10 WWE Romances You Totally Don't Remember
Lost Loves.
For all the changes in professional wrestling, one constant still remains. It's an old adage from the territorial era of professional wrestling that was repurposed in the Attitude Era reframed for today, albeit under a promoter's breath - book a babyface the "men want to be like and the women want to f*ck."
Jim Cornette tries (and often fails) to mesh his progressive politics with marginally regressive takes on professional wrestling, but he's honest enough to give that appraisal of how things were done when he still worked frequently for promotions both major and minor. WWE flipped the script for Sable as she performed her trademark "grind" - "this is for the women who want to be me and the men who come to see me" was the line she delivered with the best heel snark she could manage - with love (well, sex, but ostensibly love) sold as a potential payoff for the investment in the persona.
It makes sense that the industry would channel such a strong emotion. Investment from the heart can lead to an even bigger one from the wallet and may explain why Vince McMahon booked his former rival Eric Bischoff to neck on with both his wife and his daughter. It's subsequently all the odder then, when such a story fails to resonate with the audience at large...
10. Trish Stratus & Carlito
Binned off because Trish Stratus elected to call time on her entire career, the brief dalliance between midcarder-for-life and the greatest pre-Evolution women's wrestler in company history was exactly what it transparently appeared to be - a last roll of the dice to get Carlito over.
Stratus was a megastar when the apple-spitting star sidled up next to her, and their short mixed feud with Edge and Lita fed into Stratus' farewell rivalry and elevated him in the process.
Ultimately, her exit resulted in the company running out of time before they could book a passable conclusion, with Carlito left floundering on his own against the main eventers he'd briefly brushed up against during the run.
On the night Stratus retired as Women's Champion at Unforgiven 2006, Carlito narrowly lost to Randy Orton in the semi-main event. It was just about the closest he ever got to that slot on the card ever again.