Wrestlers Who Are Ashamed Of Their Family Members

Wrestlers aren't just prone to rivalries with each other, as many have had full-blow feuds with their own family. In this article, we take a look at 15 cases of wrestlers being ashamed of their family members. We avoided cases of wrestlers whose siblings, children or parents were also wrestlers, but simply weren't as successful. It's not enough for a Superstar to be ashamed of their family members' wrestling career, they have to actually have been ashamed of them as people. As an example, Ric Flair may have recognized that his son David was not a very good wrestler, but that doesn't mean he was ashamed of him.

In many cases, the wrestlers listed in this article came from harsh or rather unique upbringings. Such cases usually involve a parent who didn't do the greatest job of raising their kid. Other cases can be blamed more on the wrestler than their family. Workers in the industry are an eccentric bunch, and conflict management isn't always their strong suit. This has contributed to many fractured relationships in wrestling as well.

Then there are also the cases of wrestlers who grew up in wrestling families, and all of the problems that tend to creep up in those situations. Here are 15 cases of wrestlers who are ashamed of their family members.

15 15. Dolph Ziggler: Brother Donald

Dolph Ziggler has two brothers, one of whom has pleaded guilty to murder. The middle of the three boys, Ryan, was previously known as Briley Pierce and had a cup of coffee in WWE developmental (he probably also ate some catering). The youngest of the three, Donald Nemeth, is now a convicted murderer.

Earlier this year Donald pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Marine Corps veteran during a failed robbery attempt. The incident happened at a Cleveland area hotel in 2016, and Donald is on house arrest until his sentencing later this month.

Donald was facing a life sentence if found guilty of aggravated murder, but it appears an arrangement was made for him to plead to a lesser charge. During court proceedings, prosecutors specifically requested there be no mention of Dolph Ziggler during the trial in order to prevent any distraction.

14 14. Bret Hart: Sister Diana Hart

Bret Hart does not get along with his sister Diana, and the feelings seem to go both ways.

Diana is the youngest daughter of the Hart family. She married the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, though they would separate shortly before his death. She's the mother of Harry Smith who teamed with Tyson Kidd in the Hart Dynasty and is now wrestling in Japan with NJPW.

There are many reasons why Bret and Diana have clashed over the years, but none greater than an unfortunate book Diana wrote in 2001. Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family was a scathing look at the Hart family and included criminal accusations against multiple family members. A lawsuit from Owen's widow Martha eventually forced the book to be removed from stores. Diana has since claimed that her co-author took liberties with the book that she didn't approve of.

13 13. CM Punk: Brother Mike Brooks

CM Punk once ran a small wrestling promotion with his brother. According to Punk, however, his brother stole a bunch of money and their relationship has been severely strained ever since.

Punk and his brother, Mike Brooks, started the Lunatic Wrestling Federation, which at one point was drawing large crowds to their shows. In 1999, Mike decided to embezzle some money, to the tune of thousands of dollars. In later interviews, Mike has admitted to having done this. He also stated that he has paid all of the money back. Punk won't talk to him still, however, and its been almost 20 years. Mike would also say he thought it would be cool if they could speak again, but he doesn't know if it will happen. CM Punk is a guy who will hold a grudge for a long time...

It's not altogether clear to what degree Rikishi actually disapproves of his son Jimmy's marriage to Trinity Fatu, aka Naomi, but he didn't attend their wedding.

It was played up on Total Divas that Rikishi did not approve of Jimmy's marriage to Naomi because she was not Samoan. When they were married in 2014, Rikishi didn't attend the wedding. He would post on social media, however, that this had been played up as part of a storyline for the Total Divas show, though he never stated anything about approving of the marriage.

Rikishi had originally said that he would attend the wedding despite his misgivings but then had to cancel last minute. Naomi and Jimmy have both kept quiet on Jimmy's father missing the wedding and his reasons for doing so.

12 12. A.J. Styles: Father

A.J. Styles' father passed away in 2011, though it is not altogether clear if A.J. had much contact with him at the time. Styles has previously stated that his father was an alcoholic, and was occasionally abusive.

