Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, Edge and Lita. These are just some of professional wrestling’s most powerful couples in the sport. On WWW programming, fans have seen these couples support each other by aiding their significant other in their matches. Fans have also seen these couples implode as well. Whether these couples are on the same page, like Mike and Maria Kanellis or bickering like we had seen with Rusev or Lana awhile back, many of these power couples on screen aren't just for show and actually stem from real life relationships.
While these real life relationships create some great chemistry on WWE television, for professional wrestlers, maintaining them can be extremely difficult. Life on the road for 300 days a year can put huge strain on a relationship. To make matters worse, some of these couples aren’t even on the same WWE brand, giving the couples even less time to see each other. We're not even getting into the egos, the temptation of being surrounded by the most attractive coworkers or the addictions that wrestlers fall into from the aches and pains of wrestling that can also add strain to a relationship.
For wrestlers that have problems with egos, or keeping faithful or suffering from addictions in the past, fans aren’t surprised when the relationships of those certain superstars fall apart. However, not every wrestling break-up is so obvious. Wrestlers like to keep their private life in the dark, so rocky relationships aren’t well known to fans. Still, some break-ups come straight out of the blue involving couples fans thought were 100% safe. In this article, we look at 10 wrestling couples who surprisingly split, and 10 that were obvious.
20 Obvious: John Cena and Nikki Bella
Some fans were shocked when John Cena told his real life (former) fiance, Nikki Bella “U Can’t See Me” anymore. This break-up should only come as a shock because of the highly publicized engagement at WrestleMania 33 and their relationship storylines being so heavily promoted in WWE and on Total Divas.
This relationship is one Vince McMahon really wanted to keep alive, to help market Total Divas and retain Cena’s good guy image.
However, many in-the-know wrestling fans saw the writing on the wall.
Fans who were paying attention knew right away that this relationship was doomed to fail. Despite WWE’s heavily pushing this couple to stay together, Cena’s reluctance to get married, his OCD-esque behavior, his draconian house rules and his desire to not have kids were just a few obvious reasons for the break-up fans saw coming a mile away.
19 Surprising: Zack Ryder And Emma
Most WWE couples keep their relationship under wraps, but Zack Ryder and Emma didn’t seem to mind bringing their relationship into the public eye. They made many posts on social media, seemed happy and appeared to be the perfect couple. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving and, surprisingly, the couple didn’t last.
The couple being separated by brands was definitely hard on their relationship. Zack Ryder’s position in the company, while not a main eventer by any means, still had a decent position in the WWE, while Emma seemed completely lost. Heat on the failure of “Emmalina” likely put even more pressure on Emma, straining the relationship even further. Currently, Ryder is doing fine, dating Laurel Van Ness, (“Woo, Woo, Woo, you know it.”) and now, it can be all about Emma without any attachments to WWE or Ryder.
18 Obvious: Big Cass and Carmella
There’s only one word to describe Big Cass, and I’m going to spell it out for ya, “S-I-N-G-L-E!” He and Carmella had been a couple since their early NXT days. Carmella stood by Cass during his injury and recovery, but fans had speculated a break-up on the horizon, and it turns out they were right.
Separating the couple with the brand split was one of the many bumps in their relationship, but the most difficult hurdles came from Big Cass’ knee injury, buying a house, and unknown future plans on moving forward with their relationship. Cass’ injury became a source of negativity between the two and arguments regarding a house they just bought together strained the relationship to its breaking point. Finally, the relationship couldn’t take anymore after Carmella revealed that Big Cass lacked any plans to start a family.
17 Surprising: Drew McIntyre And Taryn Terrell
In WWE, Drew McIntyre was handpicked by Vince McMahon as the “Chosen One” and became the Intercontinental Champion. Meanwhile, Taryn Terrell, known as Tiffany in WWE, was the ECW General Manager. Drew and Taryn would be engaged and eventually married in 2010 and everything seemed perfect for the newlyweds. Then, something went totally wrong, Taryn went a little crazy, and the two divorced after only a year of marriage.
Both McIntyre and Terrell would be released from WWE, and after what appeared to be a low point in their lives, actually turned their lives around again.
