The dating life in professional wrestling can truly make for some odd couples. Wrestlers tend to relate more to each other given the difficulties of their schedules. This makes it hard to form a strong relationship with someone living a normal life you have to leave home four-to-five days per week. There have been many relationships that made sense and lasted long. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon each having a passion for the business side of the wrestling makes them a power couple behind the scenes. Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan both love the vegan lifestyle with similar personal beliefs that allowed them to develop a connection.
Unfortunately, not all wrestling couples find the same success. The majority of relationships end like any other form of a dating in the real world. We'll take a look at some of the more peculiar couples that either managed to fly under the radar or were forgotten rather quickly. The average fan likely has no idea these relationships actually existed and even the diehard fan will have a hard time remembering them all. Let’s take a glance down memory lane with fifteen wrestling romances to take place in real life that you completely forgot about.
15 15. CM Punk & Beth Phoenix
A forgettable relationship between two high profile stars featured CM Punk dating Beth Phoenix. The two quietly started dating during their time on the WWE roster together. Neither person was very vocal about the dating life but they were spotted together numerous times during their date nights. Punk confirmed the relationship by taking a shot at Beth during a radio interview.
The aftermath of their love lives made it even weirder. Punk entered a relationship with Lita shortly afterwards. Phoenix dated Edge and the two ended up getting married. Given the fact that Punk used to date Beth and Edge used to date Lita makes it amazing to realize just how small the wrestling world truly is. Punk has dated many women in the wrestling business, but Phoenix is one many forget despite being arguably the biggest star.
14 14. Jay Lethal & AJ Lee
AJ Lee is currently married to CM Punk, but he isn’t the only ROH World Champion that has been a part of her love life. The young career of Lee started when getting trained by Jay Lethal in New Jersey. Lethal and Lee started dating during their time on the independent circuit together. The couple split at some point before AJ signed a developmental deal with WWE.
There are rumors that the relationship ended under negative circumstances due to the fact that Lee goes out of her way to never reference Lethal. The autobiography by Lee discussing her life and journey to the wrestling business gave zero mentions to Lethal’s role in it all. Lethal has also “liked” some shady tweets disparaging Lee on social media. Many fans have no idea they dated and both likely prefer it that way.
13 13. Charlotte Flair & Alberto Del Rio
A recent romance that ended before people could process it had Charlotte Flair dating Alberto Del Rio. A separation with his wife led to Del Rio looking for new partners in the WWE locker room. Del Rio entered a relationship with Charlotte that ended before it was even reported. The news came out right when Del Rio started dating Paige which was a bigger story.
Charlotte’s time with Del Rio was forgotten given the controversy associated with Paige dating him. You have to wonder if Flair would feel the same heat from WWE if she chose to continue dating Del Rio like Paige did. It all worked out best for Charlotte as she went on to become the face of WWE’s women’s wrestling movement and most people have no memory of her relationship with the controversial Del Rio.
12 12. Gail Kim & Doug Basham
Gail Kim is currently married to celebrity chef Robert Irvine in a high profile relationship. A little known fact about Kim’s love life many years before Irvine was that she dated Doug Basham. The forgotten tag team wrestler scored the relationship, dating the beautiful and talented Gail. Both partners were committed enough to the relationship to get allegedly engaged back in 2005.
Doug and Gail stopped dating at some point before each would get released from WWE. Both ended up in TNA during 2007 which had to lead to awkward times. Kim ended up having the better career with huge success in TNA and Doug had to unofficially retire due to lack of booking interest. This was one of the rare relationships in wrestling to not get reported and it was swept under the rug.
11 11. Paul London & Ashley Massaro
A romance to take place on the SmackDown brand back in the mid-to-late 2000s featured Ashley Massaro dating Paul London. Massaro was assigned to be the manager for the tag team of Brian Kendrick and London. The relationship between Massaro and London started after working together and traveling alongside one another which helped develop a bond.
Matt Hardy also dated Massaro shortly before she got involved with London and it caused issues between the two guys. London and Hardy had a long history of exchanging insults online that all stemmed from this. Massaro and London didn’t last in the long haul but they have remained friends all these years later. The relationship is just one of many that started based off a company asking them to work together and the two parties realizing they had a lot in common.
10 10. Stacy Keibler & David Flair
David Flair lived the dream life during the final years of WCW. The powers that be gave him a great contract based off the success of his father Ric Flair. David had minimal training and was on the show leading to a huge flop. Despite being a terrible wrestler that paid no dues, David was making great money and entered a relationship with one of the most gorgeous women in wrestling history.
Stacy Keibler found Flair interesting enough to date for a short time period in WCW. The success of Keibler was clearly standing out more than David, but WCW actually put them together as an act for a short time period before the company went under. The wrestling career of David Flair never took off but no one can accuse him of not enjoying his time in the business.
9 9. Robbie E & Brooke Adams
TNA has been home to many random couples in wrestling. The most perplexing featured Robbie E and Brooke Adams dating for a couple of years. Robbie actually left his wife to enter a relationship with Brooke. The two went public with the romance on social media but rarely worked together on screen in TNA.
Their relationship started to reach the end when they were casted to appear on CBS’ The Amazing Race reality show. Robbie and Brooke went far together but fell just short while beginning to grow tired of the togetherness. Both sides have confirmed they knew they would be breaking up after the show ended. Robbie got back together with his ex-wife to get married and Brooke has started a family of her own as well with a new love interest.