Styles also said his family was very poor when he was growing up. They didn't have cable so he wasn't able to watch wrestling. Despite his poor upbringing, Styles would make his professional wrestling debut in 1998 at the age of 21. He was trained by Rick Michaels in Georgia and got his first work as the masked Mr. Olympia. He was signed to late-stage WCW in 2001, wrestling on Thunder as part of a tag team with Air Paris. In 2002, Styles got noticed as part of the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion based out of Australia and eventually ended up in TNA.

11 11. Kurt Angle: Brother David Angle

Kurt Angle is not ashamed of his storyline estranged son Jason Jordan, although he might not be happy with the crowd reaction the program has been receiving.

Angle's older brother, David, pleaded guilty to murder in 2016. David is approximately 15 years older than Kurt. Prosecutors and David's defense reached an agreement for David to plead to the charge of voluntary manslaughter in the death of his wife, Donna Angle. David blames alcohol for the domestic violence episode that resulted in the death of his 57-year-old wife. Last September he was sentenced to 2.5 to 10 years in jail for the crime.

Kurt has another older brother, Eric, who was also a wrestler. Eric Angle was under contract with WWE from 2000 to 2003. Kurt Angle has five children himself, not including Jason Jordan...

10 10. Rikishi: Daughter-In-Law Naomi

It's not altogether clear to what degree Rikishi actually disapproves of his son Jimmy's marriage to Trinity Fatu, aka Naomi, but he didn't attend their wedding.

It was played up on Total Divas that Rikishi did not approve of Jimmy's marriage to Naomi because she was not Samoan. When they were married in 2014, Rikishi didn't attend the wedding. He would post on social media, however, that this had been played up as part of a storyline for the Total Divas show, though he never stated anything about approving of the marriage.

9 9. Jake "The Snake" Roberts: Father Grizzly Smith

Jake Roberts may have made a lot of mistakes in his life, but he's a far cry from his father.

Grizzly Smith fathered three children who would wrestle in the old WWF; Sam Houston, Rockin Robin, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Houston and Robin were born to the same mother, but Jake's situation was a little different. In the documentary, Beyond the Mat, Jake alleged that his father raped his mother when she was only 13 years old. When it was discovered she was pregnant, the couple were forced to marry. Jake blames many of his substance abuse problems on his late father.

Former National Wrestling Alliance president, Howard Brody, alleged that Smith sexually abused his daughter, Rockin Robin, as a child. Upon finding out what was happening, her mother removed her from Smith's care. He died in 2010 of Alzheimer's. He was 77.

8 8. Seth Rollins: Biological Father

Seth Rollins has never had a good relationship with his biological father, and that probably won't change. Rollins has made no effort whatsoever to note that his step-father is not his biological father, and there is probably a good reason for that.

Rollins' real name is Colby Lopez, which has led many to believe that he's of Latin American heritage. The name Lopez is his mother's husband's last name and Rollins adopted it as his own. His actual background is Irish and Armenian.

It didn't take long for Rollins to start his pro wrestling career having his first match at 19 years old. He would toil away on the independents for a few years before debuting in Ring of Honor in 2007. As Tyler Black, Rollins would win the ROH World Championship in 2010 after defeating Austin Aries.

7 7. The Rock: Father Rocky Johnson

Although they have since patched things up, The Rock and his father, Rocky Johnson, were estranged for some time. The Rock is said to have been ashamed of his father's infidelity while married to Dwayne's mother.

Rocky Johnson was on the road a lot while Rock was a youngster. There was also an incident where Rocky Johnson was arrested and charged with rape, however, Johnson has always maintained that he had been set-up on the charges by rival wrestlers. He fell into a depression and drank heavily after having been black-listed from many wrestling shows. Nothing seemed to come of the charges, however.

The Rock didn't speak to his father for years, but they reconciled when he went to college. They would work together briefly during The Rock's initial WWE babyface run.

6 6. Bruno Sammartino: Son David Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino and his son David are said to have a strained relationship, even now as Bruno enters his twilight years.

In the mid-1980s, David was attempting a career in pro wrestling. He was hired by Vince McMahon but Vince was more interested in getting Bruno back in the ring on occasion to be David's tag partner. Bruno would also accompany David to the ring.

