WWE Divas Who Just Couldn't Stand Each Other
With professional wrestling being such a competitive business, everyone wants to make it to the top by any means necessary. Friendships, relationships, and even marriages have transpired from performers spending so much time with each other in and out of the ring, but for every close bond that is formed, there is a feud with just as much emotion brewing on the other side.
Much like reality, not everyone gets along in wrestling. Some will be frustrated with how a certain match went, others will have heat backstage for how they conduct themselves, and in rare cases, one wrong move in the ring can lead to a lifelong disdain for one another that will likely never go away (we're looking at you Bret Hart and Goldberg).
There are many famous cases of male performers not seeing eye-to-eye, but the women can be just as bad, and at times worse. As these examples will show, the old saying of "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" means a lot more within the realm of WWE.
Wendi Richter hated The Fabulous Moolah
The reputation of The Fabulous Moolah is a difficult one to document in the modern era, as she might have have dominated the landscape of women's wrestling for decades, holding the WWF Women's Championship for over 10,000 days during the 1960's, '70s, and '80s, but tales of sexual misconduct, financial manipulation, and borderline-prostitution have all come to light. With that in mind, it's important to note that many people never liked Moolah for what she has been accused of doing outside the ring. However, this story took place in the ring, and it's an infamous one.
Long before the famous Montreal Screwjob in 1997, there was another tale of a wrestler being screwed out of being a champion, with Wendi Richter being the victim. The story goes that Richter was supposed to be seen as one of WWF's top stars, especially after the success of the first WrestleMania, where she became relevant in pop culture due to her friendship with singer Cyndi Lauper. However, Richter would have a series of disagreements with Vince McMahon over money, resulting in him devising a plan to usher Richter out of the company.
At a 1985 house show in Madison Square Garden, Richter defended her Women's Championship against "The Spider Lady," who went off script and pinned Richter to win the title, despite Richter kicking out at one. It turned out that the masked woman was Moolah in disguise. Richter was so angry about being screwed, she left the company the next day, and wouldn't return to the fold until the 2010 Hall of Fame ceremony, forgiving McMahon in the process. Richter never spoke to Moolah again, with her passing away in 2007, meaning that Richter never got a reason as to why Moolah did what she did.
Luna Vachon hated Sable
When you think of famous WWE Divas from the company's Attitude Era, names like Sunny, Jacqueline, and Chyna all immediately come to mind. However, there might not have been anyone more popular, while also being more divisive than Sable. Originally portrayed as a valet for Hunter Hearst Helmsley and later Marc Mero, the latter of whom she was actually married to, Sable got over with fans to the point where WWE decided that it was time for her to get physical, but as someone with no experience in the ring, she needed some seasoned hands to help her learn the ropes. Enter, Luna Vachon.
Vachon was a veteran of WWE, WCW, and ECW by the time she was asked to help train Sable for her in-ring debut in 1998, with WWE reportedly threatening to fire Vachon if Sable got hurt. After making her debut, Sable would team with Mero to take on Vachon and Goldust at WrestleMania 14, where the future Playboy cover girl would impress many with how she conducted herself in the ring, receiving a standing ovation when she arrived backstage after. However, Vachon never got the same level of respect, only being congratulated by Owen Hart for carrying Sable to a strong performance.
The animosity reportedly continued, as Vachon would make comments about Sable not paying her dues and forcing her way into the business, which led to the rumor that Sable refused to drop the Women's Championship to Vachon later on down the line. Vachon, and her husband Gangrel, reportedly got into backstage fights with Sable and Mero over various issues as well. Vachon was eventually let go by the company in 2000, and sadly passed away in 2010 at only 48.
Dawn Marie hated Francine
We now make a brief detour to the land of ECW for a rivalry that, ironically, culminated at an event produced by WWE. ECW never had a women's division, but the women of ECW all have large fanbases for how over they were during the company's glory days. Two of the most popular were Dawn Marie, who debuted in the company as "Tammy Lynn Bytch" to feud with the actual Tammy Lynn Sytch, and Francine, who was commonly cited as "The Queen of Extreme" for helping manage The Pitbulls and The Triple Threat to ECW gold in the '90s. Apparently, these two women hated each other. Marie accused Francine of making her cry every night she worked with her in ECW, while also claiming that Francine tried to get every woman who worked for ECW fired at one point or another, both claims Francine has outright denied.
Things all boiled over when the two women crossed paths backstage at ECW One Night Stand 2005, with Marie working the event as a WWE talent while Francine was brought in as a freelancer. Marie was reportedly snubbed by Francine, ultimately leading to Marie turning their "catfight" into an actual fight, with Marie launching an attack on Francine while proclaiming how much she hated her.
However, according to Francine, the two women simply exchanged some words with very 'bitchy' undertones and no fight took place. People who were backstage at the event reportedly noted that a physical altercation didn't take place due to the fact that Marie was pregnant with her first child at the time of the show, but that if she wasn't there would have certainly been one or two hands thrown.
Maria Kanellis hated Melina
WWE Divas during the Ruthless Aggression era of the company truly had to work hard to get over with the fans, as it seemed at times that WWE simply forgot they had a women's division, ultimately leading to the #GiveDivasAChance trend spreading around social media in the 2010s. With that in mind, you would think that the women's locker room would band together and try their best to make the most out of a bad situation, and you would be right, most of them did. However, if you ask Maria Kanellis, one woman rubbed everyone the wrong way.
While she was meant to get on the wrong side of people as the shrieking manager of MNM and later Johnny Nitro, Melina seemed to have the reputation backstage that no one in the wrestling business wants to have; a pain in the a**. According to Kanellis, Melina reportedly held meetings with the rest of the women's locker room telling them to not use certain moves that she planned on using herself, despite the fact that Kanellis felt Melina wasn't good enough to execute the moves in the first place.
On top of this, and on top is most certainly the right words to use, Melina would also reportedly instruct the women's locker room who they were and were not allowed to date, even though Melina herself was not only in a relationship with the aforementioned Nitro, but rumors of her cheating on Nitro with former World Heavyweight Champion Batista never seemed to go away. If Kanellis is to be believed, the women's locker room sided with her, seeing Melina as someone who thought she was better than she actually was, but considering that Melina has never publicly commented on the beef, this remains open-ended to this day.
The Bella Twins hated Eva Marie
Let's face it, Eva Marie could be the nicest person in the entire world who donates to charity, feeds the homeless, and makes regular visits to orphanages to help put children on the right path ... but she couldn't wrestle. She would attempt to improve her skills by working extensively in the WWE Performance Center, as well as making the rounds at "WWE NXT" live events during the 2010s, but she was always fighting an uphill battle in the eyes of the fans who were worried that she was going to injure herself or someone else in the ring.
Her profile would grow immensely when she became a cast member on the "Total Divas" reality show, but it was here that Nikki and Brie Bella started to voice their displeasure in working with Marie. The Bellas openly voiced their frustrations about how Marie wasn't great in the ring, and at times saying it directly to her. Not only that but The Bellas were reportedly angry at the crowd reactions Marie was getting due to her low skill level, as well as being angry at the fact that WWE reportedly paid for her to receive special personal training, something that none of the other members of the women's roster had ever been offered.
While some of it was jealousy, especially when it came to the personal training debacle, underlying issues never seemed to go away between the three women, so much so that when they tried to patch things up, things just got even worse. When it was announced that Marie would be on Brie's team for the WrestleMania 32 kick-off show, Brie voiced her displeasure on social media by simply tweeting "Eva Marie? Seriously!!!!"