The pro wrestling business is notoriously cutthroat. Many former pro wrestlers over the years have said that a performer is lucky if they leave the business with one real friend. Despite the large amount of time that wrestlers spend with their peers, backstabbing, politicking, and pot-stirring have historically been common practices.
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That doesn't mean that some pro wrestling friendships can't survive the trials and tribulations of the business though. In fact, there have been a handful of very close wrestling friends that have not only remained friends for years but have also achieved massive success and World Champion status. That's certainly a rarity.
10 Edge & Christian
Some readers might've expected to see this entry near the top of the list but that would've been a bit redundant. By this point, the vast majority of pro wrestling fans know that were childhood best friends while growing up in Canada. The pair's wrestling journey has been well documented.
Still, there's no ignoring the fact that Edge & Christian have achieved more combined than many sets of friends in the wrestling business. Aside from being a legendary tag team together, both men were multiple-time World Champions and have achieved enviable longevity. Edge is already a WWE Hall Of Famer, and Christian will likely join him there sooner rather than later.
9 Shawn Michaels & Triple H
Here's another entry that some readers might've expected to see higher on the list. Again though, the majority of wrestling fans are well aware of the close friendship between Shawn Michaels and Triple H. In 1997, however, some fans might've scoffed at the idea of Hunter Hearst Helmsley being a future World Champion.
Not only would Triple H become a World Champion, he'd go on to be perhaps the best heel of his era. In the early 2000s, he and Michaels would have a legendary feud over the World Heavyweight Championship that would only further cement both guys' legacies. Not bad for a couple of "degenerates."
8 Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
Pro wrestling has had some surprising success stories over the years. Perhaps the two most surprising ones were the success of both Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. The pair became household names in WCW as part of the Cruiserweight division. Unfortunately, their success in WCW was always going to be capped by backstage politics.
Surprisingly, both these undersized performers would achieve great success in WWE. Despite their size, both Guerrero and Mysterio had an undeniable connection to the WWE audience. So much so that both men would eventually shock the world and become World Champions while in WWE.
7 Sasha Banks & Bayley
Today, Mercedes Mone is blazing her trail outside the walls of WWE. This was only possible thanks to her massive success while in the company. As Sasha Banks, she helped reshape how fans, critics, and even bookers saw women's wrestling. Bayley also had a huge hand in changing the perception of women's wrestling.
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As many fans might already know, Mercedes Mone and Bayley are very close friends in real life. Bayley even made the trip to Tokyo to watch Mone perform at Wrestle Kingdom 17 for NJPW. There's no telling what the future holds for these two former World Champions but the odds are they'll have each other's backs throughout the ups and downs, regardless.
6 Shawn Michaels & Kevin Nash
Persistence is key sometimes when looking for success in the wrestling business. Kevin Nash is a great example of that. Nash had to endure some horrendous gimmicks in WCW before finally getting his big break in WWE alongside Shawn Michaels. As Diesel, Nash would even reach World Champion status before his close friend, Michaels in 1994.
"The Heartbreak Kid" couldn't be denied though. Michaels would also reach World Champion status in 1996 after deafening Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12. Both men would go on to be multiple-time World Champions and remain very close until this very day. That's very admirable considering the nature of the wrestling business.
5 Lita & Trish Stratus
In an era where women's wrestling wasn't taken very seriously, Lita and Trish Stratus did their best to break through the glass ceiling. As the two top female stars of their era, it makes sense that they'd share a special bond. Aside from being very close friends, the two were incredible rivals on screen.
Both women would have multiple runs as WWE Women's Champion. Furthermore, the pair made history on the 12/6/2004 Monday Night Raw when they became the first women to ever main event WWE's flagship program. They remain close today and both continue to make sporadic comebacks to WWE.
4 Sheamus & Drew McIntyre
This particular friendship flew under the radar for a long time until it was recently pushed to the forefront of WWE programming. Sometimes WWE can embellish their storytelling a bit. However, "The Celtic Warrior" and "Scottish Psychopath" have indeed been very close friends for years now.
This dates back to both men's early days, breaking into the business overseas. Sheamus would be the first of the two to achieve World Champion status in 2009. In 2020, after some ups and downs, Drew McIntyre finally fulfilled his destiny joining his longtime friend as a World Champion.
3 AJ Lee & Big E
Here's where the entries start getting good. Many casual fans might remember Big E's time as AJ Lee's bodyguard. What some fans might not realize though is that AJ and Big E are extremely close in real life. Anyone who follows them on social media might already be aware of this. For a bit, it seemed as though out of the two of them, only AJ would reach World Champion status.
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Thankfully, in 2021, Big E finally started getting a well-deserved push. This push would see Big E win the coveted Money In The Bank contract and cash in to become WWE Champion. AJ was one of the first people to congratulate her longtime friend on his big achievement.
2 Chris Jericho & The Big Show
WCW did a lot of great things for the wrestling business. Unfortunately, they also held down quite a few talented wrestlers. Chris Jericho was one of them. In 1999 however, Jericho would jump to WWE and eventually find the success he was looking for. Jericho wouldn't be the only WCW talent to make his way to WWE in 1999 though. That year, The Big Show would also show up in WWE.
While they both worked for WCW around the same time, the two future World Champions weren't very close. That would change in 2010 when they were paired as a tag team in WWE. Jericho would even go as far as referring to Big Show as his "favorite tag team partner." Since then, the two have remained very close and are now both in AEW trying to help cultivate and grow that promotion.
1 Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi
This one is obvious to hardcore wrestling enthusiasts. However, many casual fans might be unfamiliar with the close relationship between Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi. Their friendship dates back to Omega's early days wrestling in Japan. Eventually, the two would become a tag team known as Golden Lovers. As a unit, they'd eventually win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championships.
Later on, in their careers, both men would reach the pinnacle of Japanese wrestling, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Many fans hope to see The Golden Lovers reunite for a run on American soil. Given their close relationship, that seems almost inevitable at this point.
