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WWE Superstars have always enjoyed their time in the locker room together, and the time they spend backstage allows them to make lifelong friends. Several WWE Superstars have even gone on to marry fellow wrestlers after spending a lot of time backstage and on the road together.
As time progresses in each Superstar’s career, they get more experience and earn more respect backstage. This allows them to become a leadership figure backstage as they try to pass on their wisdom to newer talent and also help solve certain matters backstage.
In fact, some locker room leaders such as The Undertaker and John Cena have solved rather bizarre situations backstage. Even Triple H has revealed that he took advice from then-locker room leader The Undertaker before getting into a relationship with Stephanie McMahon!
That is the responsibility and respect a locker room leader can earn over some time, and while some men like Cena, Roman Reigns, and AJ Styles come across as natural locker room leaders on screen, many former and current Superstars have been silently doing their work backstage without the fans really knowing the influence they have on other talents.
In this article, we will look at the 6 WWE Superstars you might not know were locker room leaders.
#6 Hardcore Holly
Hardcore Holly was a popular WWE Superstar back in the 90s and early 2000s. The Superstar was known for his bad-ass gimmick, and strength, and his multiple reigns as the WWE Hardcore Champion, which made him one of the most successful hardcore wrestlers of his time.
While Holly was well-liked by fans, he was known as a bully backstage even though many believed he was a locker room leader.
Holly had a hardcore WWE career
On The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast, Holly revealed that he once punched Rene Dupree legitimately during a match as payback for using Holly’s car and getting a speeding ticket.
The ticket led to Holly’s license getting suspended, but as the locker room leader, he got away with his actions and Dupree received a lot of heat.
Holly ejected a few men from the locker room, with Mr. Kennedy being one of the bigger Superstars ejected at the hands of Holly. He wrote about several such encounters in his book titled ‘The Hardcore Truth: The Bob Holly Story’ that came out in 2013. Holly revealed the following on pg. 231 of his book:
"I'd been with the company long enough to be considered a locker-room leader, one of the veterans who unofficially helped run things and kept the boys in order."
#5 Natalya
Natalya is seen as one of the biggest figures in WWE over the past decade or so. Not only is she extremely good in the ring, but her character and overall persona has helped her carry herself extremely well during each outing.
Even though The Queen of Harts has only won a couple of Championships during her career - far less than how many she should have won by now - she is far from done wrestling in the ring.
Natalya is one of the most experienced women in the women's locker room today, and she has used her experience well to influence the careers of several other top Superstars.
Natalya helped Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey is one WWE Superstar who has benefitted from Natalya's advice and help, and constantly credits her friend as her biggest influence in WWE.
Natalya remains an integral part of WWE RAW and continues to play a big role backstage even though she isn’t involved in too many rivalries or matches now.
The Queen of Harts is considered a locker-room leader, and was the first to put her hand up to perform in Saudi Arabia. She will likely become a major figure at the Performance Center once she retires from the ring.
#4 & #3 Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
NXT has developed into the third major brand of WWE, and NXT's creative head Triple H, has the likes of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to thank for the recent success of NXT.
While many Superstars have come into WWE NXT, gotten a lot of experience and exposure, and moved onto other brands, Ciampa and Gargano have remained constants for the Black & Gold brand.
Gargano and Ciampa are seen as the future of WWE
The two men are icons both on-screen and off it as they are regarded as locker room leaders by Triple H himself, in WWE NXT. The Game himself revealed the following about the two leading men of WWE NXT:
"Watching them grow as performers because of this and take it to another level than the ones that you've done before -- that's difficult when there's an art form to that. I've watched them grow and that is the thing that's, I don't want to say it's surprising. It's just really cool watching them go through that."
"They've been a pleasure to work with. Seeing that level of guys walking in the door sheepishly trying to find a place for themselves to guys who are probably leaders of a locker room of 100 talent or so that are of all different levels of skill. Even to the point where we were just at the Mae Young Classic and Tegan Nox has a tragic accident and blows her knee out and they take her through the back door and the doctors are there with her and by the time I come around to the back a lot of the other women are around her, and as I walk into the back the person holding the icepack on her knee is Tommaso Ciampa. He's a leader. Gargano is a leader. Aleister Black is a leader in the locker room to those people. That will resonate here. I look for those things in talent."
While Adam Cole, Keith Lee, and several other Superstars may be at the forefront of the brand right now, it’s these two veterans who are leading the brand backstage and ensuring everything goes according to plan.
#2 The Miz
Some fans may not be aware of the time The Miz was kicked out of the WWE locker room at the start of his career and was forced to change in small rooms backstage.
The former WWE Champion, who may not be the biggest Superstar in WWE, is seen as a locker room leader backstage. Even though his goofy on-screen character does not show that he can hand down advice to newer talent, The Miz thinks his approach to leading the locker room is much different than that of John Cena or The Undertaker.
The Miz is a big figure behind the scenes in WWE
In an interview with SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, The A-Lister had the following to say about his role:
“I don’t think I will ever be a locker room leader like The Undertaker or John Cena. I am not someone that sits in the back watching the monitor and observing everyone.”
“I have to get in the ring to feel exactly how you are. That is how I teach. I teach by example, instead of saying to them what they did wrong. I need to get in the ring with them and be able to feel what the are doing, so that is how I am able to teach.”
The Miz is one of WWE’s biggest mid-card stars, and since he has a long career ahead of him, we can expect him to give some valuable lessons and advice to his fellow WWE Superstars.
#1 Bayley
Bayley may be the nicest or the meanest person on television, depending on the character she is playing, but she is arguably the nicest WWE Superstar backstage.
Bayley is the first-ever Women’s Grand Slam Champion in WWE, and even though she has played a babyface character on television for most of her career, she is a strong figure backstage.
A lot of WWE Superstars praise Bayley's work ethics
During an interview with RoundaRousey.com, Sonya Deville was asked who she thinks is a locker room leader backstage. Her reply to the question was as below:
"Bayley is definitely one—she's like the locker room leader always. She's someone you could go to for advice or if you have questions about how things work or whoever it was, she's definitely just a natural leader in the locker room. Becky was someone that I always went to too. Becky's cool because she's one of those people that leads by example. She's not going to tell you what to do with your life, but she just carries herself in a way that's admirable."
The Role Model of WWE is known to lead by example, and she helps out just about everyone she can, especially those who approach her.
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