3 WWE women Dolph Ziggler dated in real life and 3 he dated on-screen

The wrestling world is still digesting Dolph Ziggler's unexpected release. Joining WWE in 2004, Ziggler won multiple championships and entertained millions in his near-two decade run.

The Showoff was widely considered one of the company's most good-looking and respectable personalities. Thus, he was linked several times in romantic relationships, both on-screen and backstage.

In this listicle, we will delve deep into Ziggler's real-life romantic relationships and those that were scripted for on-screen television.

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#6. Real-life: Dolph Ziggler dated WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella

This is one of The Showoff's more well-documented relationships, primarily because of its spillover into reality television. Before WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella got involved in a wholesome connection with John Cena in 2012, she dated Dolph Ziggler in a "serious" relationship.

The popular belief was that the romantic duo split because the six-time Intercontinental Champion cheated on Bella. Although the former Divas Champion never explicitly called out Ziggler for cheating, there were clear signs she was referring to the recently released veteran.

Referring to this mysterious WWE Superstar as "Brad," Nikki delved deep into the romantic relationship in her autobiography Incomparable.

“We can call this wrestler Brad. He was loud, and hilarious, and loved attention. After matches, we would all end up at the hotel bar, and he was always there to make everyone laugh, with a smart-a$$ joke for every occasion. ...We started sleeping together, though that did not deter him from openly and aggressively flirting with other girls.”

Their past came into the limelight on an exciting episode of Total Divas in late 2015, when Ziggler made surprising advances toward Nikki Bella, then involved in a romantic relationship with John Cena.

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#5. Storyline: Vickie Guerrero's on-screen relationship with The Showoff launched his career

Ziggler with Vickie Guerrero.

The Showoff's most productive on-screen alliance was with Vickie Guerrero, one of the most powerful and influential managers in WWE history.

In June 2010, Guerrero began accompanying Ziggler to the ring, and the rest, as they say, is history. During the course of their two-and-a-half-year relationship, the 43-year-old wrestling veteran won the IC Title from Kofi Kingston almost immediately after aligning with the former SmackDown GM.

When he lost the IC Title, Ziggler entered a career-altering feud with Edge. Although The Rated-R Superstar got the final laugh, The Showoff was "gifted" the World Heavyweight Title by Guerrero, who was acting as SmackDown GM at the time.

Dolph Ziggler continued to rise through the ranks, winning the US Title at one point and unhooking the MITB briefcase in July 2012.

However, differences arose between Ziggler and Guerrero during their mixed Tag Team feud with John Cena and AJ Lee. They split, but Eddie Guerrero's wife had transformed the former Spirit Squad member's career.

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#4. Real-life: Dana Brooke

Dana Brooke also dated Dolph Ziggler, but this was early during her career when she was an upstart in NXT. Reportedly, their romantic relationship lasted two years after beginning in 2015.

They shared numerous posts on social media that hinted at the depth and sincerity of their relationship, but neither person formally acknowledged their bond off-screen.

In 2020, The Showoff was involved in a romantic storyline with God's Greatest Creation- Mandy Rose. Brooke made some snide remarks on Twitter, shedding light on their romantic past.

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#3. Storyline: AJ Lee

We previously hinted at AJ Lee's involvement in ruining Ziggler's romantic relationship with Vickie Guerrero. After costing John Cena at TLC 2012, Lee romantically pursued The Showoff, kissing him multiple times on television.

Like the on-screen alliance with Guerrero, this also proved to be productive and beneficial for the six-time IC Champion. AJ was beside Ziggler during his career's greatest moment when he successfully cashed in the MITB contract on Alberto Del Rio on the night after WrestleMania 29.

However, injuries and concussions prevented Ziggler from having a long, meaningful World Title run. After costing The Showoff his World Heavyweight Title rematch at Money in the Bank in July 2013, their relationship ended.

Ziggler and Kaitlyn defeated Big E and Lee in a Mixed Tag Match at SummerSlam to end the feud.

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#2. Real-life: WWE Hall of Famer Sunny

Sunny had much to say about Dolph Ziggler!

It's unclear whether Sunny, aka Tammy Sytch, and Dolph Ziggler had a romantic relationship, but the Hall of Famer boldly claimed that they got intimate for one night.

We won't delve much into the details of their relationship, but we know they slept together in November 2010 after The Showoff suffered a legitimate concussion during his match against Kaval at Survivor Series. The two-time World Heavyweight Champion disobeyed the doctors' orders to meet Sunny.

The former WWE Diva also took a picture of Ziggler to prove to everyone that they had indeed slept together.

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#1. On-screen: Lana

This is, by far, the most controversial love quadrangle Dolph Ziggler was involved in during his illustrious WWE career. Towards the end of Rusev's feud with John Cena, The Bulgarian Brute became quite hostile towards Lana.

After blaming Lana for his loss to Cena at Payback 2015, Rusev seemed to have ended things with his wife. A distraught Lana found solace in the flashy Dolph Ziggler, who was more than welcome to provide a shoulder to cry on and initiate a new romantic relationship.

Rusev romantically linked himself with Summer Rae, and an underwhelming, disastrous Mixed Tag Team feud followed. However, WWE quietly scrapped the program and ended the feud in the fall of 2015 after Lana suffered a wrist injury.