8 8. Velvet Sky & Shane Helms
One of the first instances of a relationship between WWE and TNA wrestlers featured Shane Helms and Velvet Sky dating. The relationship took place around 2005-2007 during the end of Helms’ WWE run and the beginning of Sky’s TNA career. Social media was starting to become a bigger deal on the internet. The couple was basically discovered as being together thanks to their MySpace days.
Sky and Helms ended their relationship leading to different routes. Helms met his wife and ended up starting a family. Sky dated Chris Sabin for quite some time before breaking up to date the older Bully Ray. Both Helms and Velvet are a long way away from their time together over a decade ago. Helms is now the one working for TNA with Sky hoping she can join the WWE.
7 7. Jerry Lawler & The Kat
The 21 year age gap between Jerry Lawler and Stacy “The Kat” Carter provided one of the most bizarre relationships in WWE history. Lawler worked as the lead color commentator and helped The Kat get a job with the company due to it. WWE pushed her to the moon as one of the major stars of the Women’s Division based around scantily clad outfits and cat fights.
Things ended ugly when Lawler walked out of the company after Carter was released. Naturally, the couple started fighting more when at home instead of on the road leading to a divorce. Luckily for Lawler, he was able to get his job back after walking out. It usually isn’t a good sign when your significant other wasn’t born when you were old enough to vote. Lawler and Carter showed why.
6 6. Wade Barrett & Alicia Fox
A rare wrestling relationship in WWE that was kept quiet for the majority of time together was Alicia Fox and Wade Barrett. Both worked together in WWE for many years and apparently had a relationship for quite some time. An episode of Total Divas revealed the secret romance when looking at Alicia’s personal life. During the time of the show, Fox was still struggling to get over Barrett and addressed him.
The relationship has been confirmed as real rather than just a story for the reality series. Fox and Barrett deserve some credit for somehow finding a way to keep their relationship relatively quiet with the internet making it nearly impossible. We'll probably never know if either are dating a wrestler again today given how private they are about their love lives.
5 5. Test & Kelly Kelly
The late Andrew “Test” Martin had his fair share of romances in WWE before passing away at a young age. Test dated Stephanie McMahon on screen but that was not one of his real life relationships. The relationship with Stacy Keibler made sense after they bonded from working together. A more surprising one was Test dating Kelly Kelly during their time together on WWE’s ECW brand.
At the young age of 22, Kelly started dating the older Test and the two were together for quite some time. Kelly expressed the heartbreak of his death in 2009. The two broke up before then but remained friends. Many fans didn’t even realize they were once an item until the death of Test and the comments from Kelly.
4 4. Drew McIntyre & Taryn Terrell
Another relationship to fly under the radar in WWE was Drew McIntyre and Taryn Terrell. The two young stars at the time started dating when in FCW and continued once on the WWE's main roster together. McIntyre and Terrell got married before things fell apart in an ugly manner. Terrell apparently caught McIntyre cheating on her after reading a text message conversation on his phone with Chavo Guerrero.
The story gets more intense when Terrell was arrested for a misdemeanor for attacking McIntyre. Both parties realized they would be best suited getting a divorce. Terrell and Drew each found better success after their eventual WWE releases by having strong runs in TNA. The two worked together for a short time period in TNA. An odd dynamic of working with your ex-wife or ex-husband just shows how risky a wrestling romance can be.
3 3. Torrie Wilson & Billy Kidman
A forgotten romance of the 90s back in WWE was the story of Torrie Wilson dating Billy Kidman. Wilson had the most fun of her WCW career working with Kidman and the two eventually entered a long term romance. Kidman and Wilson moved to WWE together and actually got married. Unlike many other couples, they actually seemed perfect together.
Sadly, that wouldn’t last as Kidman and Wilson eventually grow unhappy together. The shocking news of a divorce saw their relationship finally end. Wilson left WWE shortly after and entered a relationship with Alex Rodriguez in recent years. Kidman stayed in the wrestling business now working as a very important producer for WWE. Wilson and Kidman did not grow to detest each other and are still on good terms despite the divorce.
2 2. New Jack & Terri Runnels
A relationship that is still hard to process featured former WWE Diva Terri Runnels dating ECW legend New Jack. The two started over a decade after their prime wrestling careers. Both Terri and New Jack appeared frequently at wrestling conventions to form a connection that way. Runnels made a few appearances as the manager of New Jack at independent wrestling shows.
The shocking relationship ended as poorly as one could have predicted. They broke up with a lot of drama to follow suit. New Jack started trashing Terri online and in various interviews. At one point, New Jack was allegedly selling nude pictures of Runnels to fans and she had to step in legally. The two can’t stand each other after having their extremely peculiar relationship end in dramatic fashion.
1 1. Randy Orton & Jojo
The relationship between Randy Orton and Jojo did not make much news despite Orton being a main event star and Jojo being quite young at the time. Orton was 33 years and Jojo was only 19 during her first season on Total Divas. There were rumors that WWE was planning to make them a part of the Total Divas storylines until the relationship quickly ended.
Jojo was still training to be a wrestler at the time before she moved into a full-time ring announcer spot. Orton started dating his current significant other after the Jojo relationship and appears to be in it for the long haul. Both careers and lives benefited from breaking up early before drama could follow them. Orton is still a top Superstar and Jojo is the lead WWE ring announcer today. To make it even better for them, most people have no memory of them ever being an item.