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The 411 Wrestling Top 5 06.29.11: Week 132 – Top Wrestling Couples
Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. Most of our topics will be based on recent events in the Wrestling World, looking at those events that make us think of times past.
So, on to this week’s topic…
Ryan Byers
HM: Lenny & Lodi – I had to relegate them to honorable mention status because WCW ultimately pansied out and announced that they were “brothers,” but Lenny Lane and Lodi probably did the gay partners gimmick better than anybody in wrestling history. Sorry, Billy & Chuck.
HM: Kensuke Sasaki & Akira Hokuto – I can’t think of a better married couple when it comes to pure in-ring ability, though they’re off the main list because, despite the fact that their relationship is acknowledged by wrestling promotions, it’s never played in to storylines all that much.
HM: Dawn Marie & Al Wilson – These two produced television that I loved to hate, as all of their segments sent the levels of unintentional comedy through the roof, mainly due to Al’s poor attempts at acting.
5. Billy Boy & Fabi Apache – In 2007 and the early part of 2008, perhaps one of the most entertaining “sports entertainment” style angles in all of professional wrestling was taking place in Mexico’s AAA promotion. It saw lovers Billy Boy and Faby Apache having a wedge driven in between them by Faby’s wrestler father El Gran Apache. This included all sorts of quality lucha wackiness, such as Billy Boy being forced to leave the company only to return under a mask as Gran Apache’s protege (without Apache noticing) and Gran Apache KIDNAPPING FABY AND BILLY’S CHILD. It was the kind of booking that would result in most daytime soap writers stopping and saying, “Woah, that strains credibility” . . . but it was so over the top that you couldn’t help but love it.
4. Jimmy Jacobs & The Lovely Lacey – Jimmy and Lacey were a different kind of wrestling couple. For months if not years, Jacobs pined and pined for the lovely Minnesotan. In response, she treated him like dirt and manipulated him in to doing whatever met her sadistic needs. That concept in and of itself was entertaining, but then the relationship actually changed and developed in a way that made sense. After years of wearing her down, Jimmy finally got an opportunity to express his love for Lacey, only to find that love was not everything he expected it to be. That sent him off the deep end, and it also resulted in a classic role reversal. It even played into Lacey’s retirement from professional wrestling, as video footage of Jacobs getting ready to do something “unspeakable” to Lacey with a spike in a parking lot was one of the last things we saw from her. (As an aside, that angle apparently had a clever twist ending we never saw due to Gabe Sapolsky’s termination, as most people saw the video as Jacobs threatening to kill Lacey if she didn’t leave ROH when it was ultimately going to be revealed that he threatened to kill himself.)
3. Adrian Street & Miss Linda – Working a gay gimmick at the time and in the places that Street did was bound to garner a good deal of heat. However, when you throw in an attractive woman that most guys in the crowd wanted to be with and then implied that it was the effeminate wrestler who actually got to do her, it took the negative reactions to a whole different level. It was imitated to a certain extent with Goldust and Marlena before Rico and Jackie Gayda more blatantly ripped the act off, but nobody’s done it nearly as well as the originals.
2. Vince & Linda McMahon – These two have to be given some credit just because their angles were positioned on top of the WWF for so long, and, to the chagrin of many “pure wrestling fans” actually did move ratings a bit in a positive direction during the company’s hottest period in recent memory. The only thing keeping me from putting them at number one is, despite the fact that they always got a great reaction, segments involving Vince and Linda were never as compelling as those involving my top couple. This was mainly due to Linda’s limitations as a performer.
1. Randy Savage & Miss Elizabeth – Look, you all knew that these two were going to take the top spot when you clicked on this column. The hook was seeing who everybody would list in spots five through two. Despite that being the case, I may as well devote a few lines to the greatness that was the Savage/Elizabeth duo. Yes, their relationship was on again and off again, and, yes, there were occasionally some uncomfortable undertones indicating that their kayfabe relationship was a bit on the abusive side. However, when the Macho Man was a face and portrayed as the two were portrayed as being a happy couple, there was no duo in history which left wrestling fans with more a “feel good” vibe. Heck, I know grown men who cried – yes CRIED – when the two reunited at Wrestlemania VII. If that doesn’t justify this position, I don’t know what does.
Robert S. Leighty Jr
5. Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty – The #1 relationship in ECW and it was a huge part of the most successful angle in ECW: Raven vs. Dreamer. Years after their run in ECW, it’s still fun to see Beulah show up for a surprise appearance with Dreamer to continue the story of the two.
4. Vince and Linda McMahon – Linda McMahon is a saint for putting up with Vince McMahon for as long as he has. These two have built a wrestling empire, and Linda deserves as much credit as Vince for that. On screen they have had one of the craziest relationships you will ever see and my guess is that things off screen may have been just as turbulent.
3. Edge and Lita – Poor Matt Hardy! Edge steals his women and then he gets such tremendous heat from his pairing with her on TV that he comes a Main Event player. These two were made to be together on screen and they played off one another perfectly. The fact they were able to get through the Live Sex Celebration with a straight face was a feat in and of itself. Edge was going to be a World Champion with or without Lita, but the pairing with her put him on a different level.
2. HHH and Stephanie McMahon – It started out as an angle to get HHH over as a Main Event star and ended with him marrying the bosses daughter and the heir apparent. There is no denying these two have instant chemistry and that continues to this day. I love all the wink wink moments between the two when they do come across each other on TV.
1. “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Elizabeth – I can’t see any case being made for any other couple. The story of these two transcended wrestling at various moments, and nothing will ever touch their reunion at WrestleMania VII in terms of sheer joy and emotion from a crowd. Savage is one of the greatest of all time, and it was Liz that played a huge part in that. Sadly things didn’t end well as neither is with us today.