McIntyre would work in the Indies, hone his craft and return to WWE better than ever. Meanwhile, Taryn Terrell would go to TNA and turn into a pretty solid wrestler as well. Both, Taryn and Drew have married new partners and are seemingly in a much better place mentally than when they were together.
16 Obvious: Paige And Alberto Del Rio
Paige and Alberto Del Rio’s relationship was incredibly toxic, but you already knew that. Still, many fans found it odd that WWE was so against Paige and Alberto Del Rio being together. As it turns out WWE was correct to be concerned. While with Del Rio, Paige failed a wellness policy test, became involved in public verbal arguments with Del Rio in which police were called, and strained her relationship with her family because of their disapproval of Del Rio.
Thankfully, Paige broke up with the drama-inducing Del Rio, and seemed ready to turn the page into the next chapter of her life in WWE. Though the couple remained civil, Del Rio has stated distance, limited time to see each other and wanting to do the best for both of their careers as being the reasons for their split.
15 Surprising: JoJo Offerman And Justin Gabriel/Jake Carter
The smoking ring announcer for WWE, JoJo Offerman, tries keeps her private life on the down low. But in a relationship she really wanted to keep under wraps, Offerman has been rumored to be dating Bray Wyatt, who was married to his high school sweetheart (now going through divorce proceedings). While the relationship that she didn’t want to get out has been all over the internet, lesser known relationships with Jake Carter, the son of the legendary Vader, and Justin Gabriel have also happened.
It was revealed that Jojo was in a relationship with Gabriel on Total Divas, however, Gabriel did one thing few men would ever do and broke up with Jojo due to their 13-year difference in age. Jojo was with Carter since 2013, and they seemed like a perfect match, right up until the relationship with Bray Wyatt in 2017.
14 Obvious: Enzo Amore And Liv Morgan
“The Realest Guy in the Room,” Enzo Amore has been kicked out of the locker room, kicked off the tour bus, infuriated WWE management by hanging out with celebrities, acted like a “big star” in WWE and is currently under accusations. Enzo has also been allegedly hanging out with exotic dancers, and even they don’t have anything good to say about him.
Enzo has been released from the WWE despite a Cruiserweight push that was gift-wrapped for him, and you can’t teach that.
The only thing surprising about this break-up is that the lovely Morgan was actually his girlfriend to begin with. Enzo’s arrogance definitely doesn’t make the break-up or the reason for their split remotely shocking.
13 Surprising: David Otunga And Jennifer Hudson
Despite shifting from a jobbing wrestler to a useless backstage character to a terrible commentator, David Otunga is now M.I.A., and many fans continue to wonder how he is still employed in WWE. For a while, fans speculated that Otunga’s real-life engagement to Jennifer Hudson was the reason WWE kept Otunga around. WWE loves its outside connections, and WWE had hoped for some mainstream media attention from Otunga's relationship with Hudson. Of course, that didn’t happen and the only media attention WWE is getting is bad press.
Otunga and Hudson surprisingly split up and the details aren’t good for Otunga. Hudson accuses Otunga of being abusive and not working, despite still being technically employed by WWE. Meanwhile, Otunga accuses Hudson of neglecting their son and forcing him to choose between his family and wrestling. This divorce is sure to get ugly, and with Otunga seemingly being paid to sit at home, Hudson’s unemployment claim towards Otunga may soon come true.
12 Obvious: Seth Rollins And Zahra Schreiber
Seth “Freakin'” Rollins was engaged to his beautiful partner Leighla Schultz before he decided to burn that relationship down. Rollins moved on to Zahra Schreiber, and the "reveal" of the relationship was quite an embarrassing moment for The Architect to say the least.
The Architect had a master plan to destroy The Shield, but didn’t have his pursuit of former NXT Superstar Zahra Schreiber as well thought out. Seth accidentally posted a private picture of Schreiber naked, which was republished on WWE.com. Not shockingly, that relationship didn’t last either, as Schreiber would be released from WWE after several past photos of controversial memorabilia were found on her Instagram account. We know Seth wants to be like no one, but assuredly no one wants Seth’s relationship nightmares.
11 Surprising: John Morrison And Melina
John Morrison and Melina Perez were inseparable during their time in WWE. It’s hard to believe alienating themselves from the entire WWE locker room amounted to absolutely nothing for the couple.
