WWE's New Generation Era was a tricky one. It was infamous for some bad business with Diesel as champion, bad booking and some pretty nonsensical characters. That led to a lot of bad feuds, most of which were awful, yet some minor logic to them. It could make sense for guys to feud for a title or to see who was toughest, so even the bad feuds at least made a tiny bit of sense.
Then there were feuds that made little to no sense from start to finish. Often, there was no real reason for the guys to be feuding in the first place. Most of the time, it was due to the booking and circumstances, which could be absolutely idiotic. These are ten WWE New Generation Era feuds that made almost no sense and baffling fans had to put up with them.
10 Lex Luger Vs. Yokozuna
WWE could not have booked this feud worse if they tried. With Hulk Hogan gone, WWE took Luger, who had been clicking as the arrogant “Narcissist,” and had him transform into a patriotic figure, body-slamming Yokozuna. Rather than with matches, Luger was pushed via a “bus tour”, leading into a championship clash at SummerSlam 1993.
Luger won…by countout, so he didn’t win the title and was put on the backburner. Then he got a shot at WrestleMania 10, only to be disqualified for shoving special guest referee Mr. Perfect. It was astounding how WWE made the worst booking choices for what should have been a top-level feud.
9 Xanta Klaus Vs. Savio Vega
Basing a wrestling character after one season is already a not well thought out idea. In December of 1995, Savio Vega was handing presents out to kids at the ring with a guy dressed as Santa Claus. Ted DiBiase came out to mock Vega, only for Santa to attack him.
DiBiase thus boasted he’d “bought” Santa, who went around as Xanta Klaus to feud with Vega for a bit. WWE finally realized this gimmick wouldn’t work well once the holiday season was over, and Xanta quickly dropped along with the feud.
8 Undertaker Vs. "Underfaker"
Why WWE came up with this and dragged it out this long remains a mystery. After the Undertaker took a long break in early 1994, Ted DiBiase claimed he’d found him. It obviously wasn’t him, with WWE having Leslie Nielsen looking around for the real Undertaker in months of dumb skits.
The real Undertaker finally returned at SummerSlam for one of the worst main events in that show’s history, which the real Taker won. Today, the whole feud is remembered as one of the lower points of the New Generation Era and a total mess.
7 Bret Hart Vs. Jean-Pierre LaFitte
Known today as PCO, Jean-Pierre LaFitte was always a great worker, and having him facing Bret Hart could have been a great idea. Even if he was pushing a silly pirate character, LaFitte could be a top guy going after Bret. Instead, the entire feud was because LaFitte made the horrible, unforgivable move of….stealing Bret’s jacket.
Yep, the multiple-time WWE Champion was having a beef over someone stealing his coat, hardly the high-stakes showdown fans wanted. There were decent matches, but still a lame reason to be feuding over.
6 Roddy Piper Vs. Goldust
The plan for WrestleMania 12 was for Goldust and Razor Ramon to have a rematch for the Intercontinental Title. Ramon had to bow out, so with no real reason, Roddy Piper was put into this feud despite supposedly being interim WWE President at the time.
Both men seemed unsure of this in promos before a “backlot brawl” that involved a “high-speed chase” and then an ugly fight of Piper stripping Goldust in the ring. Even given Piper was a last-minute substitute, this feud made little sense to mar an otherwise strong show.
5 Doink Vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
A lot of Doink feuds could be goofy, but his one with Bam Bam Bigelow was something else. Why Doink would target Bigelow and Luna Vachon in the first place was a mystery. At Survivor Series, Bam Bam’s team faced the Headshrinkers and Men on a Mission dressed like Doink in a ridiculous match.
Then Doink added sidekick Dink to continue tormenting Bigelow for no real reason. It finally ended with Bigelow and Vachon victorious at WrestleMania 10, but Bigelow had no business being involved in a feud this idiotic.
4 Undertaker Vs. Kama
By 1995, The Undertaker was stuck in a lot of dumb feuds, but one of the most senseless was against Kama. It was coming off IRS targeting Undertaker for unpaid taxes (don’t ask), with Kama stealing The Undertaker’s urn.
He then had it melted down into chains to use on the idea somehow The Undertaker lost his powers. That was one of the goofier ways to get at the Deadman and the result was a lopsided feud with Undertaker victorious and somehow his urn back together in no time. This was barely long enough to be bad, just confusing.
3 Bret Hart Vs. Isaac Yankem
Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler had been having an on/off feud for a few years, with Hart humiliating Lawler in a “kiss my foot” match. Lawler getting some guy to go after Bret in revenge made sense. What didn’t was that Lawler chose his "dentist", Isaac Yankem DDS.
Yes, somehow, an evil dentist was chosen as the perfect enforcer for the King to go after The Hitman. The matches were okay, but it was hard to get into the idea a dentist would moonlight like this. Of course, Yankem later became Kane and that was a lot better than the goofy character and feud that followed here.
2 Davey Boy Smith Vs. Shawn Michaels
The British Bulldog and The Heartbreak Kid are two great performers and a feud between them could have been great. Instead, Davey Boy’s wife, Diana, accused Shawn of coming onto her. A man fighting for his wife’s honor is a storyline meant for the face, not the heel and the idea Diana was making it up was worse.
That overshadowed the feud, not helped by Shawn being pushed as the clean-cut babyface and coming off a jerk putting Diana down. There was no need to add such “motivation” to this rivalry.
1 The Ultimate Warrior vs Papa Shango
.jpg)
When The Ultimate Warrior returned to WWE in 1992, he needed a top feud to get him back in high gear. Instead, he ended up being in this ridiculous segment. Papa Shango was a weird guy, so him and Warrior made a little sense matched up.
Then came the bits of Shango “cursing” Warrior from black ink in his hair to throwing up on camera. Why anyone thought this would make fans watch is baffling as the feud petered out and made for one of the odder moments in Warrior’s career.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKeoqqSowaa%2BjZympmenrLJuusSwZKCdnpq%2FosDIqKVmnaKWeqex1J2qZqWRmbJuus5mqp6mo5p8