Dr. Giganto

I was thinking about how well they've handled the HHH-Batista match so far, and it got me thinking about some of the other well-written storylines in recent history.

The one that I always think about was Rock-Austin leading up to WMX7. With the exception of Hogan, these were the two biggest stars in WWE history. The feud started with a sort of mutual respect, and they NEVER came to blows. Then, Vince forced Debra to be Rock's manager, and Austin told him if anything happened Debra it would be Rock's responsibility.

During a match against Kurt Angle, Angle attacked Debra (I think he put her in the Ankle lock), and Austin came down to the ring, kicked Angle's ass and then turned around and dropped Rocky with a stunner. For a few weeks after that they traded blows, with Rock even giving Austin a stunner one point.

Then they had an awesome face-to-face interview conducted by Jim Ross, where Austin foreshadowed what would happen at WM by saying "That belt means everything to me, and I will do ANYTHING to get it back"

God, those were the days. What great writing

Some other that I think were built up well were the first Taker-Kane match and both Cactus Jack-HHH matches (Royal Rumble street fight and Foley's retirement match in HIAC). The classic one was Steamboat-Savage, and how Savage injured him with the ring bell. Good drama

The Phantom

Brock vs The Rock @ Summerslam a few years back, I remember that being built up really well... leading to Brocks first title win.

Blitzkrieg

WC Hall Of Famer

I loved the build up to HHH-Austin and there 3 stages of Hell match.

Austin getting ran over, trying to figure out who hit him, Foley was funny as hell during this. There were things that pointed to The Rock being behind it. Then Rikishi said he did it for The Rock, but it was eventually discovered that it was HHH and led to one of my favorite matches of all time.

3D

HHH/Batista is the best storyline since before the Invasion shit started.

Austin/Rock was awesome build-up. Absolutely fantastic, probably the best ever really. Just so many awesome spots - I loved the times they kept using each other's finishers. That stuff rocked, fo' shizzle.

3D. Wrestling Clique, Monksdiner, JimmyVan and KnowYourNews' Crafty Old Veteran.

Dr. Giganto

The Jericho-Christian-Trish triangle was good last year too. Probably the best mid-card feud in a looooong time

Also, Kurt-HHH-Steph was a great story, but the payoff match was terrible

Lynch

They'd be fantastic if they stuck to 5-6 PPV's per year.

"What the hell is an aluminum falcon??!!"

Necro

Owen Hart/Bret Hart Match

Forget the year, and event, but the build up was unbelievable. Awsome storyline...

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

That is the best buildup I can remember.


Or Taker taunting Kane last year.

HellKat

Agreed, HHH-Angle-Steph. And yeah the payoff did suck. She should have kicked HHH in the nuts than Angle.

Support Your Local Indy Wrestling - BITCH!!

Creature of the Night

HHH - Austin was superb. No Way Out 2001

They kept them apart before the match started with that 'contract signing' where they both agreed that they wouldn't touch eachother or they would be suspended for 60 days (hence miss WrestleMania). How did they get at eachother? They took out personal friends...

HHH dropped JR with a pedigree, Austin nailed Steph with a stunner, and it sent the pair of them nuts! The intensity of the staredown they had at the start of that match when they looked into eachother's eyes from opposite sides of the ring as the bell rung was AWESOME. Would never have worked if they were put in shitty tag matches to generate viewing figures for Raw or SD.

The Rock vs Austin WrestleMania X7 storyline was also great for exactly the reasons highlighted above. In fact, WrestleMania X7 is probably my favourite WrestleMania of all time for that match, the TLCII match, the Undertaker vs HHH sub main event match, and just an overall 'WrestleMania' level show. I haven't felt as satisifed after watching a PPV since, and thats the Gods honest truth.