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Scott Hall used to say that WWE is called the "wrestling business, not the wrestling friendliness’ – implying that wrestlers should be in the sport for the money and not for making friends. This might be true to some extent as they need to earn as much as they can since one false move might see them never able to walk again.
Hall was even friends with a few WWE Superstars – namely Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, and Sean Waltman, who formed the notorious ‘Kliq’ backstage. Among others, Lita and Trish Stratus shared a close bond during their time in the company and everyone knows how close Edge and Christian are.
This list takes a look at six backstage friendships that you might not have known about:
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#1 Drew McIntyre and Sheamus
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With Drew McIntyre filling in for Big E and helping the New Day fight off The Brawling Brutes and the long storied history the two Europeans have together, one may not believe that McIntyre and Sheamus are best friends in real-life. However, that isn't the case, and the former WWE Champions have known each other for over two decades know. Here's what The Scottish Warrior had to say about his friendship with The Celtic Warrior:
"It would be Sheamus over there. Him and I go way back to when I was about 18, 19 years old, he was about 43. He was a little bit older (laughs). We've got that big brother, little brother relationship. We both get signed in the same day, came to America together, developmental together. The night I won the IC title, he won the heavyweight title. Obviously his career ascended from there, mine went on the down slope until I got fired. I returned, he'd come down a little bit and then I exploded into the main event scene while he's still trying to find his way back there. I think there's a very interesting jealous older brother with little brother storyline that's got a lot of real footage, a lot of real depth that fans would get behind, especially Scotland versus Ireland beating the crap out of each other. That would be great. We could definitely do that one in the bar again." [Comicbook.com]
The close friendship has certainly translated into great in-ring chemistry, with fans getting treated to some of the most physical matches when Sheamus and McIntyre fight each other.
Suggested: Sheamus spoke about his amazing chemistry with Drew McIntyre & more while talking to Sportskeeda Wrestling last year!
#2 Former WWE Superstars CM Punk and Joey Mercury
It might seem weird that the biggest on and off-screen detractor of the WWE’s “powers that be” and the on-screen stooge of the Authority were backstage buddies – but the always opinionated CM Punk and the diminutive Joey Mercury are good friends.
In fact, Mercury is one of the few members of the WWE roster that Punk considers to be a friend – so much so that when the former MNM member’s life spiraled out of control due to drugs, it was Punk who came forward to help him. Mercury was close to losing his house due to financial strain, but Punk stepped in and loaned Mercury the money to save it.
It was Mercury’s words that prompted Punk to reconsider his WWE exit in 2011 during the ‘Summer of Punk’ saga that year. The real-life buddies even worked together for some time when Mercury was a member of Punk’s Straight Edge Society stable alongside Luke Gallows and Serena.
After working in a backstage role for a while, Mercury left WWE and has since competed sporadically in the indies. Punk, who we thought would never be involved in anything related to wrestling, made his return to in-ring wrestling in AEW seven years after retiring, and is the current AEW World Champion.
#3 Former WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Lance Storm
A friendship that started 30 years back, Chris Jericho and Lance Storm first met when they were a pair of 20-year-olds at the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling in 1990.
Jericho and Storm would form a tag team known as the ’Thrill Seekers'. They would wrestle together in promotions like the Canadian National Wrestling Alliance, Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling, Japan’s Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, and Appalachian Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
Jericho and Storm would eventually reach ECW, WCW, and finally WWE individually. Jericho would become the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion, whereas Storm would become the first man to hold three concurrent championships in WCW.
Storm would leave the WWE in 2005 in order to start his own training school, the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary, Canada – a facility which Jericho would use to train for his first return to the WWE in 2007. Almost poetically, Storm's final WWE match was against Jericho at ECW’s One Night Stand, where he got the better of Y2J.
#4 Edge and Rhyno
Much like his more well-known friendship with Christian, Edge is also a great friend of Rhyno. The three used to wrestle together in independent promotions in Canada and the United States while starting out and even formed a stable of sorts called Team R.E.C.K in WWE alongside Kurt Angle.
Edge and Rhyno met at the Winnipeg promotion run by Tony Condello and used to be part of the Canadian winter tours during that time. Edge recounts in his autobiography, "Adam Copeland on Edge", as to how he, Christian, Rhyno, and other wrestlers had to cross a frozen lake during one of those tours and the ice gave away, nearly drowning them.
Edge would reach WWE soon enough, whereas Rhyno would enter ECW where he would be the final ECW World and Television Champion.
#5 Ex-WWE wrestlers The Hardy Boyz and Shannon Moore
Shannon Moore met Matt & Jeff Hardy while growing up in Cameron, North Carolina. Moore joined the Harons in their backyard wrestling circuit and was coached by the Hardys themselves after they received formal wrestling training.
Moore started out at OMEGA – a promotion run by the Hardyz. Moore would join WCW during the promotion’s final years and come over to WWE after it folded. Assigned to SmackDown, he was paired with Matt Hardy as part of Matt's Mattitude gimmick, acting as Hardy's sidekick during his run as the Cruiserweight Champion.
Moore later wrestled in TNA as well and remains in contact with the Hardys. Moore is a part of "PeroxWhy?Gen", the band which also features Jeff Hardy. He was also part of the Hardys’ reality show – ‘The Hardy Show’ and also appeared in a DVD about OMEGA.
#6 Finn Balor and Becky Lynch
As a teenager, Becky Lynch was heading towards a "bad path" involving alcohol when she heard that Fergal Devitt – the future Finn Bálor - was opening a wrestling school in their native Ireland. Lynch joined the school and the training regimen there helped her quit alcoholism.
She credits Bálor for her wrestling career and the time she spent training under the first-ever Universal Champion in NWA Ireland hardened her for the life ahead. She would wrestle in numerous promotions in the British Islands and would soon go over to North America as well.
Lynch would follow Bálor’s lead in going over to Japan and would win a battle royal at the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo – something she would describe as the highlight of her career. Lynch was ever-present on the Finn Bálor DVD, which WWE produced where she discussed the training she had under him and how great he is as a person.
