5 times current WWE women reportedly had real-life heat
Over the years, several WWE Superstars have had backstage tension. Matt Riddle, for example, has seemingly rubbed several of his co-workers the wrong way, including Seth Rollins, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns.
Likewise, a few current WWE female stars have also had troubled relationships. While some of these ladies were once best friends, they now pass each other in the hallways like total strangers.
Here are five of those times when current WWE women reportedly had real-life heat.
#5. Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks
In mid-2012, Sasha Banks signed her first developmental contract with WWE. About a year later, Alexa Bliss also joined WWE. The two ladies shared the NXT locker room for nearly two years, during which they faced each other several times.
In July 2015, Banks moved to the WWE main roster, joining Monday Night RAW. Bliss also got drafted to SmackDown in 2016. While they were initially on different brands, the two again found themselves sharing the locker room when Little Miss Bliss moved to the Red Brand in the 2017 WWE Draft.
Bliss and Banks had real-life heat. During an episode of RAW Talk in 2017, Banks reportedly went off-script to criticize Bliss. She also lashed out at former WWE announcer Renee Paquette when the latter complimented Bliss' work.
"What work, Renee? Look, you don't have to come from the indies to be here, but you do have to respect it. You don't need to lie your way saying 'Oh my god, I love - I love this company.' Girl, you don't need to lie, just be yourself. And if she was herself, maybe I would like her. There are girls who don't like this business, but they learn to respect it. And she doesn't show any respect. And that's what I'm gonna teach her - respect," Banks said. (H/T: CagesideNews)
However, Alexa Bliss declared that she would not let her real-life heat with Sasha Banks get in the way of business.
The real-life heat between Banks and Bliss seemingly ended a few years ago. In an interview with Stephanie Chase in 2020, The Boss expressed her desire to team up with The Goddess, dubbing her as "cute."
#4. WWE NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose and Carmella
Three years ago, Mandy Rose and Carmella were two participants in the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match at the premium live event. During the bout, Carmella seemingly suffered a leg injury when Rose kicked a ladder that the self-proclaimed Most Beautiful Woman in WWE attempted to lift.
As Carmella leaned on the ring ropes to pull herself up, she shoved Rose back twice before leaving the ring.
Although Rose was very close to winning the match, Bayley shoved her off a ladder at the last moment to capture the briefcase. After the bout, God's Greatest Creation complained, stating that she got robbed.
Rose's comments started a Twitter exchange between herself and Carmella. The former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion questioned Rose's claims, asking her if she was "robbed?! Or just poorly executed?"
God's Greatest Creation responded to Carmella by asking about her knee and telling her that she would never look like her.
"Aw how's your knee hunny? Also, go back to being a brunette, you're never gonna look like me. 🙅‍♀️ #MITB #GodsGreatestCreation" Rose wrote.
Carmella replied to Rose's tweet, asking her to return to NXT and learn to work safely in the ring.
"Trust me, I don't wanna look like you babe. You could never pull off both. Also, go back to NXT and learn how to be safe in the ring," Carmella wrote.
However, the self-proclaimed Most Beautiful Woman in WWE later deleted her tweet.
Despite this, Rose and Carmella's reported heat is seemingly behind them now. In an interview with After the Bell in October 2021, the former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion praised the current NXT Women's Champion for her achievements since returning to NXT.
#3. Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks
“I can't imagine never wrestling Sasha (Banks) again.
That would be hard for me to compartmentalize. We started together.
She's my Ricky Steamboat, my Dad always tells her that.”
- Charlotte Flair
(via Broke Skull Sessions) https://t.co/0bMok6zr8h
In 2012, Charlotte Flair joined WWE, the same year Sasha Banks signed with the company. The two had instant chemistry right since the first time when they locked up in practice, as The Queen revealed in her and her father's book, "Second Nature: The Legacy of Ric Flair and the Rise of Charlotte."
During their time in NXT, Banks and Flair became real-life best friends. However, things changed between the two ladies when Flair received an NXT Championship match against Natalya at NXT TakeOver in 2014.
"After I won the NXT Women’s Championship from Nattie, Sasha and I still traveled and trained together. But something was different. Sasha took umbrage with the fact that the company made me the NXT Women’s Champion. She felt that she deserved to have the match with Nattie and to be the one holding the championship at the end of the night. (...) I understood why Sasha was upset and angry. She was an incredible talent, day in and day out. What I didn't understand was why she would end her friendship with me because of a decision someone else made, and in this case, a company decision," Flair wrote in her book.
Flair and Banks squared off for the NXT Title in December of that same year at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution. However, before the bout, The Boss had a few surprises for her former best friend.
