5 former WWE couples who could reunite in AEW
Over the past few years, AEW has been the destination of several former WWE Superstars. Bryan Danielson and Andrade El Idolo, for example, left Vince McMahon's company last year to join Tony Khan's promotion.
Other former WWE Superstars could also sign with AEW in the future. As their real-life partners have already become All-Elite, they can reunite in the Jacksonville-based promotion.
If that happens, these former WWE couples could join a long list of real-life couples in AEW, which includes the likes of Adam Cole & Britt Baker, Tay Conti & Sammy Guevara, and Anna Jay & Jungle Boy.
Here are five former WWE couples who could reunite in AEW.
#5 Former WWE Champion Jon Moxley and Renee Paquette
After competing for a few years on the independent circuit, Jon Moxley joined Vince McMahon's company in 2011. Nearly a year later, Renee Paquette also signed with WWE.
Moxley and Paquette started dating in 2013. They even appeared together on WWE's reality show, Total Divas. After dating for about four years, the couple tied the knot in 2017.
In April 2019, Moxley left Vince McMahon's company after his contract expired. Later that year, he joined the newly-established AEW. Meanwhile, his wife continued working in WWE until August 2020. She then left the company to pursue other options.
While Moxley is still an active competitor in Tony Khan's promotion, his wife gave birth to their first child last June. She also now has her own podcast, Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette.
Earlier this year, Paquette disclosed in an interview with NBC Sports Boston that she is open to a move to AEW, where she could reunite with her husband.
"If it's a cool sitdown interview or an expansion of something like The Sessions and being able to talk to the talent and do some great personality profiles, stuff like that I'm really in to. There's stuff that I would love to do and coming up with the creative on what exactly that would be. I would be into that. You look at bother of those worlds; WWE and AEW, WWE is the familiar thing that I know and that I've done for the duration of my career. Of course, that is always there. Then you look at AEW, my husband is there, I have a ton of other friends that are there. I'm there more often, not that I'm there very much, but I would be open to a conversation about that," she said. [H/T: Fightful]
Despite this, Paquette stated that she does not want to become a color commentator or a backstage interviewer.
#4 Keith Lee and Mia Yim
Keith Lee and Mia Yim's relationship started while they were working on the independent circuit. The couple later joined Vince McMahon's company, where they spent about three years.
In November 2021, WWE released both Lee and Yim from their contracts due to budget cuts. Four months later, the former NXT Champion debuted in AEW. He and Yim married a few days later.
While Lee decided to sign with Tony Khan's promotion, his wife returned to the independent circuit last March. Two months later, she joined IMPACT Wrestling.
In an interview with Metro, Yim revealed why she did not join her husband in AEW.
"I always get asked, 'Why didn't you go with Keith?' It's like, because I'm my own person and I wanna do what I wanna do, you know? [laughs] So, as long as we support each other with whatever it is, we don't always have to be together! Nothing bad to say about AEW but I'm just like, 'Babe, that is your realm, go and kill it over there. That is your home,'" she explained.
Although she is currently on the IMPACT Wrestling roster, Yim could reunite with her husband in AEW in the future.
#3 Shawn Spears and Cassie Lee
While working together in WWE, Shawn Spears (fka Tye Dillinger) and Cassie Lee (fka Peyton Royce) developed feelings for each other and started dating. Although they never worked together in the ring, the couple shared the locker room for about four years before Spears requested his release and left the company in 2019.
After his departure, Spears briefly competed on the independent circuit before officially signing with AEW in June 2019. Later that same year, he and Lee tied the knot.
While Spears is still an active competitor in Tony Khan's promotion, his wife continued working in WWE until April 2021, when the company released her from her contract.
Last October, Lee joined IMPACT Wrestling, where she spent about six months before requesting her release and stepping away from in-ring action indefinitely. While she is currently pursuing other options, Lee could later join her husband in AEW if she decides to return to the wrestling ring.
#2 Miro and CJ Perry
In 2010, Miro (fka Rusev) signed with Vince McMahon's company. Three years later, CJ Perry (fka Lana) joined WWE. She later became Miro's on-screen manager. While working together, the two wrestlers fell in love and started dating. They then tied the knot in 2016.
The couple shared the locker room in Vince McMahon's company for about seven years. However, WWE then released Miro from his contract in April 2020. Later that same year, he joined AEW.
Meanwhile, Perry continued working in WWE for about a year after her husband's departure. Nevertheless, the company also released her from her contract in June 2021. Since then, the 37-year-old has stepped away from wrestling. However, she did not close the door on a possible return to the squared circle.
In a recent interview with WhatCulture Wrestling, Miro revealed that there is a possibility that his wife could join him in AEW in the future. However, she is now focusing on her acting career and other projects.
"Well, you never know. She's really focused on CJPerry.com, her website, and everything it has to do with. She's doing movies, she's producing movies, so she's really, really busy. But like I said in my interview, it's about my god, my gold and my gorgeous wife," Miro said.
Last year, Perry starred in Cosmic Sin alongside Bruce Willis. She also plays the role of Holly in the upcoming movie, WifeLike.
#1 Former WWE Champion CM Punk and AJ Lee
CM Punk dated a few of his female colleagues in WWE, including Lita and Beth Phoenix. He also got romantically involved with AJ Lee while working together on a storyline in 2012.
In 2014, Punk and Lee tied the knot. That same year, the former WWE Champion left Vince McMahon's company and retired from professional wrestling. About a year later, his wife also hung up her boots.
Last year, Punk finally came out of retirement to join AEW. Rumors then suggested that Lee could also sign with Tony Khan's promotion. In an interview with the New York Post in September 2021, The Best in the World addressed these speculations.
"I just want to say, no. Just because [of] her neck. The reason she stopped wrestling is because of her neck. She's got a bad neck, you know. I wouldn't want her to jeopardize [her] health and neither would she, so we'll put an end to that rumor right now," he said.
Despite this, Lee later returned to the wrestling business as an executive producer for Women of Wrestling. She then stated in an interview with Women Of Wrestling's Izzy that she cannot completely rule out a possible return to the ring in the future.
"I will say, I say the same thing in every interview, and it's always 'never say never, but don't hold your breath.' What I mean by that is, I never say never to anything; physically, mentally, emotionally, I'm healed from everything I've gone through in wrestling. I could technically do it, but I'm so enjoying letting the next generation have their spotlight. I got to do everything I wanted to do. So, it really would have to be, is that challenge there? I don't think the girls need me there. I think that they are going to take over the world all by themselves," she explained.
Lee could join her husband in AEW in the future. She could either make her long-awaited return to the ring or work in a backstage role.