Melina’s snobbish attitude rubbed everyone the wrong way, so much so that even the mild-mannered Lita kicked her out of the women's locker room.
This attitude caused Melina and JoMo to isolate themselves and even caused Morrison to snub the legendary Trish Stratus after their six-person mixed tag match at WrestleMania.
Despite many "speedbumps" in their relationship, Morrison and Melina remained together until 2013 when their 11 year relationship abruptly ended. Though Melina seemed heartbroken over the break up, Morrison has already moved on to Taya Valkyrie, to whom he is currently engaged to.
10 Obvious: Torrie Wilson And Billy Kidman
Billy Kidman was a husband that Torrie Wilson’s dad, Al, could have been proud to call “son.” Kidman had a successful career, winning the WWE and WCW Cruiserweight Title seven times combined as well as the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles, the WCW World Tag Team Titles and the WWE Tag Team Titles a combined four times. Torrie was about as successful as one can become as a woman in WCW, and had a memorable feud in WWE against Dawn Marie, involving her father's "death" during his "honeymoon" with Dawn. (He's still alive in real life, though.)
Both Torrie and Kidman came to WWE from WCW and had been together for seven years before getting officially divorced in 2008. Despite appearing like a solid couple, Torrie Wilson was just way out of Kidman’s league. Kidman blames the travel for their split, but with Torrie still looking as vivacious as ever, it’s hard to image she’ll have any trouble finding a Kidman replacement.
9 Surprising: Kurt Angle And Karen Angle
Kurt Angle is an Olympic hero who, as we all know, won a gold medal with a broken freakin' neck. Angle moved onto WWE were he had a successful WWE Hall of Fame career. However, not everything was golden for Angle. Injuries from his neck and the hard life on the road got Angle hooked on pain killers and other substances. Eventually, Angle would depart from WWE, but surviving through it all was Angle’s wife, Karen.
Karen and Kurt seemed like the perfect couple, however, time away on the road, mud slinging between both Kurt and Karen, as well as Kurt’s problems with prescription medication were eventually too much for their marriage. Even more surprising than their split, was Karen Angle entering into a relationship with Jeff Jarrett after her separation from Kurt.
8 Kurt Angle And Rhaka Khan (Obvious)
Kurt Angle’s rocky relationships weren’t exclusive to his former wife of ten years, Karen.
Angle had entered a relationship with former TNA talent, Rhaka Khan and the drama continued.
Kurt’s tumultuous relationship with Karen was like Disneyland compared to his nightmarish relationship to Rhaka Khan. Considering how bad Kurt and Karen’s relationship ended, no one was surprised when Khan and Angle split.
Run-ins with the law, resulting in instances in which Khan said she feared for her life, brought Angle’s relationship with her to a sudden end. No one was surprised by this, considering Kurt Angle was in a bad place at the time, but Khan still hasn’t forgiven Angle, ripping his return to WWE. However, Angle is happily remarried, sober and in better health, both physically and mentally.
7 Surprising: The Undertaker And Sara
When a bizarre stalker began sending weird videos of The Undertaker’s then wife, Sara, The Phenom refused to rest in peace. Taker would stick up for his wife against the stalker, who turned out to be Diamond Dallas Page, and even showed off a hideous throat tattoo of his wife's name to indicate just how committed he was to Sara. However, just like The Streak, all goods things come to an end.
Despite their acknowledged relationship, name tattoo and seven-year marriage, The Undertaker’s relationship to Sara was laid to rest in 2007.
The divorce came as a shock to many, and when it was revealed that The Deadman was soon dating Michelle McCool, and the neck tattoo was scrubbed off.
6 Obvious: Edge and Lita
You think you know Edge? Well, even his best friend, Matt Hardy, didn’t see Edge dating his former girlfriend of six years while on the shelf injured. Edge and Lita's relationship would soon spill out onto WWE television. After Hardy was released from WWE, huge fan support poured out for Hardy, the staunch babyface Lita was turned heel and Edge became the “Rated R Superstar.”
