Ex-WWE star "did not get along" with on-screen love interest in real life

Romance storylines have been featured on WWE television for several decades. Shelly Martinez, fka Ariel in WWE, recently recalled how she did not always see eye-to-eye with her on-screen love interest Kevin Thorn.

Martinez worked for WWE between 2005 and 2007. In 2006, the 44-year-old began performing as Thorn's valet in ECW. The two are best remembered for their vampire personas and association with the New Breed faction.

In an interview on Ring the Belle, Martinez disclosed details about her strained relationship with Thorn behind the scenes:

"Kevin and I often did not get along when we were working together. It's called I'm a good actress! I would talk cr*p to him. When he would be like this [lean toward face] to me, I would be like, 'F you, you a**hole,' blah blah blah. Yeah, on TV, but I didn't realize how s*xual [it looked]. I was just doing my thing, man. I was just doing my thing." [10:24 – 10:54]

Martinez also worked for TNA under the name Salinas in 2007 and 2008. She retired from wrestling in 2017.

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Shelly Martinez made amends with Kevin Thorn after leaving WWE

During her short TNA run, Shelly Martinez crossed paths with Kevin Thorn at an Applebee's restaurant.

Given their history, Martinez initially thought it would be "awkward" if she spoke to her former on-screen ally. However, she was pleased to find out he felt bad about the way he treated her in ECW:

"I remember Kevin was there and it was awkward, and then he had a private conversation with me and he told me, he was like, 'You know, it wasn't until you were gone I realized how important you were and I didn't appreciate you the way I should have and I didn't treat you the way I should have.' He was like, 'I'm really sorry about that.' That meant so much to me," Martinez continued. [13:55 – 14:15]

In the same interview, Martinez claimed WWE tried to erase her and addressed whether she would consider returning to the company.

Do you have any memories of Kevin Thorn and Shelly Martinez's partnership? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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Please credit Ring the Belle and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.