Rivalries have always been key to the most memorable, successful, and best professional wrestling. They keep fans tuned in and engaged, beyond even the most masterful displays of athleticism between the ropes.

Regardless of the foundation of any feud, the twists, turns, developments, and emotional investment in all of them enhance the wrestling itself and give fans a reason to tune in and see what their favorites will be up to when they encounter their hated foes next time.

In 2024, WWE excelled at storytelling, with rivalries of all sorts leading to one of the hottest and most successful years in company history. Their overwhelming presence on this list is indicative of how well they crafted stories and presented them to audiences in a way AEW struggled to.

Still, the Tony Khan-booked promotion produced two long-term stories that ranked head and shoulders above anything else it delivered and earned their place on this countdown.

10. Alpha Academy vs. Chad Gable

The No. 10 entry on our list is more of a "what should have been" than what actually was.

After Chad Gable turned heel on Sami Zayn, attacking him out of frustration after the underdog took what the Olympian believed was his in the Intercontinental Championship, the former amateur wrestler turned his new demeanor and condescending behavior on his Alpha Academy teammates Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri.

He openly berated them, talked down to them, attempted to humiliate them, and demanded they do his dirty work against Zayn. In the process, Gable became the most over heel on the show for a period, generating loud, angry jeers in arenas across the country.

Each week, Otis would appear ready to stand up to his best friend and knock him down a peg or two, only to back down and remain loyal to Gable.

That is until he and his teammates finally walked out on Gable on the June 17 episode of Raw, severing their partnership and ending that incarnation of Alpha Academy.

That there was never a blow-off to the feud or the match between Gable and Otis that fans demanded lands this one further down the list than it otherwise may have been. Instead of an exclamation point on one of the most engaging stories of the year, it just sort of ended with a whimper as Gable moved onto feud with The Wyatt Sicks and his former teammates wandered aimlessly the rest of the year.

9. Damian Priest vs. Finn Bálor

The rise of Damian Priest to world heavyweight champion in 2024 did not come without obvious jealousy.

With every passing week that The Archer of Infamy established himself at the forefront of Judgment Day, it became clear that his former tag team partner, Finn Bálor, had grown more jealous.

At SummerSlam, as Priest defended his title against Gunther and appeared to be seconds away from victory, Bálor emerged and put the challenger's foot on the rope, preventing his longtime teammate from securing the victory. It was a shocking betrayal that led to Gunther's world title victory and a main event rivalry on the flagship brand, Raw.

Since then, Priest has beaten Bálor one-on-one, further intensifying his obsession with proving his superiority to him. Bálor again cost Priest a match against Gunther at Survivor Series: War Games, keeping him from regaining his gold.

The rivalry rages on as the year comes to an end, with Bálor seemingly unwilling to let things lie until he has gotten one over on Priest.

8. Sami Zayn vs. Gunther

Take a seemingly unbeatable heel champion, program him against a beloved underdog babyface, let them work their magic and the result will almost always be a rivalry that fans can invest themselves in.

Such was the case between Gunther and Sami Zayn in 2024.

Zayn ended The Ring General's historic 666-day reign as Intercontinental champion at WrestleMania 40 in a Match of the Year candidate, silencing Gunther and proving that he could be a singles champion again.

The Austrian-born competitor would get his win back later in the year, though, defeating Zayn to retain the World Heavyweight Championship on an episode of Raw proving the Underdog from the Underground was not his kryptonite.

For a simple David vs. Goliath storyline, this was mightily effective and resulted in one of the more memorable moments of an already jam-packed WrestleMania 40.

7. "Timeless" Toni Storm vs. Mariah May

Mariah May stood alongside "Timeless" Toni Storm for months, her understudy and protege. She followed the AEW women's world champion around, interfered in her matches, served as her tag team partner, and appeared to be more than loyal to her Aussie counterpart.

She stayed neutral during Storm's feud with Mina Shirakawa over the title but besides that, appeared to be intensely loyal to the icon of a bygone era.

Until the closing moments of the July 10 episode of Dynamite, where she viciously assaulted Storm with the champion's shoe, busting her open and severing any relationship the two had previously had. At All In on August 25 from Wembley Stadium in London, May captured the women's title and sent Storm packing for months.

The story was a modern take on All About Eve, a classic film in which the titular character seeks stardom by latching onto a Hollywood star before proving how conniving and manipulative she actually is. AEW on-screen personality RJ City had a big hand in helping craft the story and the passion for the project that all involved had shined through, making it one of the best long-term programs the company has ever produced.

6. Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens rightly took exception to his friend, the undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes, teaming with Roman Reigns to help take down Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in the main event of Bad Blood.

After all, he had fought alongside Rhodes as he combated The Bloodline and ultimately ended Reigns' oppressive four-year run with the title. The Prizefighter believed that helping Reigns now only empowered him to climb back onto his throne, something he nor anyone should want.

Believing no one was listening, he lashed out, attacking Rhodes after the premium live event and igniting a rivalry that, as 2024 comes to a close, is as hot as it has been.

Owens' vicious assault on Rhodes after narrowly losing at Saturday Night's Main Event, following a questionable Cross Rhodes onto a steel chair, only further intensified the personal feud and set up what should be an electric start to 2025.

