WWE Ranks Top 10 Love Triangles

Subject: WWE Ranks Top 10 Love Triangles Wed 03 Oct 2012, 8:01 pm

http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/10-sordid-love-triangles/page-1

There have been a number of wild love triangles throughout WWE history. Some are intensely personal, while others are just plain bizarre. In WWE, jealousy, power and championships often come into play when it comes to the soap operas unfolding between the ropes.

WWE Classics climbs aboard the love boat and examines 10 of the most memorable love triangles and their effect on the parties involved.

10. Christian, Chris Jericho & Trish Stratus

The most twisted Canadian love triangle in WWE history occurred in 2003 between Chris Jericho, Christian and Trish Stratus. It began when Y2J and Captain Charisma were dating Trish and Lita, respectively. The Superstars had a bet, but when Trish learned of the wager, she ended the relationship with Jericho.

Though WWE's first-ever Undisputed Champion had developed feelings for the blond bombshell and tried to mend the relationship — an act that upset Christian. Because of Jericho's courtship of Trish, the relationship with his tag team partner deteriorated quickly with Captain Charisma showing his distaste for both Y2J and Stratus.

The former World Tag Team Champions collided at WrestleMania XX, with Trish in Jericho's corner. The intense battled featured two of WWE's brightest stars battling in a match that was more personal than anything else. When the dust settled, it was Christian who picked up the victory after Trish accidentally hit Jericho. However, following Christian's win, the biggest secret of the entire affair came to the surface when Trish revealed she and Captain Charisma were a couple.

Although Christian got the girl, Jericho later defeated his former partner in a Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Title at Unforgiven 2003, effectively ending the malice between the two.

9. Zack Ryder, John Cena & Eve

The year 2011 saw the rise of Zack Ryder through the use of social media. Ryder was on top of the world throughout much of the year, winning the U.S. Title while courting the lovely Eve. But as the year came to a close and 2012 began, Long Island Iced-Z became a target for Kane because of his close friendship with John Cena.

As a result, Kane tormented Ryder and Eve to get inside Cena's head, attempting to make the Cenation leader embrace hate. On Raw, as Cena conducted an interview, he witnessed Kane trying to abduct Eve in an ambulance. As The Big Red Monster pulled away in the vehicle, Eve leapt from the back into Cena's arms and then kissed her rescuer. Unknowingly, the Diva planted one on the 10-time WWE Champion in front of a wheel-chair bound Ryder.

Though the love triangle only lasted throughout the course of the evening, it ended very poorly for Long Island Iced-Z. After confronting Cena in the ring about the apparent betrayal, Ryder sat in his wheelchair on the entrance stage, only to be unceremoniously thrown off it by Kane. Any feelings Eve had for Cena vanished as she immediately blamed the Cenation leader for Ryder's condition.

8. Triple H, Kurt Angle & Stephanie McMahon

In early 1999, sports-entertainment was turned upside down following the union of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. The powerful couple seemed unstoppable, but The Cerebral Assassin wasn't the only WWE Superstar trying to impress The Billionaire Princess.

In 2000, there seemed to be some chemistry developing between Stephanie and Kurt Angle. The Game took notice and began to confront both his wife and the Olympic hero. Though Stephanie and Angle denied what was obvious to Triple H and the WWE Universe, it was not enough to keep The King of Kings at bay.

The Superstars finally came to blows at Unforgiven 2000 with Stephanie in Triple H's corner. With his sworn enemy, Mick Foley, as the special guest referee, The Cerebral Assassin was short on those he could trust. However, as the memorable contest tore through Philadelphia's First Union Center, Stephanie McMahon proved her allegiance by attacking Angle and helping Triple H secure the win.

7. Shawn Michaels, Rick Martel & Sensational Sherri

In 1992, Shawn Michaels and Rick “The Model” Martel were the two most arrogant Superstars on the WWE roster. The Heartbreak Kid was building an impressive resume as a singles competitor thanks in part to Sensational Sherri. As “The Model,” Rick Martel was going through a renaissance and surging rebirth of his career and felt the services of The Sensational One would certainly benefit his career.

At SummerSlam, Michael and Martel squared off for the services of Sherri. Although, there was a very odd stipulation added to the match. Because both Superstars were focused on their narcissism and appearance at the time, Sherri made them agree not to hit each other in the face. As HBK and Martel battled back and forth — each trying to impress Sherri — The Sensational One suddenly fainted, with both competitors rushing to her aide.

Though the battle continued to a double count-out, Sherri revealed she was faking her condition and Michaels carried her away from ringside. The rivalry ended and “The Model” no longer sought the former Women’s Champion’s affection, but she continued to groom Michaels for success.

6. Edge, Big Show & Vickie Guerrero

Of WWE’s most bizarre love affairs, one of the wildest occurred between Edge, Big Show and then–SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. At the time, Edge and Vickie were married — arguably a clever power play by The Rated-R Superstar to remain the top Superstar on SmackDown. Their relationship was a bit disorderly in the beginning with allegations of cheating, but Vickie and Edge remained strong.

In the weeks leading up to The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, Vickie announced that Edge would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show at The Show of Shows. However, John Cena — who lost the title to Edge a month prior — revealed that Vickie had been cheating on Edge with Big Show. As a result, the WrestleMania bout was rescheduled as a Triple Threat Match.

Although The World’s Largest Athlete and The Rated-R Superstar shared a mutual disdain for Cena, their lover’s quarrel over Vickie outweighed their hatred for the Cenation leader. With Vickie at ringside, her two lovers failed to best Cena on The Grandest Stage of Them All, with Edge losing the title.

The love triangle came to a screeching halt, and after Vickie accepted the Raw General Manager position only to lose it shortly thereafter, Edge filed for divorce.

5. Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage & Miss Elizabeth

One of the most dominant alliances in sports-entertainment history was formed after Hulk Hogan helped Randy Savage claim the WWE Title at WrestleMania IV. “Macho Man” and The Hulkster became known as The Mega Powers and were managed by Savage’s love interest Miss Elizabeth.

Throughout the course of 1988, the powerful pairing represented the definition of being “good guys” in WWE and faced off against the likes of “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase & Andre the Giant as well as The Twin Towers. However, as the year moved forward, cracks in the armor were becoming clearly visible — mostly because of Miss Elizabeth. Savage perceived Hogan's friendliness and concern for his lady to be more than it was on the surface. Each time The Hulkster helped Miss Elizabeth in some way, the "Macho Man's" temper would ignite.

Jealousy finally got the better of Savage and The Mega Powers exploded. With the first lady of sports-entertainment coming between them, the duo faced off at WrestleMania V for the WWE Title. The Hulkster defeated Savage, and though the rivalry continued, it became more about the championship than the lovely Miss Elizabeth.

4. Daniel Bryan, CM Punk & AJ Lee

In late 2011, AJ Lee entered a serious relationship with Daniel Bryan and shortly thereafter he became the World Heavyweight Champion. The coupling was a bit tumultuous and, despite the lovely Diva declaring her love for Bryan, he never seemed to fully reciprocate the feelings. Following Bryan’s 18-second title loss to Sheamus at WrestleMania XXVIII, the relationship ended and AJ became emotionally distressed.

As she displayed more aggressive tendencies, Bryan once again courted the Diva, but she split her affection primarily between her former boyfriend and WWE Champion CM Punk. As Bryan continued his attempts to win AJ back, she tried to win over The Second City Saint, who avoided any kind of relationship advances. The twisted affair between the trio of competitors took an even more bizarre turn when AJ proposed to CM Punk and in turn Bryan proposed to the Diva. The WWE Champion did not accept AJ’s proposal, and she did not accept Bryan’s — however, she was announced as the special guest referee in the WWE Title Match between the Superstars at Money in the Bank.

Though Punk retained the title thanks in part to AJ counting the pinfall, Bryan was relentless. With the WWE Champion out of the picture, AJ accepted a second proposal and the two were to be wed on Raw 1,000. The sordid love affair finally ended when AJ left her prospective husband at the altar to accept Mr. McMahon’s offer to become the new Raw General Manager.

3. Tommy Dreamer, Raven & Beulah

For two years, the most intense and personal rivalry in Extreme Championship Wrestling stemmed from the animosity between Tommy Dreamer and Raven. Childhood friends who constantly competed with one another, the men continued their rivalry in ECW when Raven arrived with Beulah McGillicutty.

Once an overweight girl who was rejected by Dreamer at summer camp, Beulah had become a gorgeous model and developed a relationship with Raven. The lovely lady now wanted revenge on Tommy for his failure to reciprocate her feelings and joined forces with the man from The Bowery.

The rivalry between Dreamer and Raven is the most legendary of ECW's heyday and the two battled numerous times over the course of two years with Dreamer failing to ever secure a victory. Nevertheless, the Innovator of Extreme remained a fan-favorite and was the perpetual underdog against Raven, a quality that endeared him to the fans.

Dreamer's resilience didn't just win over the ECW faithful. Eventually, Beulah left Raven's side and joined Dreamer. After two years, countless battles and a woman coming between them, Dreamer and Raven fought one last time at Wrestlepalooza '97 in a Loser Leaves Town Match. Finally, the Innovator of Extreme defeated Raven and ended the rivalry once and for all.

2. Edge, Matt Hardy & Lita

The most shocking — and well documented — love triangle in WWE history was the one that erupted between Edge, Matt Hardy and Lita. At the time, Hardy and Lita were a longtime couple outside of the ring, until it was revealed that the Diva was having an affair with Edge. The news quickly spread throughout the WWE Universe and shortly after the affair became known, Hardy was released from WWE.

Edge and Lita continued to draw ire from the WWE Universe with their very public relationship, until Hardy returned. But the former World Tag Team Champion didn’t want to win Lita back; he wanted to defend his own honor. In the weeks that followed, Hardy and Edge engaged in a series of brutal and extremely personal matches.

The rivalry ended when Edge defeated Hardy in a Loser Leaves Raw Match, resulting in Hardy’s move to SmackDown. Easily one of the most personal and bitter love triangles in WWE history, it was this incident that prompted Edge to call himself “The Rated-R Superstar.”

1. "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Jake "The Snake" Roberts & Cheryl Roberts

It may not have been a traditional love triangle, but at the center of the rivalry between “Ravishing” Rick Rude and Jake “The Snake” Roberts was Roberts’ wife Cheryl.

Before each of his matches, The Ravishing One would taunt the men in the audience and show off his physique — ranked the No. 1 of all time by WWE Classics. Following a win, Rude would kiss a woman handpicked by his manager, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. After a successful victory on “WWE Superstars” in 1987, Heenan picked out a woman who was unimpressed by Rude. She continually rejected The Ravishing One before revealing she was Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ wife.

The two Superstars engaged in a bitter rivalry stemming from the rejection and Rude continually goaded for Cheryl’s affection. Though, The Ravishing One took it one step further when he revealed a new set of tights with Cheryl’s likeness airbrushed on the front. The revelation prompted Roberts to race to ringside and strip The Ravishing One of his gear.

The two Superstars finally squared off on Saturday Night’s Main Event on Oct. 28, 1987, with Rude once again wearing gear with Cheryl’s visage. The battle ended in disqualification following Heenan’s interference as Roberts began ripping off Rude’s tights.

In the end, “Ravishing” Rick Rude learned a valuable lesson: don’t try and give a married woman a Rude Awakening.

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