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Greg DeMarco
HM: Chris & Nancy – Too soon?
5. Edge & Lita – I’m as big of a fan of Edge as any. But we tend to forget that the off screen relationship with Lita ended both Lita’s long-term relationship with Matt Hardy and Edge’s second marriage, to Lisa Ortiz. What it did accomplish was launching Edge into superstardom, and he took Lita with him. Many reports indicate that Edge and Lita’s off screen relationship was already over by the time Edge won the WWE Championship and the “live sex scene” took place on RAW. But Edge was solidified, and went on to become one of the most decorated WWE superstars in history, whose recent retirement sent the WWE into a “panic mode” that is still being felt right now.
4. Christian & Trish Stratus – The Chris Jericho-Christian storyline over Trish Stratus was a brilliant piece of relationship rooted booking. Jericho & Christian bet one Canadian dollar to see who can bag their girl first, Trish or Lita. But for Jericho, it became less of a game and more of a personal attraction. Trish learns of the bet and ends her relationship with Jericho, but they eventually become friends thanks to Jericho saving her from Kane’s attack. Christian turns heel against Jericho and involves Trish in the feud, leading to the WrestleMania 20 match between the Canadian Chris’s. Trish comes out, “mistakenly” nails Jericho, giving Christian the win. Mistakenly indeed…until they reveal that Christian & Trish were the real couple—Trish citing that Christian was a “real man” and Jericho was a “love-sick puppy.” If you’re going to book a love triangle, THAT’s how you book it.
3. Vince & Linda McMahon – There is no couple more powerful in all of wrestling than Vince & Linda McMahon. Behind the scenes they took a regional promotion national, then took a national promotion global. The WWE is no longer a wrestling company, it’s not a corporate entity, and it’s not a multimedia giant. It’s a “brand.” Vince, like many of the world’s most powerful men, is backed by an amazingly supportive spouse in Linda. Vince is supportive as well, getting behind her political campaign mentally, emotionally and financially. There’s no telling when they will step down from complete power in the WWE, but we already know who’ll be taking over…
2. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon – When this on-screen relationship started, all I could think was “poor Test.” He went over Triple H clean, and there were rumors at the time that Shane had pushed for a Test title run. Then Triple H interrupts the wedding, and Test quickly became an afterthought. The McMahon-Helmsley Era soon led to a marriage and three children, and also crowned wrestling’s most powerful couple right behind #3 on my list.
1. Randy Savage & Miss Elizabeth – As we all know by now, the best way to end a real marriage involving one or two people in wrestling is to make it part of a storyline. Lesson to wrestlers: marry ugly, or don’t marry at all! Savage and Elizabeth made a great wrestling couple. He was barbaric and paranoid, she was innocent and beautiful. If they debuted today, he’d be billed as a womanizer and she a virgin. Real life might have torn them apart, but not until after the perfect WrestleMania VII reunion and subsequent on-screen marriage.
Wes Kirk
HM: Adrian Street and Miss Linda – Set the standard for unusual couples
HM: Goldust and Marlena – Broke new ground in the Attitude era for bizarre!
HM: Marc Mero and Sable – A great jealous boyfriend vs. popular Diva pairing
5. “Gorgeous” Jimmy Garvin and Precious – Before there were many of the modern couples in wrestling, Jimmy Garvin and his real life wife Precious were big news in the South, from WCCW to AWA all the way to NWA. The future Freebird used Precious to help distract his opponents and take advantage for a victory, but also had to deal with a number of men trying to woo Precious from him. He feuded with Ric Flair and Kevin Sullivan over her and would eventually return as part of the Freebirds, but remained married outside the ring to Precious.
4. Vince and Linda McMahon – On-camera and in real life, the McMahons are in a lot of ways the mother and father of modern wrestling even if they despise the term. Vince and Linda are an example of a relationship that survived numerous cases of on-air and real life infidelity, and brought some interesting moments to the WWF such as Linda being doped up to prevent a divorce and then kicking Vince in the nuts at WrestleMania X-7 to help their son Shane, and Linda constantly being a foil for the Corporation and the “Higher Power” himself before a brief heel turn.
3. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon – This relationship began on-air and then carried over into real life, which was mostly opposite the other picks in this list. Stephanie was tired of the treatment from her father, so she dated Triple H to help fight her battles when Vince and HHH began feuding. HHH was only too happy to be married into the owner’s family, and they ran the WWF basically into the ground on-air before becoming married in real life and mostly staying behind the scenes. It was this moment that led to HHH’s multiple world championships and never-ending push and made him the smartest backstage politician ever.
2. Edge and Lita – Who could forget this duo? The raunchy Edge and dare-devilish Lita ended up together when Lita turned on then-boyfriend Kane due to the real life infidelity with Edge that broke up Lita and Matt Hardy. Edge and Lita’s stock skyrocketed during the Hardy-Edge feud, despite the crowd turning on Lita originally, which forced her to turn heel. After mopping the floor with Matt, Edge would become WWE Champion over John Cena and have the infamous Live Sex Celebration on RAW, and the two would be an entertaining on-air couple until Lita’s retirement in November 2006.
1. Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth – OOOOHHHHHH YEAH, DIG IT! Before the era of hot Divas, Miss Elizabeth entered the WWF as probably the only attractive female as the manager of the new sensation Randy Savage, who blew off the offers of all other managers for her. Savage played the belligerent and controlling boyfriend to a tee, and ended up losing Elizabeth due to his jealousy and hatred of Hulk Hogan. Later, they would re-unite in a tearful moment after his loss to the Ultimate Warrior, and in WCW Elizabeth would turn on Savage to reverse the roles with Ric Flair and the nWo later on. Their real life marriage didn’t work out in the end but they remained together on the air for years afterward, leaving behind a legacy so far nobody has come close to touching.
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