Showdowns: The 20 Greatest Wrestling Rivalries of the Last Two Decades

by Jeremy Roberts

It starts with an insult...then comes a push, a shove...a betrayal. Before you know it, the two wrestlers are at each other's throats. It's a rivalry, it's personal...it's a showdown. Some showdowns are John Cena wants to prove himself by taking on JBL; Randy Orton knows that if he can slay Undertaker, it will prove that he is the legend killer. Others are grudge matches -- The Rock is finally going to put Stone Cold Steve Austin, the bionic redneck, in his place. There are conflicts we can all identify Steve Austin doing to Mr. McMahon what we dream of doing to our boss every Monday morning. There are the epic showdowns that evoke the eternal Undertaker versus Kane. And the truly Mankind against Shawn Michaels. Here for the first time ever, Jeremy Roberts (co-author of Controversy Creates Cash and Batista Unleashed) examines the top twenty rivalries of the past twenty years. Roberts takes us on a veritable tour of recent wrestling history, from Hulk Hogan's showdowns with Randy Savage to the gargantuan struggles between Undertaker and Batista. The high-flying action of the Hardy Boyz, the Dudleys, Edge & Christian -- all are examined in what amounts to a brief for the wrestlers' inclusion in the hall of fame. From the Monday Night Wars between nWo and D-Generation X to the real-life conflict that spawned Matt Hardy's memorable bloodfest with Edge, Roberts takes you into the ring so vividly you'll come away with bruises.

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Dan Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take it or leave it, that's all there is to this book. It sits right in the middle. It has potential to bring back memories of great rivalries but it is all a bit candy-coated and blaise in it's presentation. This only covers showdowns "from the past 20 years" and also only includes the rivalries of the WWE with the half exception of nWo/DX cross. Most of the entries are deserving to be here but, as others mentioned, no Undertaker v Mankind but rather Ric Flair v Mr Perfect... I barely remember this one and that was only from reading the entry. Really it should have been changed for something more significant. Some entries seem to be there to give a nod to the former stars. There were arguably better 'showdowns' that could have been included.

Good for briefly showcasing past battles and some trivia but you can easily survive without bothering with the book. It's a straight forward WWE publication that strokes the egos of the writers and participants.

[Dylan Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Showdown for the Smackdown, babaay!

[Optimus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some weird rivalry choices. Stephanie Mcmahon-Chris Jericho of all the rivalries? The book is short and the rivalries are written at a bare minimum...and the book is a bit biased at times.Especially the Shawn Michaels part,he is made into a good dude in this,and Bret Hart the bad guy...Everybody knows that HBK was the biggest asshole at the time. I do not recommend this book.

[Maui · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the WWE and I love their rivalries. I hope there's a part 2 to this book.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is deffently the worst book that i have read this year. i deffently dont recommened it