10 Obscure International Wrestling Championships

7. Middle East Cup (WWF)

Following the creation of the Kuwait Cup, the WWF would go on to run a similar tournament during their tour of United Arab Emirates later that year, with the Middle East Cup taking place in Dubai in December of 1996.

Much like its Kuwaiti predecessor, the first and, as yet, only Middle East Cup tournament was a star-studded affair. Unlike the Kuwait cup, the Middle East tournament presented a veritable night of dream bouts from start to finish, with each match steeped in history, bad blood and bitter rivalry.

The opening brackets alone saw some truly classic pairings; with Bret vs Bulldog in a rematch of SummerSlam ‘92, Vader vs Farooq in a continuation of their WCW history, Undertaker vs Mankind in an extension of their long-running feud of ‘96 and Owen vs Austin as a taste of things to come ahead of their heated Intercontinental Title feud the following year.

With so many heavy hitters on hand, it’s hard to pick a winner from that pool of talent even with the benefit of hindsight. Nevertheless, the tournament would boil down to perhaps the hottest rivalry of the time as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would go on to face Bret Hart in the finals after defeating The Undertaker in the semis; with Bret being gifted a bye courtesy of a double count out during the Vader/Farooq bout.

The finals presented Bret and Austin the opportunity to continue their bitter feud established at the Survivor Series the previous month; further laying the groundwork for their historic WrestleMania encounter three months later. When the smoke cleared, Hart would emerge victories; adding yet another accolade to his hugely impressive list of accomplishments in a fitting finale to a fantastically booked tournament.