WWE’s Top Rivalries Of 2018: Honorable Mentions

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The importance of a strong rivalry is immeasurable in the WWE. Sure, the matches and the characters and the pageantry are all each uniquely entertaining. But, the one thing that ties them all together is the story. What is a hero without a villain? What is drama without conflict? If the stakes are personal, doesn’t it just mean more? With that sentiment in mind, we’re taking a look at the some of the best rivalries in the WWE this year. 

WWE’s Top Rivalries Of 2018: Honorable Mentions

Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali – A great program between two studs that completely reshaped the Cruiserweight Division and lent it a bit of credibility. Credit this feud in the resurgence of 205 Live.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles – What a weird swing and a miss with this one. Everyone thought it was going to be the most epic program of the year, and it just fell completely flat, centering around a Nakamura heel turn and about a million kicks to the balls. That said, it wasn’t really that bad, was it? They had a series of solid, but not great, pay-per-view bouts. It just never clicked the way we thought it would.

Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream – One of my favorite series of promos of the year, and if this program had any more longevity than it did, it’s probably cracking my top five of the year. But, it was a short one, leading to just one big pay-per-view match.

Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt – Go ahead, @ me. I thought this run was a ton of fun and culminated in the birth of a fresh new tag team.

Ricochet vs. Adam Cole (vs. Pete Dunne) – Okay, how do we measure this one? How do we boil what ultimately led to the War Games down to a single rivalry? It started when Roderick Strong turned on Dunne in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, then Ricochet got involved with the North American Championship scene, and suddenly we’re off to the races for six months’ worth of programming. Awesome stuff, though.

Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane – two breakout stars in NXT’s Women’s Division going at it. Sane is the only woman to have beaten Baszler, as the two had a series of some of the best women’s wrestling matches of the year.

Dolph Ziggler (and Drew McIntyre) vs. Seth Rollins (and Dean Ambrose) – Again, another one that I don’t really know how to quantify. Was it a singles feud with a couple of enforcers surrounding it? Was it a tag team feud? I don’t know, but what I do know is that this combination of guys put on some quality matches over the course of the late summer and early fall. Specifically, Ziggler and Rollins put on an awesome Iron Man Match for the Intercontinental Championship in the main event of Extreme Rules.

WWE’s Top 5 Rivalries of 2018 – #5: Click here.

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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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