Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialExamining WWE's Evolution of Couples

Examining WWE’s Evolution of Couples

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In case you haven’t noticed or if the announce team hasn’t reminded you enough, Seth Rollins and Becky LYNCH’S BOYFRIEND. A report came out the other day that WWE is planning to exploit their real life romance on-screen, and this news was met with a lot of groans. This is probably due to the fact that WWE tends to jump on any opportunity to get on a popular trend outside the fabric of WWE reality. Remember when Titus O’Neil had the moment of his career by slipping his way under the ring at Greatest Royal Rumble last year, and we got endless parodies of that moment for the weeks that came after? That’s what we got here.

With this in mind, I have decided to look back at some of WWE’s power couples in the past to see how they were treated in comparison to today. It’s kind of interesting when WWE decides to pick and choose when to decide to pick up on real-life romances. After all, Andrade and Charlotte is a real life couple as is Zelina Vega and Aliester Black. Nonetheless, let’s take a look back at how WWE has evolved their portrayal of on-screen couples, from the purely romantic to the reality TV show variety.

Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth

You cannot talk about WWE couples without mentioning the Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth. Their romance was pretty much every weekday 90’s drama you have ever seen. What these two had was actual chemistry because before their pair as a wrestling tandem, they were already married. This couple also produced one of my favorite moments in WWE history, and that is when Savage and Elizabeth reunited with each other. You all know what I am talking about.

At WrestleMania 7, Randy Savage was up against Ultimate Warrior with his career up for grabs and Miss Elizabeth just happened to be spotted in the crowd. After Savage lost, the Sensational Sherri brutally assaulted him until Elizabeth could not take any more and proceeded to save him. You know how the rest goes. Savage is initially confused, but eventually comes to his senses and sharing a warm embrace with each other. It is a genuinely touching moment made even more touching when you realize that they got married that summer.

Unfortunately, we all know of the tragedy that struck both of them, as Elizabeth died in 2003 because of a painkiller and vodka overdose and Savage having a heart attack eight years after. They divorced in 1992, but they set the standard for power couples in wrestling and paved the way for those who would come after.

Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

These two were a power couple in every sense of the word because, well, the two held actual power. Stephanie is the daughter of the chairman of the company, and the other is his son-in-law. Needless to say, this did help out Triple H’s early days as a main eventer and Stephanie McMahon was primarily featured in the women’s division, being involved in prominent storylines such as the Invasion angle, on-screen authority roles and managers for other performers.

If there is one thing that you can give these two credit for, despite how heavily they were shoved down our throats over the years, it is how well they work off of each other and how they have managed to stay together after all these years. Their evolution is actually astounding when you think about it, because they transformed from two young descendants of the boss upstairs to being in control of the actual shows that they run. Triple H has this down to a higher degree since he overlooks the affairs of NXT (and has done a fabulous job at that). Stephanie is also highly involved in the business side of WWE.

Whether as part of The Authority or as individuals, the two simply fed off of each other. They have fought as teammates, and they have also been on opposite sides of the spectrum. NO matter what the situation, however, these two are practically tailor made for each other, for better or worse.

Edge and Lita

This is personally my favorite couple, not only because of how these two took advantage of how their off-screen relationship reached Monday Night RAW, but because how they openly embraced the animosity that came their way.

We all know the story. Matt Hardy and Lita were a couple and loved each other in real life. Matt even wanted to have a family with her. However, it was then revealed that Lita was cheating on Matt with Edge, and the two were embroiled in a heated feud in a real life love triangle. A lot of heat was aimed at the way of Edge and Lita, but WWE decided to jump on top of this and turn it into one of the most contentious and personal on-screen feuds in WWE history.

While Edgea nd Matt maintained professionalism by making sure they stayed relatively within the confines of WWE reality, it was often hard to distinguish whether or not Edge and Matt were fighting for real or if it was all simply scripted. That is what made it fun. However, beyond the feud with Matt, Edge and Lita were a perfect pairing because you just loved to hate them. Essentially, Edge and Lita were given a reason to have people boo them, and they simply piled everything on.

Also, I would be remiss not to mention that these two produced one of the highest rated segments in WWE history, being their live celebration after Edge won his first WWE Championship. Both Lita and Edge admitted that it was the weirdest thing they had ever done, but it would be a lie to say the two were not meant for each other as on-screen villains.

Edge and Vickie Guererro

While these two had a strictly kayfabe relationship, you could argue they were pushing the boundaries with how they were selling it.

Edge was basically your on-screen pretty boy, as you can probably imagine. This relationship, while not genuine and strictly on-screen, their relationship worked because it was right in line with Edge’s character. No one seriously believe that Edge would pair himself with someone who looks like Vickie. It just seemed unrealistic. However, we all knew that Edge was only there with Vickie to take advantage of her power as Smackdown General Manager to give him all the World Heavyweight Title matches he desired.

I just loved how really well Edge sold that he “loved” Vickie while also making it abundantly clear that Edge was only going to be with Vickie so long as she had power. When that power expired? Edge said it loud and clear that he wanted a divorce. It’s also kind of hard to believe this on-screen pairing lasted approximately two years. So if you count Edge’s time with Lita, Edge was an on-screen boyfriend/fiance for the better part of five years from 2005 to 2009. Insanity.

The Miz and Maryse/John Cena and Nikki Bella

We all remember these two couples feuding on the road to WrestleMania 33. It’s funny that The Miz and Maryse were eventually proven right about Cena and Nikki, despite the fact that it was purely scripted. Both of these couples were heavily featured on reality TV shows on the USA network, and their real life romance with each other was brought on for a WrestleMania program.

The best part of this feud, by a country mile, was Miz and Maryse doing a parody of Cena and Nikki’s relationship, with Cena’s overly compulsive house rules limiting what Nikki can do when she’ s at her home. Meanwhile, Cena and Nikki were really just there to defend their respective honor. When these two fought at WrestleMania 33, it ended with the good guys winning and Cena asking Nikki for her hand in marriage (something she wanted for a while). However, as we would soon find out, the two couldn’t go through with the marriage, and the wedding was called off.

Miz and Maryse have impeccable on-screen chemistry, and we have seen it in the subsequent feuds that Miz has had with people after such as Daniel Bryan.

Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch

WWE calls them a power couple because they are both holding titles at the present moment. WWE is just getting started on these two, and we are sure to to have a lot of damsel in distress moments and endless exploitation of these two. Now, I do not think their pairing is anything special. I mean, if Andrade and Charlotte’s open relationship were to be exposed, would it honestly be any less special.

It was rumored for a while that these two were dating but they were keeping hush about it. Then, Seth opened Pandora’s Box, and WWE could not help but make it known to all of us. Where these two will go has yet to be seen, but I hope you are ready for BECKY’S BOYFRIEND and SETH’S GIRLFRIEND to burn it down, in more ways than one.

 

These are just a few examples of couples featured on WWE television and the different contexts that they were used in. There are plenty more examples than I can give of such as Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee or even Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Who is your favorite couple? Do you approve of WWE using Rollins and Lynch’s relationship on-screen? Let me know!

 

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