Most overhyped rivalries of all time

[judgejudy27]

What do you believe were the most overhyped rivalries of all time. Here are some of mine:


Kwan vs Cohen- not really that much of a rivalry. Cohen never won a major event over Kwan, though she did finish over Kwan at Worlds twice she still did not actually win the title. Cohen never beat Kwan at U.S Nationals.

Stojko vs Eldredge- what rivalry? Eldredge only beat Stojko once from 1992-2000 and it was at the 96 Worlds where he fell in the short program and finished off the podium. Stojko didnt even need his quad to beat a clean Eldredge. Anyone who Stojko does not need his quad to beat even when they skate cleanly is not a rival to him.

Kerrigan vs Harding- people talked about the rivalry even before the clubbing. There was a rivalry but it wasnt a great one. How it went was either: a)Harding and Kerrigan both turned in so so long programs with mistakes and Kerrigan usually wins on higher 2nd mark then. b)Harding skates great in which case she always won since Kerrigan never did a single great long program until her final season in 93-94 anyway.

Sale & Pelletier vs Berezhnaya & Sikharulidze- a media invented rivalry as the vastly inferior skills of S&P were somehow built up through hype and politics to be regularly beat and even made to be out as clearly above a superior team like B&S.

Totmianiana & Marinin vs Shen & Zhou- one team or the other was always out injured or coming back from injury in T&M's final two seasons.

Lysacek vs Weir- Lysacek pretty much dominated Weir after the 2005 Worlds. Weir had the occasional win over Evan, but where the two men ranked among the elite and fared in major competitions was not really close the final 4-5 years.

[blue_idealist]

I agree with almost all that you put.. I never really thought of Stojko vs. Eldredge as a rivalry, since Stojko was clearly the better skater to me. Re: T&M and S&Z, I think T&M were clearly the better in their years, and S&Z's peak time was more like the 2009-10 season. I know they won a world title before, but they definitely skate better now. Re: B&S vs. S&P, I think that this was a legitimate rivalry. Sure, B&S definitely had better artistry and choreography, that's not to be argued, but they could make technical mistakes more often than S&P (2001 GP Final, when Elena basically flopped out of a spin?). S&P were rightly considered the technically strong team (which, back then, was looked at as having cleaner routines and better jumps), as I saw it.

I can't think of any others I saw as extremely overhyped.

[ciocio]

Lysacek vs Plushenko Nothing can match this one!

[blue_idealist]

Lysacek vs Plushenko Nothing can match this one!

Lol I don't think that even lasted long enough to be considered a rivalry, and Lysacek was clearly the (surprise) victor.

[ciocio]

Lol I don't think that even lasted long enough to be considered a rivalry, and Lysacek was clearly the (surprise) victor.

It seems that some people took it seriously. Don´t you remember the "Greatest ever" contest?

[Artifice]

B&S vs S&P was the most overhyped rivalry I can think of. Even not mistake free program was better than a clean S&P program.
B&S are just in a different league, more like G&G, Rodnina and partners while S&P were a good and pleasant pair competitive at their time.

[Ozzisk8tr]

How about Debi vs Katarina.

[Polymer Bob]

Mao vs Yu-Na gets quite a bit of media coverage.

[CaptCrunch]

S/P vs B/S was no rivalry. S/P dominated them winning something like 6 -7 straight times in head to head meetings. B/S were far too sloppy with their elements to be able to take on S/P and hope to have success against them.


Tonya/Nancy, now that was a rivalry.

[let`s talk]

Plush/Yag

[ciocio]

Plush/Yag

Overhyped? Why? That´s a legendary rivalry.

[pumba]

Duchesnays vs Klimova/Ponomarenko and S/P vs B/S
In both cases the superioroty of the latter was so evident.

Goebel vs Pluschenko/Yagudin. This is simply ridiculous.

[attyfan]

Kwan/Cohen ... or Cohen/anyone, simply because she was so unbelievably over-
hyped. Also, the fact that Cohen did do better than Kwan at Worlds twice showed that she could do so -- which creates a real rivalry.

[Polymer Bob]

Then, you have Rachael vs Alissa vs Mirai vs Caroline vs Ashley.

[michiruwater]

Kimmie vs. Mao. The US Media spent most of 2007 hyping this up as the Great Rivalry of this quad and then poor Kimmie's jumps just went bye bye.

[centerpt1]

I think the most interesting rivalries are between the skaters and themselves : skater vs their own "headcase issues". It's also interesting the way the various commentators "hype" this or avoid it all together.

[judgejudy27]

S/P vs B/S was no rivalry. S/P dominated them winning something like 6 -7 straight times in head to head meetings. B/S were far too sloppy with their elements to be able to take on S/P and hope to have success against them.

Well it seems almost everyone is agreeing this was no rivalry, one way or the other. And while my view is the total opposite of yours the judges, NBC, and Debbie Wilkes obviously agreed with you I admit.

[MikiAndoFan#1]

Kimmie vs. Mao. The US Media spent most of 2007 hyping this up as the Great Rivalry of this quad and then poor Kimmie's jumps just went bye bye.

This is just what I had in mind. What a "rivalry".

[Seerek]

I was not around during this era, but how was the "hype" for Babilonia & Gardner vs. Rodnina & Zaitsev?

Related to another thread: Rosalynn Sumners vs. Elaine Zayak

[Squibble]

I was not around during this era, but how was the "hype" for Babilonia & Gardner vs. Rodnina & Zaitsev?

There was a lot of hype, but it was really two years of anticipation after 1978 Worlds (where Babilonia & Gardner finished third), with no actual head-to-head competition. Rodnina had won everything in sight for years, first with Ulanov then with Zaitsev. Rodnina & Zaitsev missed 1979 Worlds because of Rodnina's pregnancy, and there was no Grand Prix back then.

Babilonia & Gardner were much admired in 1978, but, at that time, Rodnina & Zaitsev were the undisputed leaders.