5 current WWE stars whose spouses may never return to the company
Many real-life WWE couples are currently on NXT, Monday Night RAW, and SmackDown. Meanwhile, other competitors are married to wrestlers who have previously worked for the promotion but are no longer signed to the Stamford-based company.
While some of the mentioned former superstars voluntarily left WWE and stepped away from in-ring competition, others were split from their partners by the spree of releases the company witnessed in the last few years. Although some competitors have recently returned to the company to reunite with their partners, such as Charlotte Flair's husband Andrade, others may never do.
While a current top champion's wife has announced her retirement from wrestling due to an injury, another legend previously revealed that he had demanded that his spouse leave the promotion for their relationship to continue.
Check out five current WWE stars whose spouses may never return to the company below:
#5. World Heavyweight Champion Gunther's wife, Jinny
Gunther has been a dominant force since his promotion to the main roster in 2022. After a historic run as Intercontinental Champion, The Ring General captured the World Heavyweight Title earlier this year at SummerSlam. While he continues his success in WWE, his wife, Jinny, has left the company and retired from wrestling.
Jinny competed in different promotions before joining the Stamford-based company in 2018. While in NXT, she started dating Gunther. Before their wedding ceremony last year, the 37-year-old English star announced her retirement from wrestling due to an injury in a heartbreaking post on X:
"After a long time away due to an injury, I have made the decision to hang up my fashionable boots. Thank you for all the memories. I'll remember for them forever. Every journey has an end, but in life, every ending is just a new beginning. I'm excited about what's next 💋," she wrote.
While Jinny may never return to WWE, she and her husband welcomed their first child in December 2023. Last September, she posted a photo with her son on Instagram, captioning it "mum life."
#4. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes' wife, Brandi Rhodes
Cody Rhodes met his wife, Brandi, during his first stint in the Stamford-based company. The couple tied the knot in September 2013 and now have a daughter together.
In 2016, The American Nightmare and his wife requested their release and left the company. Over the six years, the couple worked together in other promotions, including AEW. Although Cody returned to WWE in 2022, his wife did not. Instead, she stepped away from wrestling, launching her own yoga and pilates studio.
In an interview with Fightful, Brandi addressed why she stepped away from wrestling:
"So yeah, we did a little trial to say, you know, how does this whole thing work with a baby and a bus and traveling, and Becky Lynch can do it. Well, let me just say, guys, Becky Lynch can do anything. Brandi, however, kind of kind of threw in the towel after that. It was really fun. It was really great, but I could tell pretty quickly, it wasn't going to work for this family to travel together and be on the road. I've got a little girl who's extremely social and active and like was itching to start doing school and things like that. I was just like, 'You know what? I was planning on throwing in the towel like a year from now anyway. So what's one year, really?'" [H/T: Fightful]
Brandi made a one-off appearance alongside her husband at WrestleMania 40. However, she made it clear in her interview with Fightful that her full-time wrestling career has ended.
#3. Michin's husband, Keith Lee
Keith Lee had a three-year run in WWE between 2018 and 2021. However, he failed to make a significant impact before he and his wife, Michin (FKA Mia Yim) were released from their contracts in November 2021.
While Michin returned to the Stamford-based company in 2022, her husband did not. Instead, the 40-year-old joined AEW. However, the former NXT Champion has not competed for Tony Khan's promotion in a year. His last match took place on an episode of Collision against Brian Cage.
Meanwhile, Lee struggled with health issues during his time in WWE. He also reportedly underwent double surgeries earlier this year. With his age, health status, and current AEW ties, there is a probability fans may never see Michin's husband again in the Stamford-based company.
#2. Brock Lesnar's wife, Sable
Brock Lesnar debuted in WWE in 2002. Despite his enormous success, The Beast Incarnate's first run ended in 2004 as he decided to leave the company to pursue other options.
The multi-time world champion entered a romantic relationship with Sable during his first stint in the promotion. When he left 20 years ago, he demanded that his real-life partner also depart for their relationship to continue, as he revealed in his book "Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival":
"I wanted to marry Rena (Sable). However, before I could do this, I needed her to get out of WWE. 'If we want a relationship,' I told her, 'neither one of us can work for that company. We both know the long-term side effects of everything there.' That was my only demand. Nothing else. Just that. And so she left World Wrestling Entertainment. She had worked so hard to get back into that company, and now she was leaving it again, except this time she was giving up her career for me. It couldn’t have been an easy decision," he wrote.
The couple married in 2006. They now have two sons together. Although Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 his wife did not. In 2019, Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson claimed the company's talents were banned from mentioning Sable's name.
While The Beast Incarnate has been absent from TV since August 2023, there is also an extremely low probability that Sable would ever return to WWE.
CM Punk's wife, AJ Lee
CM Punk left WWE on bad terms in 2014. His wife, AJ Lee, followed in his footsteps the following year. The former Divas Champion has since stepped away from in-ring competition.
Although The Best in the World returned last year, his wife remained focused on her projects away from the wrestling business. Despite fans and even top superstars expressing their desire to see her comeback, her husband refused to confirm that she would ever come out of retirement for another WWE run in a recent interview with Peter Rosenberg on Cheap Heat:
"It's more of a workload thing for her. She is very busy. I'm not trying to not talk about it, but I'm also trying to temper people's expectations. If she wraps up some stuff that she's working on and she has the time and she feels like dipping her toe back in or jumping back in the pool, she'll let us know," he said. [H/T: Fightful]
Although Lee did not completely close the door on a potential return to in-ring competition, she previously asked her fans not to anticipate it.