The familial bonds that exist within the professional wrestling business run very deep, even when it comes to wrestling promoters and their sons-in-law. There is a supposedly unwritten law that says don’t date the promoter’s daughter, and obviously if it ends badly it could mean a lot more than just your career. But every so often no one seems to pay attention to unwritten rules.
That unwritten rule is just as Kayfabe as anything else in professional wrestling. They might not have all lasted, but over the years wrestlers and promoter’s daughters have shown that true love can exist even the in the fantastical world of professional wrestling. There have been several superstars who have successfully married into the promoter’s family and those marriages have withstood both the test of time and the wrestling business itself.
8 BJ Annis And Ben Bassarab / Stu Hart
Comparing the sons-in-law of Stu and Helen Hart is like comparing apples and pomegranates. The two more successful ones will be touched upon later. The two lesser known are Ben Bassarab and B.J. Annis.
Both men didn’t achieve the legendary status of the rest of the Hart children or Hart in-laws. While Bassarab wishes to live a quieter life with his second wife, Annis unfortunately has to endure tons of questions in regard to his son, Teddy Hart.
7 Rocky Johnson / Peter Maivia
Other than the McMahon family, there might not be another prominent family in the wrestling business than the Anoa’i / Maivia ancestry. Considering practically every patriarch has at least two to three kids and the women either marry a wrestler and the boys become wrestlers, the original patriarch, Peter Maivia was running a small promotion in Hawaii that plenty of the boys enjoyed working in - it was Hawaii, after all.
His daughter, Lia though was the reason that the Soul Man Rocky Johnson kept wanting to come back. The two would eventually marry and have a son named Dwayne - it’s hard to tell whatever happened to him, though…
6 Jerry Jarrett / Eddie Marlin
Speaking of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, there should be a bit of an asterisk next to his name when describing him as the first ever Third Generation Superstar in WWE. If that distinction was meant solely for wrestlers it would be true. But as far as entertainers in the industry, that title might belong to ol’ Double J Jeff Jarrett.
He is the son of Jerry Jarrett, whose mother was promoter Christine Jarrett. Jerry also would marry Deborah Marlin at back in 1960, and her father was wrestler and promoter, Eddie Marlin.
5 Brian Blair And Doug Sommers / Leroy McGuirk
Despite being blind, Leroy McGuirk had an eye for talent. He also had an eye for which wrestlers wanted to put their grubby mits on his daughter, Mike. He nearly murdered The Million Dollar Man for it (had it not been for Jim Ross' quick thinking, he might have!).
He must have loosened up a bit in his later years. She dated and married not one, but two wrestlers. She would marry the likes of Doug Somers and B. Brian Blair, making both men at different times, the son-in-law of the promoter.
4 Jim The Anvil Neidhart / Stu Hart
It always seemed a little kayfabe that a guy with the last name of Neidhart would find his way not just to Stu Hart, but he’d marry one of his daughters as well to make a true Hart Foundation.
He would marry the eldest daughter Ellie, and together would have Nattie, who is low-key one of the best workers the WWE has, male or female. Neidhart would become very close with his brothers-in-law and Bret has always said that teaming with Neidhart was a major reason he was able to survive his early years in WWE.
3 The British Bulldog / Stu Hart
At the other end of the Hart girl spectrum was the youngest girl, Diana. She would marry Davey Boy Smith, The British Bulldog. The couple were married until 2000. Davey Boy was already pretty close with several of the Hart brothers and marrying into the family built on that friendship.
During that time, Diana would occasionally join into the storylines, most famously accusing Shawn Michaels of harassment and cheering on both her husband and brother Bret during their epic SummerSlam 1992 clash.
It's quite incredible to think that the Hart brothers practically all became wrestlers and the sisters ended up marrying wrestlers.
2 Larry Zbyszko / Verne Gagne
The Living Legend Larry Zbyszko was being trained by Bruno Sammartino and their eventual falling out led to a blood feud which Larry still cites to this very day as the highlight of his career. But meeting his wife, Kathleen Gagne has got to rank up there as well for The Mayor Of Larryland.
The couple married in 1988 and Larry tried to keep the family business afloat for his father-in-law. He was the AWA’s final champion before heading to WCW.
1 Triple H / Vince McMahon
In perhaps the most beneficial working yourself into a shoot moment there has ever been in the wrestling business, Triple H takes the cake. The Game had made a suggestion that he ruin the storyline wedding between Stephanie McMahon and Test. From that moment on, the two were virtually inseparable, in and out of the ring!
Despite Vince’s initial reluctance (he told them to knock it off) and some of his coworkers whispering behind their back, the love between Mr. and Mrs. Cerebral Assassin blossomed into marriage and three children together. They have both stated in interviews that professional wrestling is actually the farthest thing from both their minds when they get home. Considering he runs most, if not all of WWE Creative, nowadays, that can’t be very often.
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