A large percentage of romantic storylines in wrestling hold some level of awkwardness when watching things unfold on the love side of a wrestling show about conflict and violence. However, names like Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth showed how it can add to the overall product.
Quite a few romance angles started off a bit awkward, but that doesn’t mean it has to fail. Some couples get over as an act and make the audience want to see more of them. Others will fall apart and see fans wanting them off the screen. Both sides will be viewed in depth to see what causes such differing results. The following awkward romantic storylines in wrestling either had fans hate the act, or won over said audience.
10 Hated: Dawn Marie & Al Wilson
WWE hoped to find the appeal of soap opera charm for the over-the-top angle of Dawn Marie marrying Torrie Wilson’s father. Al Wilson had no acting experience and was Torrie’s real father, so it felt even more awkward seeing him attempt to act with his daughter’s enemy seduced him.
The storyline never stopped being bizarre with moments like a wedding segment in their underwear or Al passing away to end the relationship during their honeymoon celebration. Dawn and Torrie did their best to make the story logical, but it was always meant to have that polarizing vibe that some fans would never care for.
9 Won Them Over: Tori & Kane
The idea of Kane falling in love and having a romantic angle led to some doubt of if WWE could pull this off. Kane and Tori ended up making it work with their slow building storyline of Kane showing more of his personality as a face after being silent and intimidating for his first year.
Even the end worked perfectly when Tori betrayed Kane to start dating X-Pac as the newest member of the heel D-Generation X in 2000. Kane’s desire for revenge became a great story since the audience felt for him as the romantic pairing was still working when they broke up to add extra sympathy.
8 Hated: Emma & Madcap Moss
Confusion was the feeling more than hatred when Emma and Madcap Moss randomly became an on-screen pairing. The couple started dating in real life shortly before Emma returned to WWE, but it wasn’t a high-profile wrestling romance story by any means.
Emma barely showed much about her current character or personality when becoming more known for being in Moss’ corner as they started dating on-screen. Fans had no reason to connect with Moss and Emma, so WWE trying to sell it as something to care about backfired.
7 Won Them Over: Torrie Wilson & Tajiri
No one would have expected Tajiri and Torrie Wilson to become a great on-screen couple since they didn’t even speak the same language. Tajiri thrived as a lovable and endearing underdog character that helped Torrie get over as well as a babyface after coming over for the Invasion angle.
The charm of these two dating made fans react perfectly to them as a valued part of the card. WWE even got to tell the rare story of the first WCW name defecting from the Alliance with a face turn as Wilson just made more sense here than in the heel role falling in love with Tajiri.
6 Hated: Stacy Keibler & David Flair
WCW tried to use Stacy Keibler’s popularity as the rare breakout star from 2000 to help boost David Flair. The ironic part is that David found success in a mid-card act with Crowbar and Daffney. WCW ruined it by trying to force him in a bigger angle dating Stacy as a heel.
The storyline turned into Stacy getting pregnant and revealing David wasn’t the father. Vince Russo being removed from power allowed us to get away from this failed angle as Stacy just claimed she was never pregnant and started dating Shawn Stasiak instead.
5 Won Them Over: Vickie Guerrero & Edge
WWE was risking failure with Vickie Guerrero getting signed and taking part in a huge storyline. Even though Vickie knew about the business married to Eddie, she had no experience and ended up in a romantic angle with Edge shortly into joining the company as a character.
Fans were critical at first, but that hate led to them using that to become arguably the best heel act of their time. Vickie received massive heat as an authority figure, and it helped Edge get another run as the dominant heel World Champion using her power to his advantage.
4 Hated: Brooke Hogan & Bully Ray
TNA had a problem of insulting the audience’s intelligence and booking some angles that were absurd from the start. Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan started dating with the initial storyline focusing on Hulk Hogan being unhappy about it and Bully trying to win him over with hokey segments.
Everything about their time together as a face couple was a huge misfire, outside of Taz joining the Aces and Eights at their wedding for a huge beatdown after the reveal. The end of the storyline made sense when Bully revealed he was using both Hulk and Brooke as the Aces and Eights secret leader, but the long road getting there was terrible.
3 Won Them Over: Molly Holly & Spike Dudley
Most wrestling fans would groan if told to expect a love storyline based off Romeo and Juliet to last many months. However, Spike Dudley and Molly Holly won them over more each step of the way as a tremendously endearing babyface couple.
The Dudley Boyz feuding with the Holly cousins led to Spike and Molly falling for each other against their relatives’ wishes. Fans reacted with huge joy when the couple got together and stopped prioritizing their family over themselves. Spike was over enough to have a short angle with Steve Austin during this time.
2 Hated: Lacey Evans & Ric Flair
The short romantic storyline between Ric Flair and Lacey Evans had wrestling fans cringing at every segment between the two. Lacey flirting with Ric led to him mentoring her in a feud against his own daughter Charlotte Flair that did no one any favors with how bad it was going.
Awkward was the perfect word to describe the tone of this feud until Evans’ real-life pregnancy ended it with her no longer on television. Charlotte was much better off getting to escape being involved in this storyline any longer.
1 Won Them Over: Beth Phoenix & Santino Marella
Beth Phoenix fans were worried she would turn into a joke when entering a romantic angle with Santino Marella after she felt like the most credible dominant female wrestler since Chyna. However, the careers of Santino and Beth both were better off for the time working together.
Santino’s comedy worked perfectly as the perfect opposite to Phoenix in a way where they both stood out. WWE found unexpected success from this angle leading to them becoming double champions after winning a mixed tag match.
