10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Lita

9. Essa Rios Was Her First WWF Love Interest

Essa Rios Lita
WWE.com

Another piece of history WWE have decided to gloss over involves a former Cruiserweight Champion who also happened to be Lita's first ever on-screen love interest in the promotion. That would be Essa Rios, a character lost to the sands of time and doomed to show up on those 'Wrestlers You've Forgotten' lists forever more.

Rios won the Cruiserweight gold during his very first appearance alongside Lita on the 13 February 2000 episode of Sunday Night Heat. The pair became staples of the 'C' show, but it wouldn't be too long before everyone realised that Lita was poised to outgrow Rios.

Generally, WWE like to recant Lita's career by starting with The Hardy Boyz. Whilst she did go on to become a popular member of Team Xtreme along with Matt and Jeff and definitely found greater fame as part of that trio, the Lita's Latin look made her perfect for Essa Rios for the first few months of her WWF career. Heck: that's why she got that name.

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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.