The internet never sleeps when it comes to wrestling romances
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Two wrestlers find love while traveling the grueling road schedule of professional wrestling. Groundbreaking, right? Yet, the online community is currently obsessed with NXT North American Champion Myles Borne and Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer. It feels like every time I check social media, I’m seeing another thread breaking down how these two started dating.
For those living under a rock, recent reports confirmed that it was actually Vaquer who made the first move. The reaction from the forums has been a hilarious mix of pure adoration and deeply cynical gatekeeping. Half of the stan accounts are treating this like a romantic comedy script. Meanwhile, the cynics are busy dissecting whether this kind of publicity is good for their respective personas on TV.
The Randy Orton comparisons are getting out of hand
I cannot talk about Borne without bringing up the elephant in the room. Ever since he signed back in March 2022, fans have been spamming boards about his resemblance to a young Randy Orton. Borne has finally started addressing these comparisons publicly, which has caused a fresh wave of arguments in the comment sections.
Some folks argue that the comparison acts as a crutch for his character development. You have the purists saying he needs to stop talking about it and just exist as his own man. Then you have the other camp saying he should lean into the Legend Killer comparisons to get instant heel heat. Honestly, if he starts hitting the RKO out of nowhere during every NXT main event, I might actually lose my mind.
Gatekeeping autographs and the social media age
Then we have the chaotic side of the wrestling bubble. Stephanie Vaquer recently went to X to address a fan who posted a video whining about being denied an autograph. This is where the discourse hits rock bottom. Some fans think superstars owe them the world because of the ticket price. Others, myself included, think the entitlement of recording someone outside of a work setting is peak cringe behavior.
The argument for the fans is that they keep the lights on in these massive buildings. The argument for the wrestlers is that they are human beings who deserve to eat dinner without a camera shoved in their faces. Watching these arguments play out is like watching two trucks collide in slow motion. You know it is coming, you are horrified, but you absolutely cannot look away.
Why this matters for your WrestleMania 41 watchlist
With WrestleMania 41 right around the corner on April 19th, everyone is looking for any narrative hook to keep them invested in the mid-card. Borne’s trajectory as champion and Vaquer’s championship run put them in a unique spot in the company hierarchy. If WWE continues to highlight their behind-the-scenes lives, expect these threads to get even more toxic leading up to the shows.
My take? The constant coverage of their personal relationship is a distraction from the bell-to-bell work. I want to see Borne sell a spine-buster; I don't need a play-by-play of his date night. If they can’t channel that online heat into their TV programs, then this is all just fluff designed to sell merchandise to people who spend more time on their phones than watching the actual matches.
The reality is that parasocial relationships are the new kayfabe. We are moving away from the era where we only judged stars by their ability to cut a promo. Now, we judge them by their X responses and their dating history. It is exhausting, but it is exactly why we show up to the bar every week to argue about it until the security guard tells us to go home.
