#5 Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy
At the beginning of the year, Randy Orton was one of the stalest acts in WWE. He comes to the end of it having done some of the best work in his career.
The heel turn in the summer made all the difference, and he set his sights on an old rival, Jeff Hardy. He vowed to tear Hardy down and anyone else that the fans loved. Sometimes, he seemed to mean that literally.
In a series of ghastly segments, Orton tried his best to harm Hardy's psyche and identity. At Hell in a Cell, he faced down the daredevil in his natural environment and mutilated him with a screwdriver in one of WWE's most shocking images of the year.
Orton came out of this feud reborn, having gone from a stale act to one of the most exciting guys on the roster.
#4 Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black
An unfortunate injury derailed what seemed certain to be a match of the year contender at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4. The yellow brand made the best of a bad situation, however, and spun Black's injury into a mystery angle as to who attacked him.
For months, everyone was a suspect. Finally, in October, the attacker was revealed as none other than Johnny Gargano, the once beloved hero of NXT who had become a grotesque parody of himself since his earlier feud with Andrade "Cien" Almas.
Black vowed to take vengeance, but he did more than that in yet another classic match at NXT TakeOver: War Games II. He claimed to "absolve" Gargano of his sins there.
But Gargano wasn't interested in absolution and his obsessive, manic turn continues. Now even a reunion with Ciampa may be on the cards, with Black stuck in the middle, literally.
#3 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe is easily the best talker in the company. He proved that throughout 2018. In his most notable feud on the main roster yet, he went after AJ Styles' family from July to November.
The first match at SummerSlam was one of the main roster's best of 2018 and the other three were solid as well, though it was ultimately disappointing to not see Joe walk out of any of them with the title around his waist.
Nevertheless, Joe is so good that he can overcome bad booking, and he did that to make this feud great regardless. Who else but Joe could read a child's bedtime story and make it one of the most interesting segments of the year?
His attacks on AJ Styles and even his invasion of his home pushed the feud over the top as one of the easy choices for 2018's best rivalries.
#2 Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
Becky Lynch went from afterthought in January to the hottest act in the company in December.
Though this feud started as an attempt to make Lynch a heel, that backfired quickly. Instead, Lynch slowly, but surely, became a morally ambiguous character who looked to prove herself in the division. To do that, she needed to renounce her friendship with Charlotte Flair.
The two gave us superb segments and then the main roster's best match of the year at Evolution, where the pressure was at its greatest.
The true measure of a feud is how well it elevates everyone involved in it, even if they're on the periphery. This feud has done just that. Becky Lynch became red hot, Charlotte Flair did her best work in a long time, and then Asuka and Ronda Rousey got involved, and they got a lot hotter too.
This feud seems poised to continue all the way into WrestleMania in one form or another, and it's worthy of the main event there.
#1 Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Superb as Flair and Lynch have been, there was never any doubt which feud would win the award. For the past year, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have been telling one of the best stories WWE has ever written and giving us all-time classic matches in the process. The twists and turns continue.
Ciampa finally returned after eight months following Gargano's classic in Philadelphia. From there, he would dominate Gargano's mind throughout the year, slowly twisting it until it became a deranged, grotesque parody of itself.
Their war became a total one, consuming innocent bystanders in the process. It cost Aleister Black both his championship and three months.
The latest twist is that DIY might reunite under dubious terms. Ricochet might find himself the next to be consumed by the fires of this war. We'll have to see if any of these possibilities come to pass. A great story always keeps you enthralled.
