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

4. Vader Vs Cactus Jack

Vader Cactus Jack
WWE.com

Vader and Cactus Jack's brand of early-1990s brutality was so visceral that WCW elected to leave the hardest-hitting bits of the back catalogue in a notoriously disorganised archive. It took a Mick Foley DVD boxset to reveal the true nature of their violence, and only enhanced regrets that the pair weren't given free reign during their shared stint in WWE.

Despite briefly working together as partners and rivals between 1996 and 1998, the two didn't ever have a brawl befitting the carnage they were capable of. Unfortunately, by the time Vince McMahon had confidence in Foley to nearly murder himself on a weekly basis, he'd lost faith in Vader as a killer.

Just a month before Mankind's famous flight from atop the Hell In A Cell structure, 'The Mastodon' referred to himself as a "fat piece of s**t" following defeat to the 'Deranged One's newest ally Kane. He was anything but, but his real-life confidence neared the depths of the scripted decline, and he was gone from the organisation completely by the end of the year.

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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