10 Disturbing Times WWE Flirted With Romance Angles
What's love got to do with it? Good question, since this is meant to be bloody wrestling.
The romance angle has only worked to a money-drawing level in two eras of WWE, but since those eras saw the market leader at their peak, you will see them forever.
Ignoring the bleak reality, and revisiting the saga through a naive child's eyes, the Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth reconciliation was beautiful. At the time. The contrite, redeemed hero, the woman so pure that young fans on this side of the pond essentially perceived her as the Queen of the United States...their reunion at WrestleMania VII was an immortal moment, provided you had no knowledge of Savage's abusive over-protection and their very real marital strife.
The McMahon/Helmsley love affair drew monster ratings across 1999 and 2000, as Test and Kurt Angle were also booked to fall head over heels with Stephanie. John Cena wanted to slap her arse too, if you recall. All for naught; she only ever had eyes for the man who hogged all the gold. But enough about Ultimo Dragon; Triple H was her man in storylines, until she was revealed to be - being a woman and everything - a manipulative liar.
Weddings pop ratings, so more will follow.
Even if they're incredibly problematic!
10. Buddy Murphy Kisses Aalayah Mysterio
A thirty-something antipodean in a relationship with a very young girl drawn to his star status. In 2020.
Nope, not one brave, harrowing tale of many that filtered into a repulsed public as part of the #SpeakingOut movement: a WWE storyline!
The optics on this thing man, f*cking hell. Proving that WWE was out of touch with reality to a level not thought possible even to the most cynical observer, the Buddy Murphy and Aalayah Mysterio relationship was so beyond f*cked. For whatever reason, terrible ratings and a gross quest to correct them, most likely, Aalyah started to look at Buddy with googly eyes after he distanced himself from her family's tormentor Seth Rollins. They grew closer, and even kissed, though the real-life Matthew Adams, it should be noted, was bemused by and uncomfortable with this development...
...likely because he turned babyface subsequently.
The f*ck?
He was probably uncomfortable because it was unseemly in any context, but Jesus Christ, this would have been deeply ill-advised if WWE had damned gross power dynamics in an exploitative storyline. This, instead, was super-stud makes out with chick, so...cheer him?
In an even sicker twist, they treat elder sibling Dominik like he's some dipsh*t toddler who just learned how to tie his shoelaces.
How young must Aalayah have been in their eyes?!