10 current WWE Superstars who were friends before joining WWE
Several superstars have developed close friendships while working together in WWE. For example, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville became best friends after participating in the 2015 Tough Enough competition. Triple H and Shawn Michaels have also had a close bond since The Game joined Vince McMahon's company in the mid-1990s.
Meanwhile, a few other WWE Superstars were friends before signing with the company. While two played for the same football team, two others attended the same university.
Here are ten current WWE Superstars who were friends before joining the company.
#10 & #9. Former WWE Champions Sheamus and Drew McIntyre
Sheamus and Drew McIntyre met for the first time in 2005. At the time, the Brawling Brute was a regular competitor in Irish Whip Wrestling. Meanwhile, the same promotion invited then-college student McIntyre to Ireland as part of their talent-switch affiliation program with British Championship Wrestling, where The Scottish Warrior competed.
In his autobiography, "A Chosen Destiny: My Story," McIntyre disclosed how he and Sheamus became friends.
"I was invited over to Ireland to work for Irish Whip Wrestling, which had a talent-switch affiliation program with BCW—and a slot on Sky TV. It was here that I first met Sheamus, and we hit it off right away. He was seven years older than me, but we were equally obsessed with forging a path to WWE. My first impression was, Wow, he looks like how a wrestler is supposed to look. As muscled as a human anatomy chart. He was glad to see me too. Up until that point he had been wrestling smaller guys and, at six-foot-five (and a very important half an inch), I matched him for height, though not for that insane musculature," he wrote.
Since then, the two have become very close friends. McIntyre even stated that his parents treated Sheamus like one of the family, as he would sleep on their sofa when he visited Scotland. The Scottish Warrior also lived at Sheamus' house for some time, as he revealed in an interview with Busted Open.
"He was there during all the good times and obviously all the bad times and I wouldn't have gotten through a lot of them without him being there for me," said McIntyre. "I literally lived in his house at one point. (...) When I was fired and was still trying to find myself, I was living there and he was looking out for me. He's always been such a big brother for me," he said.
In 2007, the two best friends officially signed with WWE. They are currently feuding on SmackDown. Next Friday, the two will square off in the first-ever Shillelagh Match for a shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle.
#8 & #7. Former RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch and former Universal Champion Finn Balor
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When she was only 15, Becky Lynch and her brother, Richy, joined Finn Balor's wrestling school in Bray, County Wicklow, which was only an hour and a half away from their house. It was there that she developed a friendship with Balor.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Lynch stated that Balor was the reason she made it to WWE. Earlier in her career, Big Time Becks suffered an injury that forced her to step away from the ring for seven years. Nevertheless, the former Universal Champion was the one who convinced her to return to wrestling.
"Balor is the one person that changed everything - he is the reason I am here. I was sitting down with him for lunch one day and saying how I didn't know whether to come back and he said: 'Go back now because I'm not sitting here with you in 10 years when it'll be too late,'" she explained.
Both Balor and Lynch are currently on the Monday Night RAW roster. Big Time Becks will challenge Bianca Belair for the RAW Women's Championship at SummerSlam. That same night, Balor will team up with his Judgment Day partner Damian Priest to face The Mysterios.
#6 & #5. Former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and former Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin
Before they signed with WWE 22 years ago, Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin attended the University of Minnesota. While The Beast Incarnate was a member of the university's wrestling team, Benjamin was an assistant coach in his senior year.
In an interview with Chasing Glory, Benjamin revealed how he and Lesnar became friends.
"My senior year [at University of Minnesota] was where I met Brock [wrestling]. We were at a tournament. I lost my match, but Lesnar won the tournament. Of course, when you see Brock, it's like 'holy cow.' The Minnesota wrestling coaches swarmed him. He obviously came to Minnesota and that was when we became friends. I was a heavyweight, even though, I was a small heavyweight. Brock and I were in the same weight class," he said. (H/T: Wrestling Inc.)
Both wrestlers signed with WWE in 2000 and reported to the company's then-developmental brand OVW. They then lived together for some time.
Benjamin last competed about a month ago when he participated in a Battle Royal on Monday Night RAW. Meanwhile, Lesnar has not wrestled since losing his WWE Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37. He will now go head-to-head against The Tribal Chief for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at SummerSlam.
#4 & #3. Former Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn and former Universal Champion Kevin Owens
Over two decades ago, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens first met while competing on the independent circuit in their home country of Canada. They then quickly developed a friendship. The two even won a few tag team titles together in different promotions.
In 2013, Zayn signed with WWE. About a year and a half later, his best friend joined him in Vince McMahon's company. Over the past few years, the two have shared the ring several times as partners and opponents.
In an interview with the In This Corner podcast, Owens spoke about his friendship with Zayn, disclosing that they are like brothers.
"I would say that we are more like brothers than we are friends. You know you don't choose your relatives, you don't choose who your brother is, you don't choose who your sister is, you don't choose your family. You were born into a family. In this case, we weren't born into each others families but we, from the start of our careers when we started wrestling on the independent scene in the U.S and even back home in Canada. Once we started getting our name out there and more recognized, people just booked us together all the time, and that wasn't our choice," he said. (H/T: Give Me Sport)
Owens is currently active on Monday Night RAW. Meanwhile, Zayn is now on SmackDown. Neither superstar has been booked for SummerSlam 2022 yet.
#2 & #1. Pat McAfee and former United States Champion Happy Corbin
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In April 2009, Happy Corbin signed with NFL side Indianapolis Colts, where he first met Pat McAfee. Although the two were teammates for a short period before the team released Corbin from his contract, they developed a friendship.
In an interview with After The Bell in 2020, McAfee disclosed that he and Corbin bonded over their love for wrestling.
"Corbin was known as Football Tom. Football Tom and I were rookies together with the Indianapolis Colts. We spent plenty a day and night together trying to figure out our lives on whether or not we were going to make it in the NFL. I was drafted in the 7th round, picked number 222. Tom and I got a chance to hang out. I think he stayed at my house for a little while. We went out a lot and befriended each other. We started this conversation having a common bond which was wrestling. We knew a lot about each other. He and I are very different people but wrestling was our bond," he said. (H/T: Wrestling News)
The current SmackDown color commentator also revealed that Corbin helped him during his early days in WWE.
"We grew tight and we were friends. He got cut from the Colts and went to the Cardinals. I got a chance to watch him on the WWE Network. I was so proud and happy for him following his career. We kept in touch. Obviously, as I did commentary for the Kickoff panels and I started getting into it, he was the guy I leaned on heavily to ask him like if I had a question, who should I ask because I didn’t want to step on any toes. Old King Corbin has been a guy I leaned on for conversation. I am a very big fan of that man as a human and an entertainer," McAfee added. (H/T: Wrestling News)
The two old friends are currently feuding in WWE. They will square off against each other at SummerSlam next Saturday.