While many WWE couples make their wedding into an extravagant occasion, others prefer to make it a modest event. As a well-known celebrity, it's hard to keep some parts of their personal life a secret. Still, several current and former WWE stars have somehow been able to walk down the aisle in secret in the past.
The backlash from social media seems to be the main reason why many of these stars preferred to marry in secret. Others appear to have kept their marriage private even after their ceremony because they deemed it to be their own personal information to share.
Here are just five WWE couples who decided to get married in secret.
#5. Former WWE Champion John Cena and Shay Shariatzadeh
The most recent addition to the list, John Cena secretly married longtime girlfriend, Shay Shariatzadeh, at a Tampa attorney's office on Monday. According to Metro, the couple, who have been together for around 18 months, obtained their marriage license on Friday, Oct. 9.
The couple was first linked together back in March 2019, just a year after Cena announced his split from former WWE star Nikki Bella. They reportedly met while Cena was filming Playing With Fire.
Bella and Cena were together for six years and planning their own wedding when the couple called it a quits in April 2018. Bella has since gone on to announce her engagement to Artem Chigvintsev and the couple recently welcomed their first child.
This is Cena's second marriage. The former WWE Champion and his ex-wife, Elizabeth Huberdeau, jumped the broom in 2009 but they finalized their divorce in 2012.
#4. Current WWE star Sasha Banks and Sarath Ton
Sasha Banks has become one stalwart of the women's division since she made her debut on WWE's main roster back in 2015. The Boss has been in a relationship throughout her WWE career with the resident costume designer, Sarath Ton, who wrestled as Kid Mikaze.
The couple got hitched in a private ceremony back in the summer of 2016. Banks kept their marriage a secret for more than a year afterward because she was scared of the backlash from the WWE Universe.
During an appearance on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory Podcast back in 2017, Banks finally came clean about their wedding
“OK, you know what? Yes. I’ll tell you. You’re the first one I’ve admitted it to. I am married. I just hide it because our fans are so crazy sometimes, you know? Fans are just so crazy. I see what they write to him on Twitter, and I don’t like that stuff. If you’re saying he’s ugly, or he shouldn’t be with me because of this or that. That hurts me.”
Banks and Sarah Ton married in August 2016 but the former women's champion rarely talks about her personal life.
#3. WWE Legend The Rock and Lauren Hashian
Dwayne Johnson and his girlfriend, Lauren Hashian, first met back in 2006 when Johnson was filming The Game Plan. Johnson divorces his first wife Dany Garcia in 2008, which was when the couple began dating.
After more than a decade together and two children, The Rock finally announced that he had married Hashian in a secret ceremony in Hawaii.
The couple reportedly married on an island on Aug. 18, 2019. The Rock broke the news to his Instagram followers the following day, sharing some stunning images from the event.
The former WWE star wore several leis for the ceremony, which are said to be symbols of love and respect. Meanwhile, his wife wore a beautiful floor-length gown, which reportedly cost almost $13,000.
Together the couple has two daughters: Jasmine Lia, who was born back in December 2016, and Taina Gia, who was born in April 2018. The Rock also has an older daughter named Simone, who is currently training at WWE's Performance Center.
#2. Current WWE star Finn Balor and Veronica Rodriguez
Finn Balor currently performs on WWE's NXT after he lost his match to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam 2019. Afterward, Balor took some time away from the ring. During his hiatus, the former Universal Champion married his girlfriend, Veronica Rodriguez, in a secret ceremony.
The WWE star made it public knowledge that he was in a relationship with the Fox New Reporter in June 2019, before they exchanged vows in the following month.
Instead of announcing their marriage, Balor took to Instagram to share the above image where it appeared that Balor and his girlfriend were now husband and wife.
Finn Balor has always been discreet when it comes to his personal life but he was also linked to a relationship with Cathy Kelley ahead of her WWE exit. The couple was rumored to have been dating for a long time before Balor officially made their romance public in the following interview.
“Uh, I think the big question is, on everyone’s lip is, have Finn Balor and Vero Rockstar [her social media handle] been actually dating for a long time? Is that true?”
Rodriguez replied, “Is that true? Yeah, for a long time actually.”
It's unclear how long the pair have been officially dating, but the happy couple has been married for over a year now.
#1. Former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose and Renee Young
Renee Young and Dean Ambrose met while both stars were working for WWE and began their relationship in 2013. The couple received a lot of abuse from the WWE Universe because of Ambrose's popularity in the company at that time, which could be why they opted to have a private wedding ceremony in 2015.
The couple's marriage remained a secret for almost two years. Renee Young went on to reveal all the details about their wedding, which took place in their own back garden in Las Vegas.
“We were going to bed and he like busted out the ring and we were like, 'Oh man I guess we should do this now.' So we ended up going on Yelp and we found a 24-hour pastor to come to our backyard. It was so handy and his name was Pastor Pete and he lived around the corner from us, so he was there. They were very concerned by the way because it was 1 o'clock in the morning, so technically it was Sunday and they were very concerned about us calling, they were like, 'Is everything OK? Have you guys been drinking? What's happening?' We're like, 'It's fine, you can come down.' So we had to get a witness and we called and woke up a friend of ours and got it done.”
Young and Ambrose have been together for more than five years and have both since left WWE.