9 Bitter Rivals Who Are Actually Great Friends In Real Life
A lot of people believe that kayfabe is dead in pro wrestling, mostly thanks to the prevalence of social media. In reality, the invisible line between reality and story has just evolved into something a bit different. It's just that people have gotten used to making that distinction in their minds rather than having it spelled out in the ring.
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Fans can still see kayfabe today in the variety of wrestlers who play bitter rivals on screens but are the best of friends in real life. This has been going on for decades, though it definitely wasn't as obvious in the old days.
9 Sasha Banks And Bayley
Possibly the top story arc in WWE over the course of 2020 was the feud between Sasha Banks and Bayley. They worked together for a while, each of them holding two belts at one point. Fans waited for one to turn on the other, which was inevitable. Bayley was the one who betrayed Sasha, leading to Banks snapping her reign as champion.
Outside of the ring, it would be hard to find two better friends. They are respectively the first to admit that they wouldn't be where they are without each other. That relationship has led to some of the best matches in WWE history, going back to their time in NXT.
8 Paul Wight And Chris Jericho
Known best to fans as The Big Show in WWE, Paul Wight's impact on wrestling is undeniable. The same is certainly true of Chris Jericho who many consider the G.O.A.T for good reason. They have fought against each other as often as they've teamed up, leading to some intense in ring bouts.
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Now that Wight has joined AEW, he and Jericho have worked together in three different major promotions. These two men have an undeniable friendship that has existed throughout the vast majority of their careers.
7 Charlotte Flair And Becky Lynch
Two of the most celebrated performers in WWE are Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. That being said, there are more than a few fans who dislike WWE's focus on Flair. But a huge part of Lynch's career-defining run as "The Man" played off of that. She became the Steve Austin-esque anti-hero to Charlotte's corporate champion.
But in their personal lives, these two have been thick as thieves going all the way back to NXT. They do a good job of keeping their friendship off of social media to maintain some semblance of kayfabe, but the friendship is there.
6 John Cena And Randy Orton
The number of times these two have shared the ring together over their years in the business is almost impossible to fathom. Over their 20 year careers, John Cena and Randy Orton have had some absolute wars against each other.
That kind of time either breeds friendship or enmity. In the case of these two warriors, its friendship. They started their journey together in OVW and were even called up to the main WWE roster around the same time. These are both WWE Hall of Fame candidates, and no one would be shocked to see one induct the other.
5 Chris Jericho And Kevin Owens
No one who has watched Raw in the past decade can forget the Festival of Friendship. It was Chris Jericho's celebration of his friendship with Kevin Owens. Their on screen partnership had produced some incredible TV, and watching it fall apart when Owens turned on him at the Festival was even better.
Their friendship outside of the ring started with Owens just being excited to work with one of his wrestling heroes. Now, they are good friends who have had some huge matches and moments in the ring together.
4 AJ Styles And Christopher Daniels
The careers of AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels are two of the most enviable in the business. Both men have worked for almost every company possible, and have held gold in one fashion or another on multiple occasions, in addition to dominating TNA's X-Division.
Keeping in mind that they have gone to war against each other as well as being frequent tag team partners, Styles and Daniels are certainly close friends. Each one of their sons has the other mans' real name as their middle name. There's a bond that cannot be denied, one that may lead Styles to AEW when his time in WWE has run its course.
3 Shawn Michaels And Diesel
A lot of rivalries start as friendships and become the fuel for incredible matches. That was certainly the case for Shawn Michaels and Kevin "Diesel" Nash. Big Daddy Cool started off his WWE run as the bodyguard for Michaels, then turned that into his own main event career by fighting him.
But that never changed how close they were behind the scenes. They were both members of the now infamous backstage group called The Kliq, alongside Triple H, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. It's a friendship that reputedly almost drew Michaels to WCW.
2 Kevin Owens And Sami Zayn
Finding two real life friends who have spent more time beating the living daylights out of each other in the ring than Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn is nearly impossible. Since coming to the main WWE roster, they only ever seem to be friends when they're both heels.
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In reality, Owens and Zayn have been close friends forever, and have supported each other throughout their careers. The image of them celebrating Owens' Universal Championship win together backstage remains an iconic one.
1 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin And Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
When talking about WWE's Mount Rushmore, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin And Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson belong in that conversation. These are two of the biggest names to ever work in wrestling. They have had some truly iconic matches, many of which were against each other. Plus, no one sells a Stunner like The Rock.
But Dwayne and Steve are also close friends, and have been so for decades. They are so close that they even have a secret handshake which fans can spot on the rare occasion they share a ring together these days.