That it still feels relatively early on in the program is the only reason this one does not rank further up the list.

5. Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan

The Liv Morgan Revenge Tour kicked off the night after WrestleMania with the namesake attacking women's world champion Rhea Ripley, injuring her shoulder and forcing the dominant Mami to relinquish her title.

Morgan won it, wooed Ripley's boy toy, Dominik Mysterio, and replaced her in Judgment Day. No matter how vengeance-minded Ripley was, Morgan was always ahead of her, as evidenced by her reunion with Raquel Rodriguez at Bad Blood, which prevented The Eradicator from regaining the title she never lost.

The story lost its focus over the summer when it became more about fighting over Mysterio than Ripley and Morgan settling their intense rivalry, but its high profile nature and the elevation of both women's stars make it an undisputed top feud of WWE and worthy of inclusion on this list.

Now if it can end decisively on January 6 on the debut episode of Raw on Netflix, all will be right with the world.

4. Swerve Strickland vs. "Hangman" Adam Page

A rivalry that began in 2023 with Strickland invading Page's home and a bloody, violent Texas Deathmatch at Full Gear intensified in 2024.

First, Page made his presence felt during the main event of All In, allowing Bryan Danielson to fight back against Strickland and ultimately end the then-world champion's reign atop AEW. From there, Hangman burned down Strickland's childhood home, setting the stage for their unsanctioned, Lights Out Steel Cage Match at All Out on September 7.

The depravity that unfolded inside the steel structure included Page stabbing his opponent in the cheek with a hypodermic needle before rendering him unconscious with a sickening, unprotected steel chair shot to the head. One would be hard-pressed to find a more definitive way to end what had become one of the most intense and hate-filled rivalries in the industry, despite the justifiable criticism the violence attracted.

3. Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock

Cody Rhodes and The Rock were never supposed to stand across the ring from each other.

The American Nightmare won the Royal Rumble in January and appeared to be on his way to a battle with Roman Reigns for the second, consecutive year at WrestleMania 40 until The Great One walked back into the picture and asserted himself as the next opponent for The Tribal Chief.

Few could have imagined that wrestling's most electrifying star, a legitimate A-lister, would be greeted with negativity from an audience that had invested so much time, energy, and love into Rhodes and his journey to the WWE title.

Fan backlash in the arenas and across social media forced WWE's hand and suddenly, The Great One became The Final Boss, an oppressive villain who cut down fans and opponents and left Rhodes bloodied in an arena parking lot to close out one episode of Raw.

On night one of WrestleMania, Rock partnered with Reigns to defeat Rhodes and Rollins, putting The American Nightmare in the unenviable task of having to win a Bloodline Rules match if he was to capture the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and end The Tribal Chief's historic four-year run with the gold.

Rhodes did but a promo on the Raw After Mania suggested there is unfinished business between him and The Final Boss, hinting that the rivalry, one of the best and most engaging of the year, is far from finished.

2. The OG Bloodline vs. The Bloodline

When Roman Reigns lost the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 and disappeared from television, Solo Sikoa took his place "under the orders of the Tribal Chief" as the leader of The Bloodline.

He booted Jimmy Uso to the curb, introduced Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and the dangerous "Samoan Werewolf" Jacob Fatu, and brutally attacked Paul Heyman, recreating The Bloodline in his image.

Cue Reigns' return at SummerSlam, which saw him attack Sikoa and declare war on his version of the family. To do so, he needed reinforcements, leading to a months-long story that saw him reform the OG Bloodline by convincing Jimmy and Jey Uso and former "Honorary Uce," Sami Zayn, to come back to the fold. Heyman returned and brought with him CM Punk and at War Games, the babyfaces trounced the heels inside the double steel cage.

Still unsettled, Reigns will battle Sikoa for the coveted ula fala on January 6, but the meat of this chapter of the Bloodline Saga has already been told.

1. CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre delivered a Future Shock DDT to Punk during the Royal Rumble that resulted in the latter tearing his triceps and costing him a spot on the WrestleMania card. Hellbent on avenging the injury, The Best in the World showed up at The Showcase of the Immortals and attacked the trolling Scotsman moments after a World Heavyweight Championship victory over Seth "Freakin" Rollins.

Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, ruined McIntyre's moment, and escalated the rivalry between Punk and his foe exponentially.

In the following months, Punk would cost McIntyre the world title again and the Scottish Warrior would make the rivalry personal by bringing his opponent's family into it by way of a friendship bracelet made for Punk by a fan and adorned with the names of his wife and dog.

A victory for McIntyre at SummerSlam with some assistance from special referee Rollins, and a win for Punk in a Strap Match at Bash in Berlin, set the stage for a feud-ending showdown inside Hell in a Cell that returned violence and gravity to the gimmick bout.

The Straight Edge Superstar won that bloody battle, wrapping up the best feud of 2024, in which the competitors blurred the line between fiction and reality and frequently left fans guessing what was real and what was for show. The conviction of the men involved set it apart from anything else on any pro wrestling show this year and rightly earned it the top spot on this list.