10 Times Wrestling Feuds Crossed Over Promotions

8. Kevin Owens Vs. Sami Zayn

Tyson Jericho
WWE.com

In 2010, Daniel Bryan was savaged in WWE canon for daring to make a name for himself beyond its walls.

In shocking, intoxicating contrast, informed by Bryan's success and influence, WWE NXT in 2014 built a major main event angle around the shared history of two performers on the once-dreaded independent circuit: Kevin Steen and El Generico. Their epic saga of love and violence spanned years, and proved so definitive and symbiotic that one name invariably followed the other - except, of course, when Steen didn't follow Generico to WWE in 2012.

WWE deployed this beat to sublime effect.

Held long before NXT lost sight of itself, this was stirring stuff. It felt as if the brand had become an affectionate curator of all things wrestling, opening up rich, authentic narrative possibilities once deemed verboten. The events of R: Evolution were a masterstroke: Steen as Owens debuted, tellingly, in the opener. This was no accident: the placement of his match conveyed to the audience that his journey, no matter how successful the start, was a long one.

He sprinted up that card by turning on his best friend on a dime in what was an all-time great swerve; Owens had turned on Sami Zayn, but in a marriage of heartbreak and euphoria, WWE had also turned on its own, rotten history of default superiority.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!