The love lives of the wrestlers in WWE has seen some of the most shocking relationships possible behind the scenes. Most couples get revealed, especially in the current climate of social media. Both the couples to last in the long run and those to have horrible endings tend to get exposed given the nature of the wrestling business. It is harder to keep a secret in wrestling than any other form of entertainment. However, a few potential relationships have reminded a question in the rumor mill of WWE and beyond. These pairs of wrestlers have been reported to be in a romance at some point via fan speculation and online reports.
We'll look at some of the potential flings to go down in real life. These couples have at least some semblance of a story regarding the two at least hooking up and at most being in love. Some of them are current pairs of WWE Superstars while others have remained urban legends in the history of wrestling dram. Unfortunately, we won’t know the answers to all of them, but we can break down what we already know. This list will look at fifteen rumored WWE backstage flings that still remain a mystery.
16 15. Finn Balor and Becky Lynch
Finn Balor was one of the trainers in Ireland to help a young Becky Lynch get into the wrestling business. The experience of Balor was still relatively limited, but he knew enough to teach the basics to Lynch and other young aspiring wrestlers. Both would travel the world while remaining friends. Fate would see them both sign developmental contracts with WWE and become huge parts of the NXT success.
There have been rumors and speculation of the two dating years ago and even recently. Becky and Finn have each only discussed having a friendship and bond that comes from their time training together. Lynch broke down in tears discussing the role Balor played in her life during a talking spot in the WWE 24 special about Finn. Regardless of if they dated or not, they clearly care for each other.
15 14. Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels
Another shocking rumored backstage fling features the close personal relationship between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. Michaels was the chosen one in the mid-90s as he received a massive push. The biggest surprise about it is that Michaels was a pain to deal with. Most weeks would feature him making life miserable for the people backstage by refusing to do what was planned.
Michaels went far enough to fake an injury and retire to get out of doing business. The treatment of him by McMahon saw him become the first wrestler in WWE to get away with being that disrespectful and unprofessional. Multiple wrestlers of the same era threw out allegations that something was going on between McMahon and Michaels behind the scenes. The fact that McMahon always had Michaels’ back and pushed him to the moon is the rational behind this one.
14 13. Peyton Royce and Tye Dillinger
Two wrestlers currently in WWE with a potential romance behind the scenes would be Peyton Royce and Tye Dillinger. Both wrestlers have spent a lot of time in the Performance Center and at NXT through the years. Royce is currently on the top NXT women while Dillinger is finally on the main roster representing SmackDown.
Neither wrestler has ever confirmed a relationship, but they have been linked together for a few years now. Royce and Dillinger have been together in Florida where both reside. Given the momentum Royce has, it may not be too long before she joins Dillinger on the main roster. The potential couple could even be a successful act together on-screen. Maybe we will know for sure if they are dating by the time Royce is called up.
13 12. Chris Jericho and Kelly Kelly
Chris Jericho has been married throughout most of his time in WWE, but some controversy did come up regarding a rumor. Despite being nearly 20 years older than her, pictures emerged of Jericho making out with Kelly Kelly at a night club. Jericho and Kelly reportedly spent a few nights out together as spectators took note of the two wrestlers being romantic.
There is no confirmation or denial from either party about them being together at any point. Jericho is still married to the same woman and there has been no other links between him and Kelly following these pictures. It was a bad look for both performers at the time. Jericho and Kelly are lucky the incident didn’t happen in recent years as the coverage and social media would have made it an even bigger story.
12 11. Alberto Del Rio and Charlotte Flair
Alberto Del Rio recently announced his relationship with Paige is over, but he may have had another shocking romance before that. Rumors broke around the time of his relationship with Paige that he was involved with Charlotte Flair for a short time period in WWE. To make matters worse, Del Rio was still married to a woman outside of wrestling while he reportedly dated Charlotte.
The relationship between Flair and Del Rio didn’t last long if it was true. Rumors didn’t start going around until the two were not an item. Despite Alberto running his mouth about just about everything, he has never discussed dating Charlotte. It is more obvious why Charlotte doesn’t talk about it if it happened since that is considered an embarrassing thing to do at this point. Del Rio has turned into wrestling’s biggest train wreck.
11
10 10. The Rock and Trish Stratus
WWE randomly placed The Rock and Trish Stratus together in a romantic storyline. This was shortly after Trish ditched Vince McMahon and started playing a face character. The Rock saved her from the wrath of McMahon’s vengeance. Stratus and Rock made out backstage but didn’t do much with it in the long run. WWE tends to place their top stars in romantic angles with women they dated in real life.
Steve Austin’s relationship with Debra saw them work together during the Attitude Era. The same happened with John Cena when he dated Mickie James and Nikki Bella. Fan speculation asked a question of if Rock and Stratus were an item in real life during this time. It would make sense as to why WWE placed the random wrestlers in a short romantic angle.
9 9. Batista and Melina
The story of Batista and Melina being an item is one that most fans believe. Multiple wrestlers have claimed that it was an obvious thing when Melina cheated on John Morrison and started spending time with Batista. The autobiography of Batista even saw him saying the two were in love and were an unofficial couple for a short time period.
Melina has stated otherwise in interviews through the years. The comments of Melina are that Batista was just a close friend and she never cheated on Morrison. Unfortunately for her, public perception says otherwise. WWE even did a short-term storyline that featured Melina sleeping with Batista to get MNM out of a match before he changed his mind and double crossed her. Melina denies it to this day, but the relationship with Batista seems to be true based off other parties all saying the same thing.
