5 WWE moments that upset superstars' family members

Roman Reigns (left); Alexa Bliss (right)

While WWE Superstars know the outcome of their matches in advance, the same cannot be said for their family members.

For example, many of Roman Reigns’ relatives watched from ringside as the former Shield member competed in his first WrestleMania main event in 2015. Reigns was expected to defeat Brock Lesnar that day, but WWE’s higher-ups booked Seth Rollins as the winner of an impromptu Triple Threat match instead.

Thanks to various sources and out-of-character interviews, WWE fans now have more access to behind-the-scenes information than ever before. Over the last decade, social media has also provided a platform for superstars – and their families – to react to controversial incidents within minutes.

In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE moments that legitimately upset superstars’ families.

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#5 The Undertaker’s daughter was upset after WWE WrestleMania 34

After years of speculation, The Undertaker and John Cena finally went one-on-one in a WrestleMania match for the first time at WrestleMania 34 in 2018.

Although the match had been anticipated for over a decade, the end result was widely viewed as an underwhelming spectacle. The Undertaker quickly defeated Cena in a glorified three-minute squash match, which also included a pre-match segment between Cena and Elias.

The man behind The Undertaker’s menacing character, Mark Calaway, appeared in a Cold as Balls episode with Kevin Hart in November 2021. He revealed that his daughter was legitimately upset after the match because she did not want Cena to lose:

"They [The Undertaker’s family] come back after I go backstage, and she is just distraught. I'm like, 'What's wrong?' and she's like, 'Well, dad, I'm happy you won, but I'm really sad John lost.' So I gotta go get John. I said, 'John, you got to come talk to my daughter.' He was really good, though,” said The Undertaker.

Cena explained to The Undertaker’s daughter that he said a lot of bad things to her father in the weeks leading up to the match. The 16-time world champion also told her that he deserved to lose against his legendary opponent.

#4 Mick Foley’s family were upset during his WWE matches against The Rock and The Undertaker

The 1999 film Beyond the Mat disclosed lots of interesting behind-the-scenes stories about WWE and the rest of the pro wrestling world. Arguably the most memorable scene in the film featured Mick Foley’s family, who watched his WWE Royal Rumble 1999 match against The Rock from ringside.

Foley’s wife and children left their seats in tears during the brutal encounter, which saw The Hardcore Legend receive several chair shots to the head. Speaking backstage after the match, Foley’s wife Colette warned him, “Mick, I don’t know if I can take much more of this… I’m gonna let you know that.”

In another scene, Foley reflected on a conversation he had with his wife after his famous WWE Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker:

“Usually after a physical match I’ll call home and tell them, ‘Daddy’s all right, no need to worry.’ In this case, I was paged. One of the agents had to tell me, ‘Call home, your wife’s really upset.’ She was crying, in tears, screaming at me saying, ‘You can’t do this to us anymore.’ I guess it was very traumatic for the kids.”

Foley admitted he felt “a lot of guilt” about the stress his family had to go through while watching him wrestle. However, at that time in his life, he was not interested in any profession other than wrestling.

#3 Randy Orton's wife disliked his WWE match against Alexa Bliss

Alexa Bliss defeated Randy Orton in an intergender match at WWE Fastlane 2021 after receiving help from The Fiend. The finish to the match saw Bray Wyatt’s alter-ego hit his Sister Abigail finisher on Orton, allowing Bliss to quickly pin the WWE veteran.

From a storyline perspective, the unique finish set up a long-awaited rematch between The Fiend and Orton at WrestleMania 37. In real life, however, the way in which Bliss provocatively pinned The Viper seemingly upset Orton’s wife Kim.

After the pay-per-view, Kim made it clear on Twitter that she did not like Bliss’ actions:

“@AlexaBliss_WWE you might’ve just f***ed up little girl”

Around the time of the event, Randy Orton was involved in a back-and-forth series of tweets with rapper Soulja Boy about WWE’s legitimacy. Soulja Boy repeatedly claimed that WWE is “fake,” prompting Orton to criticize his rapping.

The former Evolution member confirmed in a since-deleted tweet that his wife was genuinely annoyed with Bliss. He also jokingly urged Soulja Boy to tell Kim that his opponent straddling him was “fake.”

The supernatural storyline ended three weeks later at WrestleMania 37. On the second night of the event, Orton defeated The Fiend after Bliss seemingly betrayed her ally by causing a distraction at ringside.

#2 Ric Flair was allegedly upset with Charlotte Flair’s WWE booking

According to Bryan Alvarez, Ric Flair was unhappy with Charlotte Flair’s storylines around the time he left WWE.

Ric Flair was granted his release from WWE on August 3, 2021 after expressing his desire to pursue other opportunities outside of the company. Earlier in the year, his daughter Charlotte was left off the WrestleMania 37 card just two years after headlining the event.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Alvarez said WWE’s booking of Charlotte was another reason why he decided to leave:

“I heard that Ric was unhappy with Charlotte’s booking…he was upset with her booking and so the story I heard was that he sent a text message to Vince [McMahon] and the text message essentially said, ‘You either fix it or I quit.’ Vince of course did not fix it and so Ric Flair quit.” [H/T Wrestling News Co.]

Two weeks before Ric Flair’s exit, Charlotte Flair won the RAW Women’s Championship from Rhea Ripley at Money in the Bank. Within 24 hours, her title reign abruptly ended when Nikki A.S.H. successfully cashed in her MITB contract on RAW.

The Queen recaptured the title a month later at SummerSlam, by which point Ric Flair had departed WWE.

#1 Roman Reigns’ family were allegedly furious after WWE WrestleMania 31

In 2015, Roman Reigns seemed destined to win his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship during his match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.

The former Shield member’s family watched the action unfold from the first few rows at the event. However, they were left disappointed when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the title.

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, various sources claimed Reigns’ family were “furious” following the match. Meltzer also reported that Reigns’ father, WWE legend Sika, was “looking to start a war” at ringside:

“Six different sources on the Sika story by the way. Two more on the Afa [Reigns’ uncle] side of the family for his reaction. This was not a secret. Was something everyone was openly talking about, both in the family, close to the family, and more.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Meltzer went on to say that Reigns’ family were believed to be “furious, mad and disappointed, but not out of control.”

Fortunately, WrestleMania 31 turned out to be the first of many opportunities in the singles spotlight at WrestleMania for Reigns. The Tribal Chief headlined five WrestleManias in seven years between 2015 and 2021.