By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

WWE will be hosting their annual Survivor Series PPV tonight, one of their "Big Four" PPVs of the year. Leading up to the event, a couple of feuds stood out amongst the rest. But which one is truly the most entertaining? Which one is the most engaging or interesting? Which one is the most athletically motivating? Which one has the best story? And which contains characters who we care about so that the outcome of the match means something?

Two prominent feuds emerge over the rest of the more nondescript, conventional rivalries on WWE's three TV shows: On Raw you have a really intriguing and ever-intensifying storyline between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston, while on Smackdown you have a very personal feud between Batista and Rey Mysterio. WWE might also be on the verge of making the storyline around the Women's Title between Mickie James and Michelle McCool mean something, but it's not quite there yet.

So which feud is better: Orton vs. Kingston or Batista vs. Mysterio? Both have their merits.

As for Raw's best feud, Randy Orton has become the perfect foil for the brand's rising star, Kofi Kingston. And as usual, Orton plays his part flawlessly as the shameless, brazen, snobbish, remorseless, vengeful heel. He's making Kofi's character shine right now. On the other hand, Kofi's doing his part too. Ever since establishing himself as a solid wrestler, Kingston has largely been seen as the guy who has incredible potential just waiting for a turn in the spotlight.

Well, now WWE has granted him his first major role, and he's taking off with it. This feud is entirely based on the idea of pushing Kofi Kingston as one of WWE's most popular babyfaces, and on a brand which also features Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and John Cena, it can be pretty difficult to avoid being outshined. However, the company adeptly structured this storyline so that there's almost a laser-like focus on Randy and Kofi. The auxiliary characters—namely Orton's henchmen Rhodes and DiBiase—have been embroiled in a feud of their own with MVP and Mark Henry. Sure there is slight overlap, but WWE has made sure to emphasize the individual issues between Orton and Kingston without letting other outside forces or characters infringe upon the growth of their newest star babyface.

Meanwhile, over on Smackdown, WWE has crafted a feud of equivalent intensity. The tone of the Batista-Mysterio rivalry is a lot different because of the context; unlike Orton-Kingston, this feud is between two people who were great friends. Both Batista and Mysterio were strong babyface characters who had mutual respect for one another. But the storyline experienced a twist when Batista exhibited a major heel turn and ruthlessly and unapologetically assaulted Rey Mysterio. The reason? Mysterio and Batista both participated in WWE's last PPV in a Fatal 4-Way Match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Of course, that match involves an "every man for himself" dynamic, and Batista took out his frustrations of not winning the title on Rey Mysterio—his former best friend.

The Batista-Mysterio friendship in flames storyline is a lot more personal than the one Raw is featuring, and it involves two long-established top-tier superstars. Rey Mysterio has been particularly compelling throughout the past few weeks as he deals with a complex situation. He's been hurt, and he's pretty confused as to why Batista has inexplicably become so vile and selfish. After trying to reconcile or at least figure out why his friend attacked him so callously, Rey now has decided to simply stand up to the person who has suddenly become his bully.

These two storylines are incredibly dissimilar, but notice how neither of them are the leading World Title feud on their respective brands. For whatever reason, these smaller rivalries have stood out as more important, more entertaining, more compelling than anything else on WWE TV. It's hard to decide which feud is better because they both offer different things: If you want a highly personal rivalry between two top stars with a long history, then Batista-Mysterio is for you; if you want an intense storyline between WWE's biggest heel and a possible breakout star who's about to make a name for himself, then Orton vs. Kingston it is. Either way, WWE has done a laudable job structuring two completely different storylines into entertaining television for the past few weeks, and hopefully both will continue beyond Survivor Series tonight.

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