5 memorable matches between real-life brothers or sisters in WWE, WCW, and AEW

Wrestling is nothing if not a family business with many sons and daughters following their parents into the ring. It follows, too that there are those brothers or sisters who grow up with a shared dream to get into the business, and by virtue of their keen interest, or shared good genetics for wrestling, find their way into the ring.

It’s not uncommon for brothers to team up as we see today with pairs like The Usos and The Singh Brothers, or more historically among The Von Erichs or The Steiner Bros. But then, there are also those times when brothers or sisters come to blows.

There are natural stories to be told about sibling rivalries boiling over into the professional wrestling ring. This article takes a look back at five instances of brother vs. brother or sister vs sister matches that were particularly memorable — sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

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#5 Cody vs Dustin Rhodes, Double or Nothing 2019

Whereas Goldust vs. Stardust was forgettable in WWE, Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes told a very different story in AEW

AEW has wasted no time in differentiating itself from WWE and a number of other promotions via an old school sensibility. Who better to get that feel across than the grandsons of a plumber, Cody and Dustin Rhodes who got to have a big-time featured match in AEW that they’d never had the opportunity to put on in WWE.

Their confrontation at Double or Nothing exceeded expectations with terrific drama and storytelling.

More than anything, the Rhodes brothers displayed their full abilities. While their WWE rivalry was limited to sub-ten minute matches without much build or thought put into them, their match at Double or Nothing demonstrated that Cody is quite capable of working a match in a main event style. Moreover, despite being fifty years of age, Dustin was still capable of hanging in the ring, delivering quite arguably one of the best performances of his career.

#4 Bret Hart vs Owen Hart, WrestleMania 10

Bret and Owen Hart put on a classic at WrestleMania 10

Bret Hart’s legacy is that of one of the greatest in-ring workers to ever grace professional wrestling. While his brother Owen Hart isn’t too far behind in his talents, he has the benefit of also being remembered for his infectious personality and the tragic drawback of having passed away too soon to reach his fullest potential.

In 1994, though, Owen got the chance to break out from largely forgettable jobber to the stars status to being a legitimate upper card player. That transformation got going as tensions mounted between the Hart brothers and took flight when the two not only put on a classic match to open WrestleMania 10 but Bret selflessly put over his younger brother as clean as a sheet. It’s a toss-up whether this or their steel cage showdown at SummerSlam was the better match. In terms of historical significance, though, this bout put Owen on the map as a contender, and stands out as one of the best pure wrestling matches of Bret’s distinguished career, particularly for the psychology of him starting out not wanting to hurt his brother.

#3 Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy, WrestleMania 25

Rather than working the respectful brother vs. brother match, the Hardys took things Extreme at WrestleMania 25.

Whereas the brother vs brother match at WrestleMania 10 between Bret and Owen Hart was largely technical and built-in intensity via submission holds, fifteen years later, Matt and Jeff Hardy told a very different story.

The Hardys were locked in an intense rivalry based on Matt’s kayfabe attempts to ruin his little brother’s life. Feeding into each character’s sensibilities, they competed under Extreme Rules in a match full of ladders and chairs.

The match was a fun enough spectacle, though the consensus, in the end, seemed to have been that everyone would rather see the Hardys teaming up than going to war with one another. Matt’s heel character also never seemed to fully click, both for fans having to stretch their disbelief about his evil persona and for the worker beneath the gimmick simply working out better as a face.

#2 Brie Bella vs Nikki Bella, Hell in a Cell 2014

The Bella Twins achieved a fair amount of success in WWE, but their match against one another failed to light the world on fire.

At SummerSlam 2014, Brie Bella garnered arguably the most high-profile spot of her career, booked into a feud with Stephanie McMahon. Promos from their angle got the main event spot on RAW more than once, and the match itself was quite good, particularly relative to expectations related to these two women’s in-ring talents.

The bout culminated in Nikki Bella turning on her sister to help McMahon to victory, thus setting up the feud between sisters that no one had necessarily asked for, but nonetheless presented some intrigue. The added stipulation of putting the loser into the victor’s servitude added an extra element of storyline implications to the match.

The Bellas didn’t put on a classic by any measure, and the storyline follow-up in which Brie turned heel and was less an assistant than a partner to her sister moving forward cost the program some of its drama. Nonetheless, the spectacle of seeing the twins battle it out at least delivered a unique spectacle.

#1 Booker T vs Stevie Ray, Soul’d Out 2000

Harlem Heat was a quality tag team; their one on one match with each other was memorably bad.

Booker T and Stevie Ray made up a rock-solid, too often overlooked tag team of the 1990s in Harlem Heat. While they didn’t have the star power of units like The Outsiders, The Road Warriors, or The Steiners, they nonetheless had a good look, developed their team identity over a period of years, and ultimately set up Booker to break out as a singles star.

The brother vs. brother element of this match—highlighted by their long tenure as tag team partners—offered some level of interest.

Unfortunately, Stevie Ray was the kind of wrestler best used in tag teams for his limitations as an in-ring worker, and Booker wasn’t equipped to carry him. The result was a lacklustre bout with a funky finish when Ray introduced his new tag team partner Big T (better known as Ahmed Johnson in WWE) to beat down Booker on the finish.