Even though Edge put his friendship with The Hardys in serious jeopardy (Edge and Matt are friends once more) and risked everything to be with Lita, the relationship still wouldn’t last. In fact, Edge and Lita both went into it not thinking about any future together and were seemingly still okay with it. Edge would move on to Beth Phoenix, while Lita moved on to CM Punk, which is another entry in this article.
5 Surprising: Chris Sabin And Velvet Sky
Chris Sabin and Velvet Sky were a real-life TNA couple that wrestling fans thought they could count on. Sabin and Velvet had a troubled on-screen relationship in Total Nonstop Action, but in real-life their relationship seemed completely fine. Surprisingly, the relationship abruptly ended and details regarding the break-up point to Bubba Ray as having something to do with the split.
Rumors have circulated the Bubba Ray Dudley, known as Bully Ray in TNA, had a lot to do with Sabin’s demotion in TNA, his release from the company and his eventual split with longtime girlfriend Velvet Sky. It’s also no coincidence that Bubba and Velvet are now dating. Details of the break-up are limited, but both Sabin and Sky engaged in a testy spat over Twitter, making this breakup look like it’s been beaten with the ugly stick.
4 Obvious: CM Punk And Maria/Beth Phoenix/Lita
CM Punk may be straight-edge, but he sure is addicted to dating WWE Divas. Punk has dated Maria, Beth Phoenix and Lita, and that’s before landing his crazy hot wife, former WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee. With Maria, the split came as a shock, at least to her anyway. However, fans weren't surprised. Punk can be a jerk, and Maria has always seemed extremely down to earth. On the other hand, Punk ended his relationship with The Glamazon in what appears to be an ugly break-up, dropping another pipebomb shortly after their split, presumably on Phoenix, and saying, “It ****es me off to watch people you love and admire become complete ******bags…”
It should not be shocking to anyone that Punk and his ex-girlfriends didn’t work out considering Punk’s arrogant, stand-offish attitude, but apparently veering off the straight and narrow isn’t beyond his capabilities either. Coincidentally, Punk was courting AJ around the same time he and Lita had been dating (or just broken up). That's karma for you.
3 Surprising: Matt Hardy And Lita
This is where it all started for Lita. Matt and Jeff Hardy, along with Lita were known as Team Extreme. It wasn’t long before Lita and Matt’s relationship became public and the couple seemed perfect for each other, right up until it wasn’t.
Injuries, time away from each other and worries about the future caused Lita and Matt’s relationship to slowly fall into DELETION. This rift eventually led to Lita dating Edge. Because of her relationship with Edge, the previous relationship with Matt and Lita would become irreparably BROKEN. While the break-up with Lita was surely difficult for Matt, he has moved on with Reby Sky, and now House Hardy is stronger than ever. But this was obviously a rough chapter in Hardy's life.
2 Obvious: Alicia Fox And Wade Barrett
Alicia Fox and Wade Barrett were involved in a lesser known real-life relationship. Fox needed someone she could confide her deepest and darkest secrets to, and receive emotional support in return. But, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.
According to Fox, Barrett was not the kind of person that responds well to drama and just wasn’t emotional enough to give Foxy the support she needed.
Fox found herself holding back serious issues that were affecting her even in the work place, such as the stress of her mother’s homeless state and her parents’ abuse as a child. Fox and Barrett would split, which shouldn’t surprise anyone seeing how Wade has the even keel personality, while Fox certainly doesn’t come off as the most stable, as evidenced by her recent tantrum on UFC fighter Travis Browne (Ronda Rousey's husband).
1 Surprising: Bobby Lashley And Kristal Marshall
Everyone remembers Bobby Lashley and his first stint in WWE, helping The Donald shave Mr. McMahon’s head, but if you blinked, you missed Kristal Marshall’s WWE run. Kristal got into WWE in 2005 through the Diva Search, then appeared a few times on SmackDown but was released in 2007. Despite her short time in WWE, she entered a relationship with Lashley, and in 2009, joined her boyfriend in TNA. Despite not being married, Lashley and Kristal had a son, Myles, together and life seemed to be splendid for them.
Unfortunately, the couple would split in 2010, after Kristal announced the shocking break-up on Twitter. She informed everyone that they will remain good friends. At least, that was until Kristal dominated Lashley by publicly criticizing him on Twitter for not paying child support.