3 Romantic angles that failed and 3 that succeeded in WWE in recent years

Romantic storylines have been a mainstay in WWE for years now. The promotion has churned out a bunch of romantic angles over the past several decades, and they have always been hit or miss. Romantic stories are always hard to execute, as there's a good chance the two (or sometimes three) parties have zero chemistry together, and it falls flat in front of a live audience.

But that doesn't mean that we haven't had some incredibly well-done romantic angles. Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth's real-life love story was perfectly used in a storyline. The Edge-Lita-Matt Hardy love triangle is widely regarded as one of the greatest angles in WWE history. In the following list, we will take a look at three WWE romantic angles that failed, and three that succeeded.

#6 Lana and Bobby Lashley (Romantic angle that failed in WWE)

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Lana and Bobby Lashley revealed their affection towards each other on the RAW season premiere last year, as Lana's real-life husband Rusev watched them get together helplessly. The angle was immediately slammed by a large number of fans. The ones who liked the angle kept hoping that this would lead to a major push for Rusev as a babyface, but things only kept getting worse with each passing week.

Throughout this angle, Rusev and Bobby Lashley faced each other on various occasions, with Lashley getting the upper hand on Rusev most of the time. When Liv Morgan was inserted into the storyline, she teamed up with Rusev in a losing effort against Lana and Lashley. The angle left a bad taste in fans' mouths as it destroyed Rusev's character beyond repair. Rusev was released by WWE following WrestleMania. Lana and Lashley separated after she unintentionally cost him a WWE title match against Drew McIntyre.

#5 Mandy Rose and Otis (Romantic angle that succeeded in WWE)

Fans of Otis might remember that he had been pursuing the affection of Mandy Rose for a long time. Earlier this year, it looked like Mandy had finally started showing a bit of interest in Otis, and a Valentine's Day date was set up on the February 14 edition of WWE SmackDown. Sonya Deville and Dolph Ziggler had other plans though. They successfully kept Mandy and Otis apart for weeks on end, before the SmackDown mystery hacker revealed the truth, leading to Mandy turning on her best friend.

At WWE WrestleMania 36, Otis defeated Ziggler with Mandy's help, and the two finally got together. After trying to woo Mandy for months on end, Otis had finally won her heart. The next few months were quite possibly the greatest time of Otis' life, as he had several dates with Mandy and went on to win the Money in the Bank contract at the namesake pay-per-view. The fans were behind Otis all this time, and it had been a while since WWE had executed a romantic angle to perfection. Unfortunately, Mandy Rose was recently traded to WWE RAW, but the duo still seems to be inseparable. Here's hoping Otis gets moved to RAW as well, so that the lovebirds can continue being together again.

#4 Eve Torres and Zack Ryder (Romantic angle that failed in WWE)

By late 2011, Zack Ryder had become one of the most popular acts in WWE, courtesy his hit Youtube show, "Z! True Long Island Story". Fans got behind him like never before, and WWE finally put him in a major angle. The storyline saw Eve Torres and Ryder getting romantically involved, with John Cena and Kane getting into the mix as well. Kane began targeting Ryder and ended up injuring him. Soon after, Kane tried to kidnap Torres, but Cena saved her and the two shared a personal moment that left Ryder heartbroken.

Eve Torres later revealed that she had been using Ryder for personal gain, and would not hesitate to do the same to Cena as well. Cena, upon hearing what Torres said, berated her and his role in the angle came to an end. At WWE WrestleMania 28, Eve Torres accompanied Zack Ryder to the ring during the Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy contest. She distracted him in the end, resulting in Team Teddy losing the match. Following the match, she hit Ryder with a low blow, thus putting an end to her romance with him. Ryder, who was one of the hottest characters just a few months ago, came out a miserable, sad guy by the time this angle ended.

#3 Vickie Guerrero and Edge (Romantic angle that succeeded in WWE)

One of the oddest couples in WWE history, Edge and Vickie Guerrero somehow managed to make their storyline work. Vickie, Edge, and several others formed the stable, "La Familia", with Vickie's sole aim being to help Edge in his quest to stay at the top. Edge soon proposed to Vickie, but the wedding reception was interrupted by Triple H, who showed video footage featuring Edge, who had cheated on Vickie with Alicia Fox.

Eventually, Vickie got back at Edge by putting him in a Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker. The two legends collided in the cell at WWE SummerSlam 2008, in one of the best matches of the year. In the end, The Undertaker came out victorious. Months later, Edge and Vickie got back together on the road to WrestleMania. Edge was supposed to face Big Show at The Show of Shows, with the World title on the line. Vickie added John Cena to the match when he threatened to reveal a major secret. Cena ended up revealing Vickie's affair with Big Show anyway, much to Edge's anger. Cena won the World title at WWE WrestleMania 25, while Edge and Vickie's paths crossed several on several occasions down the line.

Throughout the angle, Vickie perfectly played the part of a heel figure who was ready to go to great lengths to get what she wanted, while Edge turned into SmackDown's biggest villain around the same time.

#2 Natalya and The Great Khali (Romantic angle that failed in WWE)

When one talks about the oddest couples in WWE history, Natalya and The Great Khali have to be somewhere at the top. This angle kicked off in late 2012 when Natalya began a relationship with the Indian giant. She soon turned babyface and teamed up with Khali and Hornswoggle to take on Rosa Mendes, Primo, and Epico. The duo didn't do much of note for months on end, as Natalya appeared on Total Divas around the same time. The show gave birth to a bunch of feuds between the cast members.

Natalya and Khali then started a feud with Fandango and Summer Rae. Fandango had become a major name in WWE after scoring a big win over Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29. His star soon fizzled out though. Fandango and Rae took on Natalya and The Great Khali at the WWE Hell in a Cell 2013 pay-per-view. The unusual couple failed to win the match, and this was it for their on-screen association. Natalya kicked off a feud with AJ Lee, and it didn't take long for the WWE Universe to forget that this romantic angle even existed.

#1 AJ Lee-Daniel Bryan-CM Punk (Romantic angle that succeeded in WWE)

Daniel Bryan's romantic angle with AJ Lee was a major hit back in 2012 and gave us some of the most memorable moments of the year. Who can forget Bryan and Lee's steamy moment during his World title match against Sheamus at WWE WrestleMania 28? In a matter of 18 seconds, Sheamus defeated Bryan to win the World title, in a legit surprise. As expected, Bryan blamed AJ and ended the relationship. She soon became unstable and started showering CM Punk with her affections as well. When Punk didn't show any interest, Lee was left enraged.

Around the same time, Bryan and Punk wrestled a bunch of times on WWE pay-per-views, with Punk's WWE title on the line. Punk came out victorious when the feud came to an end. Bryan proposed to AJ and the two were set to get married on WWE RAW 1000. Lee left Bryan at the altar during the wedding, revealing that Vince McMahon had offered her the role of RAW GM. Over the next few weeks, AJ focused on exacting revenge on both Bryan and Punk by forcing them to wrestle matches without their consent. Not only AJ nailed the character of an unstable woman, but both Punk and Bryan had some great matches throughout the angle, making this one a success.

Edited by Kaushik Das