8 8. Byron Saxton and Nia Jax
The random pairing of Byron Saxton and Nia Jax could have seen them become a real life couple at some point. An episode of Ride Along saw Nia ride with Tom Phillips and Corey Graves. Jax referenced Saxton always hitting on her and trying to make something happen. A phone call to Byron was filmed as he tried to hit on her while the other broadcasters listened in.
Speculation started going around that the two dated at one point and Saxton was trying to get Jax back. This would be the rare case of a male broadcaster dating a women’s wrestler. The pairing doesn’t usually take place in wrestling with it often going the other way. If true, Byron and Nia would be considered among the most unlikely couples in wrestling history.
7 7. Sunny and Bret Hart
One of the most infamous shoot promos in WWE history focused on Shawn Michaels getting personal with Bret Hart. Both guys went back and forth in their promos trading barbs of harsh insults. Michaels however took it to another level as the name calling ended and the mud slinging truly started. The comment of Michaels saw him state Hart was having “Sunny days” implying Bret was cheating on his wife with Sunny.
Hart and Sunny both vehemently denied this for many years. Sunny is not known for being honest, but she seems to take pride in the number of wrestlers she hooked up with. Meanwhile, Bret’s word may be more valid. Despite admitting to cheating on his wife in his autobiography, he remained insistent that Michaels was lying about the Sunny allegation. Michaels is the only one to claim this.
6 6. Finn Balor and Cathy Kelley
The current love life of Finn Balor has become a topic on wrestling forums. Pictures have emerged of Balor and WWE broadcaster spending time together in New York. Balor recently moved from Florida to Brooklyn after his main roster call up. Kelley also reportedly resides in New York making it more plausible that they are an item.
Both personalities have posted pictures from the same location during their travel for WWE. Fans are buying into the rumor, but neither person has addressed the relationship rumors yet. Balor has been positive in interviews despite the reports of him not being viewed as a top star by Vince McMahon. If Finn is dating the stunning Kelley, we can understand why he is living a happy life outside of the poor booking by WWE.
5 5. Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon
The rumors surrounding Randy Savage and Stephanie McMahon have been going strong for many years. Former WWE writers claimed that Vince McMahon went on the record in meetings that Savage was the one man they would never bring back. A story started going around that Savage slept with an underage Stephanie leading to end of his time in WWE.
Vince reportedly would never do business with Savage due to him crossing the line in a way no other wrestler has. This is a tough story to believe since Savage is no longer alive, and Stephanie won’t speak on such a topic. Fans are hoping that Stephanie’s upcoming biography will finally confirm or deny the incident in question. If Savage truly entered a romance with an underage Stephanie, it will be hard to respect his legacy the same.
4 4. Vince McMahon and Candice Michelle
Vince McMahon has been pridefully open about the fact that he has cheated on his wife Linda McMahon numerous times. The WWE storylines have seen him get romantically involved with a few women on the WWE roster through the years. It was always a shameless part of the on-screen product, but one of these instances was rumored to be more than something for television.
Candice Michelle was rumored to be a real love interest of Vince and one of the ladies he cheated with. The speculation came right around the time she received a huge push. Candice moved from a comedic role in the backstage segments making out with Vince into the top face and the Women’s Champion. The push coming out of nowhere and the “chemistry” they showed on air would lead you to believe this rumor.
3 3. Mae Young and Moolah
An odd rumor featured the private lives of the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young. Both ladies wrestled for decades but achieved their greatest fame during the Attitude Era. WWE brought them in at their older ages to take part in comedic segments and shocking storylines. Moolah and Mae each were introduced to way more fans than during their prime era and became linked together.
There has been an urban legend for many years that they were a couple later in life. Moolah and Mae reportedly lived together and spent their golden years enjoying each other’s company. In theory, that could just be two friends wanting to not be able in their older years. However, the story would make sense as they always had the chemistry of an old couple when paired together on WWE television.
2 2. Xavier Woods and Paige
The leaked tapes of Paige to get exposed earlier this year became a huge story to hurt her standing in WWE. Paige’s ex-boyfriend Brad Maddox apparently either leaked or lost footage of them together. It has been revealed that the two dated for quite some time when both were in FCW and NXT. However, the bigger surprise came when Xavier Woods was involved in one of the videos to leak.
Woods was with Paige and Maddox in the developmental system at the time. There is no word on if Paige and Woods just had fun together on this night or if they were an item as well. Paige did confirm that it was indeed Woods in the video when feeling bad for him being involved in the drama when it leaked.
1 1. Triple H and Christy Hemme
One of the biggest urban legends in wrestling history focused on the story behind Christy Hemme’s firing from WWE. Hemme was the first ever Diva Search winner and WWE appeared to want to push her in a major way. In a short time period, Christy received consistently loud pops, had a singles WrestleMania match and posed for Playboy. WWE randomly fired her less than two years into her career with no explanation.
The rumor was that she was involved in a romance with Triple H leading to him getting caught cheating on Stephanie McMahon. Speculation grew that WWE released her and paid her off to never speak of it to the public while Triple H and Stephanie tried to work past it. This seems a bit farfetched of a conclusion to jump to, but the lack of common sense in firing Hemme otherwise makes it a huge mystery.