3 real-life friendships in WWE and 3 pairs who were friends only on TV

#2 Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin (real-life friendship)

Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin

Brock Lesnar made his way to WWE's main roster in the spring of 2002, immediately after WWE WrestleMania 18. Lesnar had been a mainstay in Ohio Valley Wrestling for a brief period before he was promoted to the big leagues.

Back when Lesnar was in college, he was reportedly roommates with Shelton Benjamin, who was also The Beast's assistant coach at the time. While talking about Lesnar on Lilian Garcia's podcast, Benjamin had nothing but praise for The Beast Incarnate.

“When I met Brock, instantly I liked the guy. He was just a big fun loving dude.”

“We’re pretty good friends. Career paths have split us a bit.... For me, it was a situation where he’s doing his thing and doing very well at it, but I need to focus on me.”

Lesnar and Benjamin locked horns on several occasions back in 2003, while the latter was aligned with Kurt Angle and Charlie Haas. The duo faced off during the 2020 WWE Royal Rumble match earlier this year. Lesnar, while initially hinting that he would team up with Benjamin to eliminate other Superstars, suddenly turned on the latter and eliminated him from the match.