A large chunk of fans probably don't realize it and it may even sound a little crazy, but the life of a professional wrestler can be one that is pretty closed off to the rest of the outside world. They may travel the world and perform in front of thousands of people every night, but in terms of actually befriending and communicating with people there is a very small pool of people for them to choose from. Most wrestlers are on the road five days a week and for the majority of those five days they're working. Therefore the only other people they're spending a significant amount of time with are other wrestlers that are traveling along with them.
That can and does lead to the forming of some great friendships and relationships, some of which may even last their whole careers or even lives. What it also means is seeing the same people every single day. Even for the very best of friends that can prove pretty trying. Eventually something is likely going to come between them or one of them will catch the other in a bad mood and sour their friendship. That has happened countless times in pro wrestling, probably more than we will ever know. There are also plenty of pairings in WWE right now where you can see the cracks beginning to show. Here are eight times that friendships didn't last the test that is a career in pro wrestling, and seven friendships that will likely join them pretty soon.
15 15. Sour: CM Punk And Colt Cabana
CM Punk and Colt Cabana were once the best of friends. They came up in the business together thriving in companies like Ring Of Honor, and Punk even mentioned Cabana during his infamous pipebomb promo despite Colt not being with WWE at the time. Cabana's Art Of Wrestling podcast was the platform that Punk used to air his grievances following his messy departure from WWE. In fact both men are still tied up in litigation with WWE following comments that were made on that podcast. Well after Punk left WWE Colt paid a visit to one of their shows and had his photo taken with a few of his friends backstage. Apparently Punk saw that as a betrayal and while neither have confirmed anything it appears that the two are no longer friends.
14 14. Soon: Enzo And Cass
Enzo Amore is not the most popular guy in the WWE locker room right now, and that truly is an understatement. Ever since Smacktalker Skywalker split from Big Cass and went it alone his likability among his peers has plummeted. It sounds like Cass was a much needed buffer that watered down the intensity of Amore. Well the now former Cruiserweight Champion seems to be doing his level best to alienate his former tag partner, seemingly the only man in the locker room that can stand to be around him. While feuding on screen, Cass got injured and has subsequently been sidelined for a long time. Just hours after it happened Enzo took to Twitter and tore apart his supposed best friend. Maybe Cass was okay with it, but the wounds would have still been very fresh.
13 13. Sour: Hulk Hogan And Scott Steiner
It's starting to feel like there isn't anybody in the pro wrestling business that Scott Steiner doesn't take issue with. Big Poppa Pump is extremely vocal when it comes to letting others know how he feels about some of his peers and Hulk Hogan is one man who has been on the wrong end of Scott's dislike of fellow wrestlers. The two of them were actually quite close once upon a time and by all accounts The Hulkster was one of the main proponents behind Steiner's singles push in the latter days of WCW. Steiner seems to have long forgotten that however and has openly condemned how Hogan ran TNA when he was on the booking committee. There was also an incident in 2015 where Scott confronted Hulk's wife at an airport and apparently even made threats towards The Immortal One.
12 12. Soon: Heath Slater And Drew McIntyre
Rewind just a few years to a time where the faction 3MB were at their height, if they ever really had a height when they were together. Jinder Mahal, Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre were a running joke on WWE television. Now fast forward to the present day and two of WWE's Champions are former 3MB members. Jinder is currently WWE Champion and Drew recently won the NXT Championship. Meanwhile Heath is more of a joke now than he has ever been, and you would have to imagine he's reaching his boiling point. Slater remained loyal to WWE while the other two went off and did other things yet they're the ones being rewarded. Once McIntyre comes to the main roster and surpasses Slater even more so than he already has it's hard to imagine that he will have anything but disdain for him.
11 11. Sour: Chyna And Triple H
For a long time now the WWE Universe has been wondering what will happen when Vince McMahon passes away or can't run the company any more. Who will take his place? Well we're 99% sure we have an answer to that question now, and that answer is Triple H. The Game hasn't always been a part of the McMahon family however, and before he was with Stephanie he dated Chyna. The duo were together off screen as a couple and on screen as members of D-Generation X. Eventually though things got complicated and while nothing has ever really been confirmed it's alleged that Triple H's relationship with Stephanie began before his one with Chyna was over. It caused a lot of animosity between all parties involved and even contributed to Chyna leaving WWE for a while.
10 10. Soon: Mojo Rawley And Zack Ryder
The whole point of this list is to highlight real friendship splits that have happened in the past and ones that are likely on the horizon. With that in mind you're likely wondering why that warrants Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder's inevitable story line split being included. Well if and when The Hype Bros do break up it's likely going to mark the continuation of Mojo's ascent up the singles roster. While Ryder was out injured, WWE were high on Rawley and had him in quite a prominent position. WWE's love of Mojo must sting, especially considering how long Zack has been trying to win them over with little to no success. It'll be hard to stay friends in reality after they break up in kayfabe.
9 9. Sour: Kevin Nash And Bret Hart
For the most part it sounds like the WWE locker room during the early '90s was pretty close knit and the majority of the Superstars within it got along. While Kevin Nash and Bret Hart weren't necessarily two stars you would have thought were ever friends, apparently during that time they were quite close. Nash looked up to Bret at the time and went to him for advice after he won the WWE Championship. That all came to an end when Nash lost the title to Bret and apparently resented having to do so. Ever since things between the two have only added fuel to the fire that is their dislike for each other. Naturally, Nash booking in WCW didn't help The Hitman's opinion of him and of course there is the infamous hatred between Bret and Kevin's very good friend, Shawn Michaels.
