Brock Lesnar & Sable: The love story that evolved in and around the WWE
When you hear people speak of the “WWE's power couple," you probably assume they're referring to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. However, if you're talking about pure power, there's only one couple who could rightfully claim that status, It's Brock Lesnar and his wife Sable.
Lately, the only stories you really hear of regarding Brock and Sable are about disappointed fans shunned away, while trying to approach the couple at the airport for a quick selfie.
While they may very well be somewhat reserved when it comes to fan interactions, there is a very interesting story of how they met, where they met and how the whole relationship came about and yes, you got it...it all revolves around the WWE.
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Born Rena Greek, Sable was raised in her hometown of Jacksonville, along the beautiful Atlantic coastal shorelines of the Sunshine State, Florida. During her childhood, Rena was more or less like any other child of her time.
She was heavily into extra-curricular activities, such as horseback riding, gymnastics and high school sports, such as softball. She eventually made her way into beauty pageants, which is where she found her first love, which was modeling.
In the early 1990's, Rena began modeling for companies like Pepsi, Guess? and L'Oréal. At the time, Rena was living with her first husband, Wayne Richardson and their daughter, Mariah.
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Unfortunately, Wayne died while driving drunk in 1991. This tragedy came at a time when Rena was a highly successful model and things appeared to be going great for her and her family.
In 1993, Rena met then boxer turned professional wrestler, Marc Mero. The two hit it off relatively quickly and were married in 1994. Rena watched as her new husband was excelling with his career in WCW and she became fascinated by the industry. It wasn't long before Marc began training his wife for a possible future in the ring.
In 1996, the professional wrestling world was at a pivotal point. There were wrestlers bouncing from one company to another. The Monday Night Wars had just kicked off and the competition was very tense between the two juggernauts, WCW and then WWF.
Rena’s husband and trainer was in limbo as well. He was unhappy with a storyline, where he was asked to be involved with Kimberly Page, wife of Diamond Dallas Page. Mero left the WCW soon thereafter. Meanwhile, Rena had her sights set on making a career in the same industry that her husband was having problems.
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At Wrestlemania 12, Rena made her debut as the escort for Triple H, in his match against the returning Ultimate Warrior.
Marc Mero would also make a WWF debut in 1996. It wasn't long before Mero and Sable began working alongside one another in various storylines and rivalries. Mero would suffer an injury in 1997, but that didn't slow his wife down, not in the least.
In fact, for the next couple of years, Sable would go on to make a name for herself, in a big way. She was eventually the top women's star in the WWF and due to the nature of the Attitude Era, Sable was also a major sex symbol as well.
In 1998, Sable would reach the very top of the women’s wrestling mountain, when she captured the WWF Womens Championship at Survivor Series, against then champion, Jacqueline.
The success Sable saw, turned heads in and out of the wrestling industry. In 1999, she was featured as the cover girl for Playboy.
Following the success of her Playboy spread, Sable returned as an ego-driven heel. However, with success, sometimes stems controversy. Sable then found herself in a dispute with the WWF, alleging the company of foul work practices, including sexual harassment.
Sable went on to sue the WWE for $110 million dollars in a suit claiming she was being ordered to do things against her will, such as removing her top for a particular storyline. Not much is known about the details that transpired from the lawsuit. However, just a couple of months later, Sable settled out of court with the WWE.
While all of this was going on in Sable’s life, the Playboy cover, the lawsuit and so on, her future spouse was busy doing his own thing...in college of all places. Brock Lesnar was attending the University of Minnesota, where he was a standout two-sport athlete.
Brock was on his way to becoming a two-time All American wrestler with Minnesota. He also won a Big Ten Championship as well. Prior to coming to the University of Minnesota, Lesnar won the Junior College Heavyweight Championship at Bismark State College.
Brock was an absolute beast (pun intended), while in college, racking up a four-year collegiate record of 106 wins, with only 5 losses.
Following her lawsuit and the allegations Sable made against the WWE, no one ever expected to see her back with the company she once sought over a hundred million dollars in damages from. Surprisingly enough, Sable would indeed make a return to the company she had once condemned.
On April 3, 2003, the wrestling world was shocked when Sable made her WWE return, during an episode of Smackdown. At the time, Torrie Wilson was the top lady in the company.
Like Sable, Torrie had also been featured in Playboy and it seemed as if this return was more about Sable re-claiming her throne, rather than coming back out of love for the business. Also during this time, there was a new, young face on the WWE, his name was Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar was on his way to a championship run and was pretty much having his way on the WWE roster. Brock was being molded into the perennial superstar we all know him as today.
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Coincidentally enough, Sable’s marriage with Marc Mero was also on the rocks at the time and soon enough, she would spark an interest in the new stud of the company, which was obviously Lesnar.
While there are conflicting stories on when the two began seeing one another, it's believed that Brock and Sable initially began dating shortly after her 2003 return. Sable was officially divorced from Mero in 2004, which was also when her relationship with Lesnar was becoming more apparent and obviously reaching a more of a serious stage.
When the two began dating, Brock was 26 years old, while Sable was 35. Despite a nearly ten year age difference, the two seemed happy together and their relationship appeared to be strong.
Needless to say, it was the same company that Sable once loathed and called sexist, that was now the meeting grounds for the man she would soon fall in love with. It's funny how things work out sometimes.
Recently, Marc Mero made an appearance on Jim Ross' podcast. One of the hot topics brought up, was his relationship, marriage and divorce with Sable. When Jim asked Marc how he first learned of Sable of Brock seeing one another, here's what he had to say:
“We were still married at the time, but we weren't really seeing....I don't know, it was falling apart. I remember calling her and her not answering the phone and I got very upset. Here I am, assuming she was seeing another wrestler. I remember thinking 'when i find out who this guy is, I'm gonna be the tar out of him!' Well, when I found out it was Brock Lesnar, it gave forgiveness a new meaning.”
Not long after the fans and everyone in the wrestling industry became aware of Brock and Sables relationship, she decided she wanted to again walk away from the business all together, claiming the need to be at home and concentrate on her family life.
However, it was increasingly obvious that Sable was disgruntled with the direction of her character and the storylines. She wanted something that the company wasn't willing to offer at the time, so in mid-August of 2004, Sable was released from her WWE contract.
Ironically enough, the same year that Sable departed the WWE, Brock would also leave for a stint in Japan. For the next couple of years, Brock would work his way to the top of the Japanese wrestling scene, even winning the prestigious IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Like Sable, Brock would also have his share of legal issues with the WWE as well, as the company was going after him over a non-compete clause in his contract. However, the two sides would eventually work themselves out before any sort of in-court proceedings.
In the midst of his NJPW tenure, Brock and Sable would squeeze in time for another milestone, their wedding. The couple officially tied the knot on May 6, 2006.