10 Obscure Links Between WWE Stars YOU Didn't Know

The world of wrestling is smaller than you realise.

When the National Wrestling Alliance ruled the roost, it wasn't surprising for locker rooms to be full of stars who'd bumped into each other hundreds of times across North America. Whether it was from puking outside the Hart Dungeon, passing out at the WCW Power Plant, or from travelling as the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, plenty of grapplers were linked for life.

As time has gone on and the industry has changed, stars have come from far and wide to be a part of the show.

Sure, The Undertaker and Kane will always be linked because they're brothers. Going further back, you can associate Isaac Yankem, DDS with Jerry "The King" Lawler, but that's one fans know well. Even putting Fake Diesel with real Diesel is cheating. Sorry to chew you out Glenn Jacobs, but your career is linked to so many other wrestlers.

All three of those examples are way too easy. Now that kayfabe is dead, wrestlers spend far more time together, which makes for an incredible number of connections. With that comes ties between people that mean far more than being friends, acquaintances, or colleagues ever can.

These links are ones you won't expect; some you won't even believe!

There's a huge crossover between American football and the world of wrestling.

Plenty of wrestlers have tried their luck in the National Football League then made their way to the squared circle, some with more luck than others. Sometimes it happens the other way round too; when Brock Lesnar left WWE in 2004, he was determined to make it for the Minnesota Vikings. It's the forgotten part of his career, but Lesnar even said that competing in the NFL was his lifelong dream.

Unfortunately, his career was over before it began. A motorcycle accident put the Beast Incarnate in hospital, then when he came back and re-signed with the Vikings later that year, he didn't make it beyond preseason. At least he got to wear the number 69 jersey for a few games...

Three years later and the Vikings found themselves with another of WWE's prized assets, although they didn't know it yet. Before he was Roman Reigns, Leati Joseph Anoaʻi found himself undrafted as the 2007 season approached. He'd had a stellar career in college, so Minnesota was lucky to pick him up that summer.

Sadly, his career lasted less time than Brock's. Roman was diagnosed with leukaemia for the first time during a physical, so the Vikings had to let him go. He tried his luck over the border with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, but retired after one season.

The names Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns will always be tied together because of their near-decade long feud over the WWE Championship. Somewhere in the multiverse they're NFL colleagues too.