Perhaps driven by frustration over his lack of career success, David would attempt to improve his physique by taking steroids. This was against Bruno's principals and led to a fractured father-son relationship. Bruno held a grudge against Vince McMahon turning his promotion into a showcase of big muscular wrestlers as a result as well, leading to a similarly strained relationship between Bruno and Vince.

5 5. Bret Hart: Brother Smith Hart

Smith Hart died on July 2nd, 2017 of prostate cancer. Bret had also been diagnosed with prostate cancer but was declared 100% cancer free early this year. Bret didn’t speak much of Smith while they were battling the same illness. That's because their relationships had been strained throughout the years.

Smith was just a crazy guy. To put things in perspective, one of his children is named Satania Ecstasy Hart. Evidently, the eccentric Smith was going through something of a Satanist phase or was just a big Kevin Sullivan fan. People just call her Tanya Hart, which probably makes her feel more comfortable.

Bret buried Smith in his book, stating that Smith refused to move out of the Hart Mansion in 2003 at the age of 55. After his passing, however, Bret wrote a complimentary blog post about Smith's eccentricities.

4 4. Kevin Von Erich: Father Fritz

Out of all the Von Erich boys who were the focus of their father Fritz's World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in Texas, the only one left is Kevin Von Erich.

Kevin and his father had a falling out in the 1980s after failed attempts to take WCCW national. In the mid-80s WWE (then WWF) was skyrocketing in popularity so several rival promotions joined together to compete against Vince. WCCW joined the AWA and CWA in promoting SuperClash III in 1988. Jerry Lawler would defeat Kerry Von Erich in the main event of a poorly received show. Afterward, Fritz sold WCCW to Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett.

Kevin was upset his father chose to sell the business and ended up suing Jarrett for allegedly cutting him out of the promotion. Jarrett would counter by saying Kevin wasn't showing up to bookings. Kevin would retire a few years later and now lives in Hawaii.

3 3. Davey Boy Smith: Cousin Dynamite Kid

Davey Boy Smith died at the age of 39 in 2002. He had been estranged from his cousin, and longtime tag team partner, Dynamite Kid, for 12 years at the time of his death.

After a backstage incident with the Rougeau brothers, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith quit WWE in 1988. They returned to Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, but their popularity in the territory wasn't what it had once been. They instead feuded with each other, and as often happens in wrestling, real life began to imitate the storyline.

Smith trademarked the name "British Bulldog" which infuriated Dynamite to no end. It's also alleged that Smith prevented Dynamite from using the name in All-Japan Pro Wrestling.

Things further soured for Dynamite who lost the use of his left leg in 1997 and largely became a shut-in after. He's said to have suffered a serious stroke in 2013.

2 2. CM Punk: Mother

CM Punk's own mother is also on his "ashamed of list". He even went so far as to take out a restraining order against her in 2013.

According to Punk, his mother was constantly asking him for money and making suicidal threats if he didn't give it to her. A series of emails were provided to the court, ones that documented his mother making threats to him about releasing embarrassing information if he didn't send them money. Punk noted that his mother suffers from bipolar disorder. He also claimed he had given her upwards of $100,000, but when he stopped giving her money, she began making threats towards him.

This is not to say he should have put his mother on payroll, but some people buy their mothers a house when they hit the big time, but $100,000 felt like enough charity for Punk.

1 1. Tamina Snuka: Father Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka

Jimmy Snuka died on January 15th, 2017. A year and a half before his death, Snuka was charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 1983 death of his former girlfriend, Nancy Argentino.

A medical investigation concluded that Argentino died of traumatic brain injuries and indicated there were signs of physical abuse. Snuka was the only suspect, but the case went cold for decades up until his arrest 32 years later. The judge dismissed the charges, however, as Snuka was ruled unfit to stand trial. He died two days after her ruling.

Since there was no trial to provide proof of his guilt, WWE chose to honor Snuka after his death by adding a collection of his matches on the WWE Network. While Tamina is probably proud of her father for other reasons, there will always be the question of what happened that night in 1983, and if he was responsible for ending someone's life.