World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) might be packed with action and spectacle, but the organization is also filled with its fair share of real-life love stories — plenty of wrestlers have met and fallen in love in the ring.
Whether it’s in honor of the latest Wrestlemania or while watching Monday Night Raw, fans have turned their attention to the wrestlers who are in the ring and their love lives over the years. In April 2025, veteran wrestler Rhea Ripley told Us Weekly that being married to a partner who is part of a rival wrestling company isn’t always the easiest thing to navigate.
“Not being around each other 24/7 has been hard — it really is hard,” she told Us at the time. “I miss being home, I miss the dogs, I miss everything.” However, Ripley noted, “He always said to me that distance makes the heart grow fonder.”
While the fights in the ring might be fake, the love between these wrestlers is real. Keep scrolling for a look at the real-life WWE couples.
From their first date to their drawn-out split in 2018, Us Weekly is revisiting John Cena and Nikki Bella’s love story. After years of friendship, the two wrestlers first sparked a romantic connection in 2012. The pair’s relationship continued to heat up as Cena popped the question in April 2017. However, less than one year later, […]
Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews
Ripley, who was born Demi Bennett, met AEW wrestler Buddy Matthews (who was born Matthew Adams and has wrestled as Buddy Murphy), and began dating in April 2022. Ripley confirmed their relationship on X after a fan asked her “what does he have that I don’t” and she replied, “me.”
The pair got engaged in 2023 and got married a year later on June 23, 2024.
Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch
Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Rollins, who was born Colby Lopez, and Lynch met in 2019 and confirmed their relationship in May of the same year. They moved swiftly toward marriage and were engaged by August 2019. Lynch announced she was pregnant with the pair’s first baby in May 2020 and they married in June 2021, around six months after their daughter was born.
Bianca Belair and Montez Ford
Bianca Belair and Montez Ford Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netfli
Belair and Ford met in 2016 while they were both training at WWE and got engaged the following year. The pair married in 2019 and share Ford’s two children with his ex.
The pair renewed their vows in Las Vegas on their 5th anniversary. “Even though we meant our vows the 1st time we said them! And I’ll marry you over and over and over again,” Belair wrote on Instagram at the time. She added that Ford originally intended to “propose at the Grand Canyon 6 years ago but got too excited and proposed in the parking lot on the way to the airport! Lol so we took it back to Vegas to renew our vows!”
Tiffany Stratton and Ludwig Kaiser
Tiffany Stratton and Ludwig Kaiser Andrea Kellaway/WWE via Getty Images
In February 2025, Kaiser told Chris Van Vliet the pair had been dating for over three years, but that it “took a while” for them to get together at first. “I think we kind of played the same game,” he explained. “We are very similar. We are both pretty stubborn, or we can be pretty stubborn, and I don’t think nobody wanted to take the first step.” The pair came across one another while they were both out with friends and played rock, paper, scissors to decide who should make the first move.
“One of us said, ‘Well, you’ve gotta ask me,’ and then we played rock paper scissors over that, and I lost on purpose so I could ask her out for a date,” Kaiser said. “That’s how you do it. Give her the win, and then win in the end.”
CM Punk and AJ Lee
CM Punk and AJ Lee Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
CM Punk, who was born Phillip Jack Brooks, and April Jeanette “AJ” Mendez, or AJ Lee, met back in 2012 and got married two years later in 2014.
That year Punk revealed he found out he was fired from WWE the same day the two tied the knot. “The day of my wedding I got a FedEx in the mail. It was my termination papers. I was fired,” he explained. “I was fired on my wedding day.” But, he added, “[I] didn’t let it affect my day.” In the end, Punk was able to focus on what mattered most: his wedding day with Lee.
Jimmy Uso and Naomi
Jimmy Uso and Naomi Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix
Jimmy Uso (born Jonathan Fatu) married his longtime girlfriend Naomi (born Trinity Fatu) in Hawaii on January 16, 2014. While speaking to MTV, Uso said the pair met at wrestling school when he tried to “make small talk” by asking Naomi if she’s a fan of his dad, the wrestler Rikishi.
“Man, I can’t stand that dude, he is like one of the worst wrestlers,” she responded. “That dude sucks.” Luckily, things worked out between the pair and they’re still going strong over 10 years later.