Best 2000s WWE Feuds That Never Headlined A PPV (2024)

WWE's main event scene in the 2000s was stacked and headlining a pay-per-view was a major deal. The likes of The Rock and Steve Austin, The Rock and Triple H, and Edge's feud with John Cena were some of the best feuds in WWE history and there were multiple main event matches in those feuds on PPVs. However, WWE had some excellent rivalries including major championship bouts that failed to headline a PPV.

Some of the best feuds in the 2000s spanned over multiple PPV matches with fans hooked on the feud. The following feuds didn't close out PPVs, but their matches and storylines were superb.

Edge Dominated His Rivalry With Batista Over The World Heavyweight Championship

The Animal Failed To Defeat Edge On PPV

Edge and Batista are two household names in the wrestling business, and they feuded over the World Heavyweight Championship. The "Rated-R" Superstar moved from Raw to SmackDown as he seized the opportunity to beat a wounded Undertaker to win his first World Heavyweight Championship after he successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on an episode of SmackDown in May 2007.

The Animal and Edge squared off in multiple World Heavyweight Title matches, and their feud was surprisingly one-sided. Edge registered a hat-trick of victories over Batista at Judgment Day, One Night Stand, and Vengeance: Night of Champions. They fought at Night of Champions for the second consecutive year in 2008, with Edge again victorious. There is a caveat as their one-on-one matches never main evented a PPV. Still, they had a triple threat match at Armageddon 2007 with Edge regaining the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista in a triple threat match that also featured The Undertaker.

Mickie James Was Obsessed With Trish Stratus

Mickie Turned Heel And Won The WWE Women's Championship

The rivalry between Trish Stratus and Mickie James was among the best feuds in the Ruthless Aggression Era. Mickie became overbearing and Trish rejected her advances. Mickie kissed Trish under a mistletoe, and they squared off for the WWE Women's Championship at New Year's Revolution 2006 with Trish retaining the title.

Mickie turned heel and ended Trish Stratus' 448-day Women's Championship reign at WrestleMania 22. Unfortunately, Trish sustained a shoulder injury in their rematch at Backlash 2006. Women weren't headlining PPVs in the 2000s, but this feud was worthy of closing out a PPV.

Eddie Guerrero And Kurt Angle Created Magic In The Ring

Angle And Guerrero Split Victories At WrestleMania And SummerSlam

Unquestionably, Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle are two of the greatest technical wrestlers to grace a WWE ring. Angle became the number one contender for Eddie's WWE Championship and they had a mouthwatering encounter at WrestleMania 20.

Eddie retained the WWE Championship but Angle sat on the sidelines after WrestleMania due to a neck injury. However, he became the General Manager of SmackDown and made Eddie's life a living hell. He was responsible for Eddie dropping the WWE Title to JBL and failing to recapture it. Angle and Eddie had a rematch at SummerSlam 2004 with the Olympic Gold Medalist avenging his loss at 'Mania. They were unlucky not to headline WrestleMania 20 with the World Heavyweight Championship match getting the nod to go on last.

Randy Orton Became A Star In His Feud With Mick Foley

The Legend Killer Got The Better Of The Hardcore Legend

Evolution's Randy Orton captured the Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon 2003 from Rob Van Dam with Mick Foley as the special guest referee. Orton and Foley's feud was fantastic with Orton's Legend Killer gimmick continuing to build momentum as he kicked Foley down a stairwell inside Madison Square Garden.

Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair defeated the reunited Rock 'n' Sock Connection at WrestleMania 20 in a handicap match. However, the match that made Orton a star was his brutal No Holds Barred Falls Count Anywhere match for the Intercontinental Championship at Backlash 2004. Orton retained the gold with no help from Evolution, and that was the catalyst for Orton becoming the youngest Intercontinental Champion in WWE history months later at SummerSlam 2004.

Chris Jericho And Rey Mysterio Revisited Their Feud From WCW

Jericho And Mysterio Traded The Intercontinental Championship

Chris Jericho was coming off a stellar 2008 as the Superstar of the Year, and he carried on his momentum in 2009 when he was drafted to SmackDown alongside Rey Mysterio. The pair were no strangers to each other as they feuded in WCW, and battled over Mysterio's Intercontinental Championship.