8 8. Soon: Jason Jordan And Chad Gable
Earlier this year WWE thought it would be a good idea to run an angle that revealed Jason Jordan to be the illegitimate son of Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle. Not only has the story line effectively fallen flat on its face but it also left Chad Gable without a tag partner. Gable was obviously pretty peeved with the angle but probably quite annoyed in real life as well. It would have made more sense for Chad to play the son plus he is arguably the better wrestler of the two. As WWE continue to relentlessly push Jordan while Gable fades more and more into obscurity on SmackDown Live it's only going to strain their real life relationship further. By the time the two are back on the same brand they may not be on speaking terms at all.
7 7. Sour: Shawn Michaels And Bret Hart
This entry might very well be the most surprising on the entire list. The real life rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart is extremely well documented. The two feuded on screen and hated each other back stage and all of that hate wound up culminating in 1997 when HBK played a key part in the Montreal Screwjob. Years prior to that though the bitter enemies were actually quite close. The two of them would play stick ball together and rumour has it that before Shawn helped form The Kliq he was actually eager to start a similar group alongside The Hitman. How different a landscape pro wrestling could have had if that idea had come to fruition. Clearly being WWE's two top guys during a transitional period was just too much for a budding friendship to survive.
6 6. Soon: The Young Bucks And Bullet Club Alumni
WWE are making no bones about their dislike of the Bullet Club. It's the biggest thing in wrestling right now that Vince McMahon didn't create and it must be driving him insane. Vince's way of getting back at them? Just sign away their members. AJ Styles, Finn Balor, Gallows and Anderson; more and more Bullet Club members are leaving the faction to come to WWE. There are two men in particular who are making it very clear that they won't be making that switch however, The Young Bucks. Nick and Matt Jackson continue to take jabs at the company to the point that WWE are issuing them cease and desist orders. If they keep pushing it then they may very well drive away friends of theirs that work for the company.
5 5. Sour: Hulk Hogan And Randy Savage
Anyone who worked with and knew The Macho Man Randy Savage will tell you that he could be a pretty intense and quirky guy. It was those qualities that caused his friendship with Hulk Hogan to deteriorate. Once upon a time these two legends of professional wrestling were actually quite close. They made up the Mega Powers on screen and were friends off of it. Then when Randy's relationship with Miss Elizabeth began to falter so did his friendship with Hogan. Elizabeth was friends with Hulk's wife at the time and went to them for comfort during her and Macho Man's break up and Savage seemed to think The Hulkster was partly to blame. The two of them never made up before Randy passed away and it's something Hulk regrets to this day.
4 4. Soon: Booker T And Michael Cole
Booker T and Michael Cole currently make up two thirds of the Raw announce team with Corey Graves completing the trio. WWE is very much in the business of three man announce teams right now hence both Booker and Graves joining Cole at ring side. Despite commenting for a number of years now Booker seems to have lost whatever ability he had behind the announce desk. Most weeks the former World Champion will make mistakes or say things that simply don't make sense. Rather than help him out or attempt to cover up his misgivings, Cole and Graves are in the business of openly mocking Booker on the air. It must be pretty humiliating for Booker and likely has him questioning why he has been friends with Cole for all these years.
3 3. Sour: Shawn Michaels And Triple H
Triple H and Shawn Michaels have been friends for years, and they are still friends now. So what warrants their presence on this side of the list? Well for a time while Shawn was away from WWE at the turn of the century he and The Game were not friends and not even talking to one another. HBK was supposed to make an appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven despite technically being retired. Unfortunately though Michaels showed up barely able to remember his own name, likely drunk and who knows what else. Triple H saw that as the final straw and cut all ties with his once best friend. The pair of them allegedly didn't talk for a year and it took their mutual friend Kevin Nash talking some sense into them to patch things up. The fact that Shawn had seen the light and gotten clean also helped.
2 2. Soon: Paige and Alicia Fox
The latest buzz in regard to former two time Divas' Champion Paige is that the British Superstar is very close to making an in ring return. Paige has been training at WWE's Performance Centre and what's more the company have been publicly acknowledging that fact which is always a good sign. When Paige does return it will likely be on Raw, and it will quite rightly be a big deal. One person who might not be the biggest fan of that is Paige's good friend, Alicia Fox. We know via their time on the reality show Total Divas that Fox and Paige are good friends, but we also know from that show that the female Superstars' friendships are fragile. When The Foxy One sees Paige rocket past her in the pecking order after 18 months away it's likely not going to feel too great.
1 1. Sour: Matt Hardy And Edge
Professional wrestling is an extremely unique blend of reality and staged story lines. Whenever WWE see the chance to blur those two things together they snap at the chance. One of the most famous times they crossed that line was with the love triangle between Edge, Matt Hardy and Lita. Matt and Lita were in a real life relationship when the Hall of Famer began having an affair with their fellow WWE Superstar, Edge. It understandably caused quite a bit of turmoil and Hardy left the company for a short while. WWE then brought Matt back in so that they could have the animosity between all three parties pan out live on air. Before all this went on Edge and Matt were naturally quite close along with all the other guys who helped revolutionize tag team wrestling in the early 2000s. This unsurprisingly changed that.