Fans like to see professional wrestlers add elements of their personal lives to stories because it can help make them feel more real, giving audiences more reason to invest in them. Boundary-pushing rivalries always end up being the most memorable, but there are times when things can go too far.
Certain stories over the years ended up getting too personal and real to the point where fans were uncomfortable with how far they ended up going. The fighters that push things to the limit can be entertaining, but there’s always the chance that people end up finding it too much, as the line is too narrow to walk.
10 Adam Page and CM Punk
It has become very apparent that CM Punk and Adam Page did not see eye to eye in real life, and that is something that spilled over into the ring. There were some very personal promos between them and it was admittedly awkward and awkward to watch at times.
A big reason for that was when Punk called Page even though he wasn’t scheduled to show up. It was just a case of Punk going unprofessional and making Page look bad, something people didn’t expect to see.
9 Charlotte Style & Becky Lynch
Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch were legitimately best friends at one point, and that’s something that made their rivalry instantly hard to watch because fans always loved seeing them as friends. However, they certainly crossed the line at times by taking personal photos of each other.
However, when they awkwardly and unprofessionally failed to swap the Raw and SmackDown women’s titles, things ended up becoming uncomfortably real. Fans were stunned when they saw it come crashing down and it became abundantly clear that they hated each other.
8 Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle
The situation between Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle was awkward to watch at many points for wrestling fans. There are times when people have to portray the idea that they hate their rivalry, but the animosity was clear in this one because Jarrett was married to Angle’s ex-wife.
The storyline portrayed the idea that Karen Jarrett was having an affair with Jeff, and even though she and Angle were legitimately divorced at the time, having them play this out on TV at times was certainly awkward to watch.
7 resistant matte and edge
Another rivalry that ended up having vested interests that sometimes made people uncomfortable to watch was between Matt Hardy and Edge. Their rivalry stemmed from a legitimate situation, as Lita was revealed to have had an affair with Edge, which shocked people due to the connection Hardy and Edge had as friends.
They managed to do some fantastic television and their matches had a lot of heat and aggression due to the personal situation I was going through at the time. However, that didn’t stop it from being awkward at times to see that this one was as real as it seems.
6 Chris Jericho and CM Punk
There are many professional wrestlers today who are openly blunt to the point where it is no longer a big deal to be mentioned on TV. However, during CM Punk’s WWE run, that was something the company played into regularly, particularly during his match against Chris Jericho.
Jericho would discuss Punk’s family history with substances while also constantly pressuring Punk to try and drink. He would sometimes make it seem like Punk was drunk, and even though that didn’t happen, they would push things to the point where he was sometimes uncomfortable.
5 Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels’ issues with each other are well known and that was something that was often aired on TV, and not just with Montreal Screwjob. Of course, that made things extremely awkward for fans afterwards, but before that they took real photos of each other.
The two made no secret of Michaels’ ‘Sunny Days’ promo implying that Hart and Sunny had been having relationships was an example of how awkward things could get.
4 Charlotte Style & Paige
The rivalry between Paige and Charlotte Flair was entertaining due to both of their talents, but when Paige decided to bring up Reid Flair’s death, things became uncomfortably real. The reaction from the audience was simply shock, and that was met by Flair’s own reaction.
This wasn’t helped by the fact that no one had alerted Ric Flair to the fact that it was happening and he was excited to watch it unfold on TV.
3 ruby riott & natalya
Another time that a rivalry took advantage of someone’s death was when Ruby Riott fought Natalya. It came quite soon after the passing of Jim Neidhart, and it was clear that things were still very raw for Natalya, which was to be expected given how close they are.
So when Riott took pictures of him and even broke some of Neidhart’s glasses, fans were made uncomfortable. Of course, Natalya would have given this a thumbs up, but that didn’t stop her from feeling a little close to the bone.
2 The Rock and John Cena
The Rock’s rivalry against John Cena is one of the best of all time, as both men did an amazing job of making this as entertaining as possible. However, that didn’t stop them from crossing the line at times to try and make things incredibly personal with each other.
It made things uncomfortable to watch at points, but that became compelling from an audience perspective as it was impossible to stop watching. Cena pointed out that The Rock having indications on his wrist was the most uncomfortable thing he felt, as he visibly pressed the buttons on him.
1 CM Punk and the undertaker
Using someone’s death in real life will always make people uncomfortable because it’s impossible to know how the person being talked about would actually feel. This is why many fans felt that the rivalry between CM Punk and The Undertaker crossed the line at times.
With Punk throwing the urn that Paul Bearer used to carry, even going so far as to pour ashes on ‘Taker. Paul Heyman also came out dressed as Bearer at one stage, and while there was plenty of heat, things also felt a bit too real and personal.