Not normally a fan of this kind of storyline in wrestling, but once in awhile you do get a real gem which is given time to build and has a believable and enjoyable element to it and is also
linked to wrestling issues. So in the middle of the current Bryan/AJ/Punk love triangle I thought I would give you my top five ever soap related stories in Wrestling. I will stick with WWE as
I can't think of any great ones from elsewhere but feel free to suggest some.
1. Ric Flair claims to have had past realtions with Macho Man's wife Elizabeth going into their Wrestlemania VIII match, Spring 1992
The dirtest player in the game decided to play the ultimate mind game with Macho in the lead up to their WWF Title bout at Mania 8 by claiming that his main squeeze Elizabeth once unpon a time was
involved with the nature Boy. Flair went on using this claim to taught the challenger for his title and even went as far as to produce photos of the couple (Flair and Liz) together printed in the WWF magazine. In the end the pictures proved to fulse. This story was totally logical as what better way for someone to thrown a challenger off than to claim to have had a realtionship with the most precous thing in his life his wife, and the added touch of producing photos and having them published in a magazine made the angle feel all the more real and added a further layer of evil to Flair's character not least after it was proven than they were fakes. Of course both guys played their parts in a compelling story to perfection and it was topped off with a very heated match at the ppv.
2. Battle of the Sexes Chris Jericho and Christian VS. Lita and Trish Stratus, Fall/Winter 2003/early 2004
This one worked well for a number of reasons, firstly it was made clear all the way through that Jericho and Christian were the slimy, egotistical guys who were set up to fail and deserved everything they got (just like when Hugh Grant is cast as a knobhead in movies) and it made the fans get behind the faces more. Also the four involved were very believable in their roles, you had Trish
and Lita two of the most popluar female wrestlers maybe ever and Jericho and Christian who were just born to be cocky and over bearing. It was given time to build and of course at one
point fans were even fooled into believing that Jericho cared about Trish before the whole thing was revealed to be part of a nasty bet between the heels. It kept fans guessing, was believeable
and was paced just right.
3. Daniel Bryan/AJ/CM Punk Love Triangle, May 2012-present
Enough said about this one really but it has been far more complex than these sorts of sagas normally are and with the plus point of the AJ being presented as a smart and complex female character, as well as the fact that she herself has been excellent in the angles, it has gotten her over and puts her in a strong position when the whole thing is over.
4. Kurt Angle/Stephanie Mcmahon/Triple H Love Triangle, Summer 2000
With H's onscreen wife (at the time) things seem very rosey for them before Kurt Angle started getting momentum and becoming one of WWF's most talked about stars leading to a new supporting in
Stephanie Mcmahon much to the dislike of her husband. The story actually started early in 2000, but at that time it was only hinted at that there might be something there, it wasn't until the summer
where Kurt started to really full for Stephaine which caused all sorts of problems and tensions in her realtionship with Hunter as well as slow building feud between him and Angle. It all worked so well because there were moments where it seemed like Stephanie liked Kurt too which added to the intrigue. The totally oppisites of HHH and Angle with Stephanie in the middle made for some very entertaining television and priceless comedy segments.
5. Macho Man/Elizabeth Reunite and get merried, March-August 1991
The emotional reunion between Macho and his former manager (and real life wife) Miss Elizabeth came after his dramatic career ending loss to Utlimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7. It came after his current manager Sherri Martel turned on him post match and Elizabeth who had been watching the match in the crowd (the annoncers aknowledged her post-match and there were many shots of her
intense facial expressions throughout) finally decided to get involved coming to his rescue. After recovering his senses Matcho finally relized that Elizabeth was in the ring and just what had happened
and after some tension the pair finally reunited. This was carefully told tale and was a unique way to turn Macho face in the process. What followed was a summer long story which included the WWF
finally reinstating Macho to the active roster and Macho purposing to Liz and their wedding at Summerslam.
