WWE’s 5 Best Family Feuds & Storylines to Warm Your Holiday Hearts
Blood is rarely thicker than water in the WWE Universe. Yes, we’ve seen our fair share of families coming together in heartwarming scenes, but, more often than not, the bonds implode before our very eyes.
The result: captivating television and story lines that some viewers can probably relate to a little too well. Let’s take a look at the 5 best family sagas.
WWE
Roman Reigns Sits at the Head of the Table
The Usos — Jay and Jimmy — are one of the most celebrated tag teams in WWE. So when Jimmy was injured at WrestleMania, I’m not sure who could have predicted twin Jey would shine in the singles ranks the way he has on SmackDown. Momentum built after Jey pulled off an upset against Matt Riddle, King Corbin, Sheamus — a victory that earned him a Universal championship match against Roman Reigns. That September, Clash of Champions between the Samoan cousins became one of the pleasant surprises of 2020. After Reigns emerged victorious, many fans thought it would be a one and done.
Nope: The two met again the following month in an emotionally charged Hell in a Cell “I Quit” match. The champ was relentless in his assault. These days, the defeated Jey seems to be coming around to the hierarchy, helping Reigns gain brand supremacy in a match with Raw’s WWE champion Drew McIntyre at Survivor Series this month.
WWE
The McMahons “Fight”for Power
Vince McMahon transitioned from broadcaster to full-blown character on WWE TV in 1998 thanks to his legendary feud with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Less than a year later, audiences started to see more of the Chairman’s family on the shows, with frequent appearances by his children, Shane and Stephanie. Triple H — Paul Levesque, who’s also an exec vp at WWE — began pushing the buttons of the McMahon family, even going as far as marrying an incapacitated Stephanie during a drive-thru wedding ceremony in Las Vegas. At an Armageddon match, it was Stephanie who turned on her dad and helped her pseudo-husband win. A new era had begun.
In the years since, the McMahons’ struggle for power has been tantamount to Game of Thrones.
WWE
A Fight With Hart
Owen Hart was tired of playing second fiddle to his brother Bret Hart, and at the 1993 Survivor Series the youngest sibling turned his back on the rest of the Hart Brothers. Bret and Owen had seemingly made up heading into a tag title match at the 1994 Royal Rumble, but in their loss against tag champs The Quebecers, a frustrated Owen added insult to injury — with Brett.
The growing hostility led to a classic match at WrestleMania a few months later at SummerSlam for the WWE championship. The 1994 Survivor Series saw Owen get some revenge, pretty much convincing their mother, Helen, to throw in the towel at ringside, thus losing Bret the top title against Bob Backlund.
It wasn’t until 1997 that Bret and Owen formally made up, forming a new incarnation of the Hart Foundation alongside Jim Neidhart, the British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman.
The Hart bloodline lives on in WWE with Neidhart’s daughter Natalya, who often pays tribute to her Hall of Fame family and the rivalries that helped put them on the map.
WWE
The Brothers of Destruction
Kane and The Undertaker are not brothers in real life, but their epic story earned them a spot on this list. It all started when Taker’s former manager Paul Bearer “revealed” that the wrestler’s half-brother was still alive — seems Kane didn’t die along with his parents in that funeral-home fire (I know, heavy stuff). Kane had been in a mental asylum and was then retrieved by Bearer and unleashed on Undertaker at the 1997 Badd Blood pay-per-view. Initially, “The Phenom” refused to fight his own flesh and blood. Then Kane put him in a casket and set it on fire. (Everyone has his limits!)
Of course, Undertaker came back from the murder attempt just in time for WrestleMania XIV. The next month the two titans would square off again in the first ever Inferno match at Unforgiven. And old wounds were reopened years later at WrestleMania XX and again a decade ago in a Buried Alive match at Bragging Rights.
At the same time, Kane and Undertaker haven’t always been foes: They formed an unstoppable force as the Brothers of Destruction. The legends recently sat down to talk about their history in a documentary of the same name on the WWE Network.
WWE
A Match Made in Heaven
The world of pro wrestling isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. That didn’t stop the unlikely couple of “Macho Man” Randy Savage and manager Miss Elizabeth from becoming one of the hottest acts of the 1980s going into the 1990s.
Savage was overprotective of his lady, which caused a rift between him and Hulk Hogan. They would meet in 1989 at WrestleMania V, which ended with the ouster of Elizabeth, who was replaced by Sensational Sherri. (She was soon Queen Sherri to Savage’s Macho King.) Queen Sherri was essentially the complete opposite of Elizabeth, and the partnership didn’t last long.
Elizabeth and Savage reunited in front of a joyous crowd at WrestleMania VII, and the legit husband and wife were married in a storyline at SummerSlam. Although the pair’s offscreen union didn’t last, their working relationship lived on even when Savage went to WWE’s competitor at the time, In WCW. The two have sadly passed away but are remembered as one of the most beloved couples in the history of the business.
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