10 Classic Wrestling Rivalries That Would Have Flourished In The Attitude Era

5. CM Punk Vs Rey Mysterio

Bobby Heenan Jerry Lawler Jim Ross Gorilla Monsoon
WWE.com

CM Punk appeared to legitimately go off the deep end during his intense and underrated 2010 feud with Rey Mysterio, but the 'Voice Of The Voiceless' did so miraculously whilst colouring within the lines.

The highlight of the programme came in the run-up to their first encounter at WrestleMania 26, long before the masked superstar would rob the christ-like cult leader Punk of his hair in a gripping finale later that year. In a near-the-knuckle SmackDown segment shortly before the 'Show Of Shows', 'The Straight Edge Society' hit the ring to terrorise Mysterio's family. The lowlight of an intense showdown saw Punk terrify Rey's young daughter with a haunting Birthday ditty.

Drop such a story into late-1990s hedonism, and Punk's evil could be turned up even further. Rey's son Dominic was at that time taller than his own father, which would have earned him a separate beating. Mysterio himself was bald under the mask, but his wife as a convert to Punk's Straight Edge crew would have made for a natural fork in the road before the Mexican star eventually vanquished his foe.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett