5 WWE Legends you didn't know have wrestling cousins

#2. WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels - Matt Bentley

Former TNA X Division Champion Matt Bentley is Shawn Michaels's cousin

Shawn Michaels is one of the most successful WWE Superstars in history. He is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer. However, his cousin, Matt Bentley, was not as successful.

A long, long road! @steveaustinBSR #316Day pic.twitter.com/XyfxxZmjqi

— Shawn Michaels (@ShawnMichaels) March 16, 2021

Bentley was trained by his cousin Shawn Michaels at Texas Wrestling Academy. He then went to wrestle in Japan before joining ECW. Bentley's ECW journey was cut short after a few months after the promotion went out of business in 2001.

Over the next two years, Bentley wrestled for different promotions, including dark matches in WCW and WWE. In 2003, Shawn Michaels's cousin joined TNA. Bentley's TNA stint was the best of his wrestling career. He competed in the X-Division and won the TNA X-Division Championship twice. He was also crowned X-Division Star of the Year in 2003.

Bentley left TNA in August 2007 after his contract expired. He made an appearance in WWE nearly eight months later, losing to Vladimir Kozlov on SmackDown in a squash match that lasted a little over a minute. It was the last time Bentley wrestled in a WWE ring.

In the following years, Bentley made a few appearances for different promotions, although he took a break from wrestling to focus on his music band. He never reached his cousin's legendary status in the wrestling business.

With #WrestleMania around the corner, here is one of the moments I won’t forget. What’s one of yours? pic.twitter.com/lXH8vODw16

— Shawn Michaels (@ShawnMichaels) April 2, 2020