Jericho was obsessed with ripping Mysterio's mask off and succeeded at Extreme Rules 2009 as he defeated Mysterio to become a record-breaking nine-time Intercontinental Champion. Mysterio recaptured the title three weeks later, and the duo failed to close out a PPV. Their rivalry boosted the Intercontinental Championship with two veterans and former World Champions going head-to-head.

Chris Jericho Finally Won The Big One

Jericho And Rock Clashed Over World Championships

Chris Jericho had been in WWE for two years in 2001 but never held a World Championship. Despite the Invasion storyline, Rock and Jericho represented WWE and feuded with each other. The WCW Championship was the prize at stake, and Jericho defeated Rock at No Mercy to become World Champion for the first time in his career.

Jericho and Rock briefly held the WWE Tag Team Championship. Vengeance was a huge night in Jericho's career as he beat Rock and Steve Austin back-to-back to become the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion. Furthermore, Jericho saw off The Rock at the 2002 Royal Rumble to remain as Undisputed WWE Champion. The WCW Championship matches took a backseat in terms of being unable to go on last at PPVs, but Jericho and Rock's feud solidified Jericho as a big-time player.

Trish Stratus And Lita Had A Fiery Rivalry

Trish And Lita Headlined Raw In 2004

The careers of Trish Stratus and Lita are parallel as both women made their WWE debuts in 2000, and both retired for the first time in 2006. Both have been cast as babyfaces and heels in their feud and collided over the WWE Women's Championship. Surprisingly, Trish and Lita only had three one-on-one matches on a WWE pay-per-view.

Their first PPV encounter was at Survivor Series 2004 when Lita brutally assaulted Trish with Trish busted wide open. Trish secured record-setting sixth and seventh Women's Championship reigns at Lita's expense at New Year's Revolution 2005 and in front of her hometown fans in Toronto at Unforgiven 2006. They are two of the all-time greats, and unfortunately, they failed to main event a PPV against each other, but they managed to headline Raw in 2004 with Lita besting Trish for her second Women's Championship reign.

Kurt Angle And Shawn Michaels Had Two WrestleMania Main Event Worthy Matches

The Wrestling Machine Was Born

Two of the all-time greats Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels had a mouthwatering feud in 2005 despite the Olympic Gold Medalist representing SmackDown, and HBK ever-present on Raw. However, Angle planted the seeds in their WrestleMania 21 epic by eliminating the Heartbreak Kid from the 2005 Royal Rumble match.

Angle and Michaels stole the show in a remarkable wrestling match at WrestleMania 21. Angle forced HBK to submit to his patented Angle Lock. Their feud resumed in the summer when Angle was drafted to Raw, and they had another barnburner at Vengeance 2005 with Michaels getting the win back. The pair have clashed in a couple of main events in a triple threat match for Cena's WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday 2005 and the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution 2006. Their two PPV one-on-one encounters were worthy of headlining WrestleMania, and their 30-minute Iron Man match on Raw was another instant classic between the pair.

Rey Mysterio And Eddie Guerrero's Feud Dominated SmackDown In 2005

Eddie Had One Of The Best Feuds In His Career Before His Untimely Death In November 2005

Eddie Guerrero's rivalry with Rey Mysterio was one of Latino Heat's final high-profile feuds before he sadly passed away in November 2005. The pair were reigning WWE Tag Team Champions when they wrestled in the curtain-raiser at WrestleMania 21. Mysterio won that bout but Guerrero turned heel weeks later after they dropped the titles to MNM.

Guerrero and Mysterio had history back in WCW, and their chemistry was there for everyone to see. Mysterio was flawless in their PPV encounters, and their Custody of Dominik Ladder match at SummerSlam 2005 was good TV with Mysterio retaining the services of his son. Their final meeting was in a steel cage match on September 9, 2005, with Eddie picking up the victory.

Edge, Christian, The Hardys, And The Dudleys Revolutionized Tag Team Wrestling

Tag Team Wrestling Was At Its Peak In The Attitude Era

Tag team wrestling was at its finest in the Attitude Era with the strength and depth that WWE had. Edge, Christian, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz are three of the greatest tag teams to grace a WWE ring. They took tag team wrestling to the next level with their iconic ladder and TLC matches on pay-per-view.

Edge and Christian dominated their rivalry by winning the three high-profile Tag Team Championship matches. All six men benefitted from their feud and had successful careers. Tag team wrestling could have made a bigger statement if one of their triple threat championship matches closed out a major pay-per-view.