"Sasha's resentment took a pointed turn during NXT's final episode before the December TakeOver special. I knew where the segment was going in terms of setting us up for our match. I didn't realize that she was going to take one of my DO IT WITH FLAIR T-shirts and cut it so it would say, DO IT LIKE A BOSS. I also didn't know she was going to say negative things about my dad. At one point she even referred to him as a 'pathetic old man,' I would've been fine with all those things. I just thought Sasha would’ve spoken to me about them first. The situation was disappointing, (...) I never imagined that I'd become alienated from someone I had so admired professionally and someone I considered a friend," Flair added.
Although they might not be best friends anymore, Flair seems to be on good terms with Banks now. The Queen recently commented on The Boss and Naomi's walkout during an appearance on Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions, stating that she could not imagine never wrestling Banks again.
#2. WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Liv Morgan and Carmella
How are there only 6 PPV matches and there isn't space for Liv vs Carmella on the main card? I don't get it
#LivMorganVsCarmellaMainShow https://t.co/51PwC9O8vq
In 2014, Carmella debuted on NXT. That same year, Liv Morgan signed a developmental contract with the Stamford-based company. The two ladies shared the NXT locker room for about two years before Carmella joined SmackDown in 2016.
In November 2017, Morgan also got promoted to the Blue Brand as a member of The Riott Squad. That same month, she and Carmella had a heated Twitter exchange, in which they both seemingly accused the other of copying their wardrobe. The former Women's Tag Team Champion also revealed that Morgan had blocked her on Twitter, implying that there was real-life heat between the two ladies.
In an interview with Title Match Wrestling, Morgan's ex-boyfriend & former WWE Superstar Enzo Amore disclosed that his ex-girlfriend was not happy with Carmella adopting the persona of The Princess of Staten Island.
"She's a great actress.... Wrestling is acting. Like, The Undertaker isn't actually The Undertaker. She's playing this character from Staten Island, right? I mean to me the real her is Liv Morgan... Where we are right now, North Jersey, that's really her. I know it was difficult for Liv in the beginning stages, watching Carmella doing her schtick knowing that she's not from our area. But she made whatever happened to her work too because you know she got called up to the main roster too." (H/T: WrestlingNewsPlus)
Morgan and Carmella are seemingly on good terms now. Earlier this year, the current SmackDown Women's Champion attended Carmella and Corey Graves' wedding.
#1. Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch
For several years, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch were real-life best friends. However, their friendship completely collapsed in late 2021 following a controversial segment on SmackDown.
In October last year, Lynch was the SmackDown Women's Champion while Flair held the RAW Women's Title. They had to exchange their titles after both got drafted to the opposite brand.
The segment did not go as planned after Flair dropped the RAW Women's Title belt on the mat instead of handing it over to Lynch. In return, The Man threw her title belt at Flair. Several reports later claimed that the two ladies had a heated confrontation backstage after the segment.
Capitalizing on their real-life heat, WWE arranged a match between Lynch and Flair at Survivor Series, which The Man won. After the bout, Lynch cut an emotional promo discussing her relationship with Flair.
Since then, the two ladies have spoken about their current relationship several times. In an interview with Ariel Helwani last November, Lynch accused Flair of being jealous of her success.
"We don't like each other, we used to. (...) We were best friends and it all worked, when she was on top and I was below and then we could all see the way things were going in 2019. Like people were really rallying behind me and this turn would turn me into a different league and she couldn't take that and has never been able to take it. (...) I think she's potentially one of the greatest, but I think I'm so in her head that she's lost it a bit. I think she's lost a step. Because she's got that jealousy and she's got, just that little devil on her shoulder, and that devil is me always being one step ahead of her and she doesn't like it," Lynch said. (H/T: WrestleZone)
Things have seemingly come to the point where the two female superstars pass each other in the hallway without even saying hello.
Addressing her relationship with Lynch during her recent appearance on Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions, Flair said that it was her's and Lynch's desire to be the best that affected their friendship. She also denied purposely dropping the RAW Women's Title during the controversial SmackDown segment.
Although Lynch previously stated that she did not believe she and Flair could be friends again in the wrestling business, The Queen has another opinion.
"Yeah [about becoming friends with Lynch again]. Absolutely. Seeing her as a mother, I'm so happy," Flair told Ariel Helwani.
Flair has not competed since losing her SmackDown Women's Title to Ronda Rousey at WWE WrestleMania Backlash. Earlier this year, she tied the knot with her long-time boyfriend, Andrade El Idolo.
Meanwhile, Lynch is out of action due to a shoulder injury she sustained during her match against Bianca Belair at WWE SummerSlam.