In the 1991 documentary The Search for Robert Johnson, blues musician Johnny Shines re-enacts a headcutting battle he had with blues legend Robert Johnson on opposing street corners in Helena, Arkansas in the 1930s - to draw away each other's onlookers.
A multiplayer game mode introduced in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, called Battle Mode, is based around the guitar battle concept, only the players may use special power-up items to force each other to fail.
The game also featured 3 of these guitar battles as boss battles against 2 real-life guitarists(presumably the titular "Legends of Rock"), namely Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Slash of Guns N' Roses, and Lou (a fictional musician representing the Devil of rock music).
Judas Priest used dual guitars in their 1990 song "Metal Meltdown," in which guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K.
"Hangar 18" from the album Rust in Peace features trade solos by Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman(starting at 3:38).