10 Kayfabe Wrestling Moments That Became Real

3. Chris Benoit Steals Woman... Then Steals Nancy From Kevin Sullivan

Bret Hart Vince McMahon Cage
VICE

Ask most wrestling old-timers and they'll advise that workers never get their lovers involved 'in the business'. Kevin Sullivan found this out the hard way when on screen rival Chris Benoit and his real-life wife Woman (Nancy Sullivan) started falling in love back in the mid-90s.

Incredibly, Kevin was the one who booked their union.

Obviously, he did so to inject some drama into his feud with Benoit. The more and more time Nancy and Chris spent together though (they held hand in public, travelled as a pair etc), the deeper and deeper their fondness for one another grew. Eventually, this Woman was Benoit's, not Sullivan's.

It'd be remiss to speak about all this without mentioning the grim end to both their lives. Everyone knows what happened years later with the Benoit double murder and suicide, for example. For more on this story, check out VICE's 'Dark Side Of The Ring' episode that explores each relationship.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.