A women’s wrestling pioneer for WWE, Lita debuted for the company in 1999 and would soon prove to be a different kind of female star thanks to her hard rock persona and high-flying in-ring style. By the time she left the company in 2006, she’d be a four-time Women’s Champion, having put on some great matches in her time, particularly with friend and rival Trish Stratus.
However, Lita did her most memorable work during the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression, back when WWE took women’s wrestling far less seriously than they do now. As a result of that, Lita got into a number of romance angles during her time there, so let’s run them down, starting with the worst one.
7 Eric Bischoff
Former WCW boss Eric Bischoff was the General Manager of Raw during a good chunk of Ruthless Aggression, and proved to be an effectively sleazy heel, albeit one whose antics might not fly today.
One such instance had him pursuing Lita romantically while also urging her to pose for Playboy, only to get rejected on both counts. Bischoff would (kayfabe) fire Lita as a result, but Bischoff’s co-manager Steve Austin would rehire her, allowing the relationship to blossom into an in-ring feud rather than a full-on romance, thankfully.
6 Kane
Despite being a fire-based hell monster (or something), Kane has had a number of romantic angles over the course of his career, many of which are bizarre, if not downright offensive. In 2004, he started one with Lita in the most Kane-like way possible: by stalking and eventually abducting her.
The storyline would take a number of bizarre turns, with Lita being forced to marry Kane because Matt Hardy lost a match with a marriage stipulation, Lita being (kayfabe) impregnated by Kane, having a miscarriage due to an in-ring mishap via Gene Snitsky, and then actually developing feelings for him.
5 Essa Rios
When Lita debuted as her character on WWE’s main roster in early 2000, she was the valet of Light Heavyweight division competitor Essa Rios, but was hardly a non-combatant. Instead, she would repeat Rios’ high flying moves on his opponents after he won the match, establishing what would become her signature style.
It wouldn’t end well for the couple however, as Rios started taking an interest in The Godfather’s various female companions, to which Lita objected. Rios would end up turning on her, with The Hardy Boyz making the save, and she’d align with them instead. Ultimately, this storyline would go forgotten because the Hardy Boyz stuff that followed made her a star.
4 Dean Malenko
As a technical wizard deemed to lack charisma in WWE, of course Dean Malenko was destined to be given a “ladies man” gimmick, and in 2000, he attempted to pursue Lita for a brief period.
Lita wasn’t interested, but Malenko offered an enticing deal: if he beat her in a match -- with his Light Heavyweight Title on the line -- she had to date him. While that set-up sounds a bit scuzzy, it actually managed to result in a very good intergender match, in an era where such a concept was completely foreign.
3 Christian
In 2003, Lita and Christian had a budding on-screen romance while Christian’s friend Chris Jericho was doing the same with Trish Stratus. All was going well, until word got out that Christian and Jericho had a wager going over who could sleep with their potential mate first -- all with one Canadian dollar on the line. The girls objected to this, and a “Battle of the Sexes” tag team match at Armageddon would ensue.
Christian and Chris Jericho would win the tag match, and soon Lita would bow out of the storyline, which would turn into a love triangle rife with betrayal.
2 Matt Hardy
Lita was already aligned with The Hardy Boyz as Team Xtreme by the time she was feuding with Dean Malenko, but Matt Hardy -- Lita’s boyfriend behind the scenes -- got involved, and the two forged an on-screen romance.
Lita would tag with Matt and Jeff Hardy frequently, but the relationship would be tumultuous once Matt and Jeff split up and Lita would guest referee a match between them. Matt would dump Lita due to Jeff winning the match, but the three would soon reconcile only for Lita to get injured, causing the storyline to dissipate.
1 Edge
While the storyline romance with Kane is one of Lita’s worst, she’d eventually betray him in favor of Edge, leading to her best storyline romance. While the circumstances are uncomfortable, it likely helped that Lita’s real-life issues involving Matt Hardy and Edge were incorporated into the storyline, which served to make Lita and Edge even more hated heels than they already were.
Eventually Edge would win the WWE Championship from John Cena, leading to Edge and Lita’s infamous “Live Sex Celebration” on Raw, followed by Lina finding additional success in the women’s division, capturing two more Women’s Championships before stepping away from WWE.