If you haven’t noticed yet, relationships in the world of WWE are volatile. There have been countless instances of friends turned into foes and brothers at each other’s throats.
This list consists of wrestlers who turned on their friends or family to advance their own career, out of sheer jealousy or just old fashioned rage.
Although there have been many such betrayals in the long history of the WWE, here are the top 5 instances.
#5 Stephanie joins the dark side
At the end of 1999, Stephanie McMahon was ‘dating’ the late Andrew ‘Test’ Martin on WWE television. In November 1999 she was all set to marry him on an episode of Monday Night Raw after getting the approval of her father and brother, when Triple H came out and revealed that he’d already married the Billion Dollar Princess when she’d been in an inebriated state.
An enraged Vince McMahon, who couldn’t stand the idea of his beloved daughter being married to someone like Triple H, challenged Triple H to a No Holds Barred match.
Vince fought valiantly against his much younger opponent and went down fighting.
After Triple H had finally won, Stephanie rushed into the ring to foreseeably come to the aid of her father, However, she ended up turning on him and embracing Triple H.
She would later say that this was for Vince always putting himself ahead of the family. This would also lead to the beginning of the McMahon-Helmsley era.
#4 The Mega Powers explode
Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were two of the most popular wrestlers in the world during the 1980’s. When the two icons joined forces to form The Mega Powers, fans went nuts. During their short run, they became one of the most popular tag teams of all time.
Cracks started forming between the Hulkster and Macho Man because of Hogan becoming close to Macho Man’s manager and girlfriend, Miss Elizabeth.
Hogan also accidentally eliminated Macho Man from the 1989 Royal Rumble, which further damaged the relationship between the duo.
Matters came to a head during an episode of Main Event when Hogan left during a match to get an unconscious Miss Elizabeth some medical attention, leaving Macho Man in the ring alone at the mercy of Akeem and The Big Boss Man.
When Hogan came back out, Savage slapped him in the face and left the ring.
Later in the back, when Hogan went to check on Miss Elizabeth he and Savage argued again before Savage hit him in the face with the title belt before walking away, thus bringing and end to The Mega Powers.
This also began the heated rivalry between Hogan and Savage, and of course, Hulk Hogan went over.
#3 Evolution takes out Randy Orton
When we think of factions in the Ruthless Aggression Era, the first one that comes to mind is Evolution. Consisting of the legend Ric Flair, Triple H in his prime and then up and coming Batista and Randy Orton, they consisted of the past, the present and the future.
The group dominated WWE before jealousy reared its ugly head when Randy Orton won the World Heavyweight Title from Chris Benoit at SummerSlam, becoming the youngest champion of all time.
After Orton retained the title on an episode of Raw, Evolution came out to congratulate Orton. However, the celebration soon turned into a brutal attack.
Batista had Orton hoisted on his shoulders during the celebration before Triple H gave the thumbs down and Batista dropped Orton and he was brutalized by his former stablemates for having the gall to think he could be champion.
#2 Seth Rollins turns his back on The Shield
The Sheild are the most dominant group in the modern era of the WWE. They were unbeaten for almost six months (in six-man tags) in the months after their debut. They beat every opponent thrown at them and were a major thorn for The Authority. They considered each other brothers and worked together like a well-oiled machine.
At Payback 2014 they defeated Evolution in an elimination tag match with no members of The Shield eliminated. Triple H revealed his ‘Plan B’ to destroy The Shield on Raw the next night with all three members in the ring in front of him.
Then Seth Rollins attacked his brothers Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose with a steel chair signaling his departure and the breakup of The Shield.
#1 Triple H turns on Shawn Michaels
In the mid 90’s, the original incarnation of Degenration X, Shawn Michaels and Triple H, ruled over the WWE. The two were closer than friends, more akin to brothers. All this changed when Shawn Michaels suffered a career threatening back injury and had to temporarily retire.
In the years that Michaels spent away from the ring, Triple H ascended to the top of the WWE and became one of the most hated heels in the business.
When Michaels made his return in 2002, it looked for a moment like the original DX were going to reunite. DX’s music hit and the duo walked out to the ring in DX shirts. Their happy reunion soon ended when Triple H pedigreed Michaels in the ring much to the dismay of the crowd and everyone watching from home.
A week later Triple H attacked Shawn Michaels in the parking lot during an episode of RAW and one of the most vicious and personal feuds the WWE has ever done had well and truly begun.
