B/R Community Drops Its Takes on the Best Wrestling Storylines of All Time

The bread of professional wrestling is the in-ring action, but the butter is the storylines that drive those matches.

Getting people invested in a rivalry so they have a desired outcome is what draws fans to this business. If it was just two guys fighting over nothing, there would be no intrigue. 

Most storylines come down to a good guy and a bad guy not liking each other or two people fighting over a championship, but sometimes promoters go the extra distance to tell a real story.

This week, we asked the B/R community what storylines will be remembered as the best. Let's look at which ones stood out the most. 

"The Yes Movement at WrestleMania 30. Hands down." (@willwaylon)

"Daniel Bryan overcoming The Authority at WrestleMania 30." (@tyhendricks92)

The storyline brought up the most in our community post was The Yes Movement that culminated in Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30.

Underdogs are one of the most important types of characters in pro wrestling, and he represented the purest iteration of that gimmick in years.

The reason this storyline resonated with the fans is that they made it happen. The plan was never for Bryan to win the title, but it came about because the WWE Universe demanded it and refused to be ignored.

The Yes Man not only had an awesome match with Triple H at The Show of Shows, but he also won the WWE title in a memorable Triple Threat with Randy Orton and Batista later in the show.

This was the storyline that cemented Bryan as one of the biggest stars in modern wrestling. Even without a bunch of mainstream recognition outside of WWE for him, we heard "Yes!" chants in numerous other places during that time. It was huge. 

"Shield breakup. It was devastating for all of us." (@windhamtoaew)

The breakup of The Shield was something a lot of people knew would happen eventually, but seeing Seth Rollins smash Roman Reigns with that chair was still a surprising moment.

Along with Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley in All Elite Wrestling), The Shield were one of the most successful stables in recent memory. 

Watching the trio that had dominated so many big names in WWE splinter almost felt like the end of an era. While each man found great success as a world champion after they went solo, it always felt like they were stronger as a unit.

The odds of ever seeing a proper reunion are slim, which makes this storyline a little sadder to remember. The Shield's feud with The Wyatt Family is still something I go back and rewatch from time to time. 

"I loved Jeff Hardy's underdog storyline in 2008 with Triple H and Edge." (@LakeShow93pt2)

At a time when it felt like WWE was in a transitional period, Jeff Hardy rose from tag team specialist and midcard star to become one of the most popular WWE Superstars.

The reason his rise to prominence meant so much to so many people is because The Charismatic Enigma represented a lot of people who felt like outcasts.

Goths, punks, club kids and metalheads could all connect to Hardy's image because he bucked the usual trends and expressed himself how he wanted. To see someone like that succeed in an environment usually dominated by guys trying to look like Greek gods gave a lot of people hope that they could do the same.

The 44-year-old is still able to perform at a high level and clearly has a huge following, so WWE should capitalize on that and give him one more run at the top.

"The Edge, Lita and Matt Hardy love triangle." (@Ryanfisher1998)

Most WWE storylines are based completely on fiction, but a few stand out because they were inspired by real events in the lives of those wrestlers. 

The relationship with Matt Hardy and Lita was a big part of why Team Xtreme was so popular. When the real-life backstage situation involving Edge came to light in 2005, WWE used it as part of a storyline.

While all three wrestlers did their part and put on some great segments, it's hard not to feel bad for them to have their personal turmoil used to make a buck for their employer.

These days, it is unlikely Vince McMahon would be able to get away with asking anyone in this situation to perform a similar story. 

"Paul Bearer revealing Kane is alive to The Undertaker." (@AcesAnd8s)

Kane debuted for WWE in 1997, which was right at the end of the company's era of unrealistic characters, but you could tell he was going to be a success from the moment he arrived.

Undertaker was already one of the most popular WWE Superstars at the time. Putting him with another giant for a brother vs. brother storyline elevated both men to new heights (no pun intended). 

That night when Kane showed up and ripped the door off the Hell in a Cell structure will forever be seared into the minds of anyone who was watching.

Some WWE debuts land with a thud but Kane's stands out as one of the most memorable and iconic of all time. 

"I know a lot of people will disagree but, as a kid, the Invasion with ECW and WCW was epic." (@MrMojoRisin708)

The Invasion angle in 2001 will always be debated among fans because so many people have negative memories of it, but it wasn't as bad as a lot of people remember. It's just that the bad moments stand out more than the good.

The idea of a bunch of disgruntled ECW and WCW stars invading the company that drove their promotions out of business was actually the only way WWE could introduce so many new faces at once and have it make sense.

If everybody just showed up on the roster one day or their debuts were staggered over the course of a few months, nobody would be talking about any of it today.

The Invasion gave us a lot of first-time matches and led to several people becoming WWE mainstays for years to come. Go back and watch some of the segments again. You might find yourself getting a little nostalgic and enjoying it.

"Definitely the mystery GM." (@creativename08)

All jokes aside, the idea of a mysterious person making all of the decisions was a decent idea. WWE just fumbled the ball with the big reveal. 

"The start of Evolution to the crowning of Batista at WM 21. Super-underrated." (@micitb)

Evolution served several purposes. It gave Triple H his own stable to lead, granted Ric Flair one more run as a top star and launched the careers of Batista and Randy Orton. It's hard to think of any stable that was more important at that time. 

"Andre vs. Hogan." (@kjm45)

While this feud is iconic, there wasn't a ton of story to it. This was still at a time when you could build to a huge match just based on the fact that one guy was tall and the other was strong. Those were the days. 

"The Freebirds vs. Von Erichs in WCCW." (@NoPaul)

If there was a Mount Rushmore of wrestling feuds, this one would be on it for sure.