Just missing out the top five: Billy and Chuck publicty stunt marriage, Fall 2002(okey they were terrible but this story and epsically the wedding angle on Smackdown was priceless), Edge VS. Matt Hardy insider feud with Lita involved, Summer 2005 and Hogan-Macho Maga Powers explode, Fall 1988-Spring 1989.
linked to wrestling issues. So in the middle of the current Bryan/AJ/Punk love triangle I thought I would give you my top five ever soap related stories in Wrestling. I will stick with WWE as
I can't think of any great ones from elsewhere but feel free to suggest some.
1. Ric Flair claims to have had past realtions with Macho Man's wife Elizabeth going into their Wrestlemania VIII match, Spring 1992
The dirtest player in the game decided to play the ultimate mind game with Macho in the lead up to their WWF Title bout at Mania 8 by claiming that his main squeeze Elizabeth once unpon a time was
involved with the nature Boy. Flair went on using this claim to taught the challenger for his title and even went as far as to produce photos of the couple (Flair and Liz) together printed in the WWF magazine. In the end the pictures proved to fulse. This story was totally logical as what better way for someone to thrown a challenger off than to claim to have had a realtionship with the most precous thing in his life his wife, and the added touch of producing photos and having them published in a magazine made the angle feel all the more real and added a further layer of evil to Flair's character not least after it was proven than they were fakes. Of course both guys played their parts in a compelling story to perfection and it was topped off with a very heated match at the ppv.
2. Battle of the Sexes Chris Jericho and Christian VS. Lita and Trish Stratus, Fall/Winter 2003/early 2004
This one worked well for a number of reasons, firstly it was made clear all the way through that Jericho and Christian were the slimy, egotistical guys who were set up to fail and deserved everything they got (just like when Hugh Grant is cast as a knobhead in movies) and it made the fans get behind the faces more. Also the four involved were very believable in their roles, you had Trish
and Lita two of the most popluar female wrestlers maybe ever and Jericho and Christian who were just born to be cocky and over bearing. It was given time to build and of course at one
point fans were even fooled into believing that Jericho cared about Trish before the whole thing was revealed to be part of a nasty bet between the heels. It kept fans guessing, was believeable
and was paced just right.
3. Daniel Bryan/AJ/CM Punk Love Triangle, May 2012-present
Enough said about this one really but it has been far more complex than these sorts of sagas normally are and with the plus point of the AJ being presented as a smart and complex female character, as well as the fact that she herself has been excellent in the angles, it has gotten her over and puts her in a strong position when the whole thing is over.
4. Kurt Angle/Stephanie Mcmahon/Triple H Love Triangle, Summer 2000
With H's onscreen wife (at the time) things seem very rosey for them before Kurt Angle started getting momentum and becoming one of WWF's most talked about stars leading to a new supporting in
Stephanie Mcmahon much to the dislike of her husband. The story actually started early in 2000, but at that time it was only hinted at that there might be something there, it wasn't until the summer
where Kurt started to really full for Stephaine which caused all sorts of problems and tensions in her realtionship with Hunter as well as slow building feud between him and Angle. It all worked so well because there were moments where it seemed like Stephanie liked Kurt too which added to the intrigue. The totally oppisites of HHH and Angle with Stephanie in the middle made for some very entertaining television and priceless comedy segments.
5. Macho Man/Elizabeth Reunite and get merried, March-August 1991
The emotional reunion between Macho and his former manager (and real life wife) Miss Elizabeth came after his dramatic career ending loss to Utlimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7. It came after his current manager Sherri Martel turned on him post match and Elizabeth who had been watching the match in the crowd (the annoncers aknowledged her post-match and there were many shots of her
intense facial expressions throughout) finally decided to get involved coming to his rescue. After recovering his senses Matcho finally relized that Elizabeth was in the ring and just what had happened
and after some tension the pair finally reunited. This was carefully told tale and was a unique way to turn Macho face in the process. What followed was a summer long story which included the WWF
finally reinstating Macho to the active roster and Macho purposing to Liz and their wedding at Summerslam.
Just missing out the top five: Billy and Chuck publicty stunt marriage, Fall 2002(okey they were terrible but this story and epsically the wedding angle on Smackdown was priceless), Edge VS. Matt Hardy insider feud with Lita involved, Summer 2005 and Hogan-Macho Maga Powers explode, Fall 1988-Spring 1989.
