5 Times Real-Life Family Members Have Settled Their Differences In A WWE Ring

With WrestleMania less than a month away, things are heating up across the rosters of RAW and SmackDown, and two real-life families seem to be cracking at the seams on their way to a potential showdown in Los Angeles — or perhaps even sooner than that.

On the RAW side of things (not that this feud hasn’t spilled over onto SmackDown at this point), the animosity between Rey Mysterio and his son Dominic has reached a boiling point, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a long-awaited clash between the two of them set for WrestleMania! From attempting to ruin every single holiday his dad shares with his family to carrying over this rivalry into the world of NASCAR, Dominic has made his issues with his father personal and it’s only a matter of time before we see them settle things inside the ring.

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Meanwhile, The Bloodline seems to be falling apart at the seams and Jey Uso’s allegiance is torn between his family and Sami Zayn. With each passing week, the tension has been building between Jey and his brother Jimmy, who has been outspoken about which camp Jey should belong to. While nothing has been stronger than The Bloodline in WWE, we’d give the odds of a complete blowout between the brothers a 50 percent chance of happening on the Road to WrestleMania.

With all of this family in-fighting going on across WWE, it got us thinking. On more than one occasion, real-life family members have clashed in an official one-on-one match, and we’ve decided to take a look at some of the most memorable family feuds that were settled in the ring over the years.

Arguably the most famous real-life sibling rivalry of all-time involved Bret “Hitman” Hart and Owen Hart in the mid-90s. Although brothers Bret and Owen bookmarked their WWE careers as allies, there was a tumultuous period that tore them apart thanks to Owen becoming jealous at Bret’s WWE success.

The bad blood seemed to only be coming from Owen’s side of things, but nevertheless Bret found himself battling his brother more than once. The feud culminated in many historic matches, including an absolutely classic opening contest at WrestleMania X that Owen won in a moment that legitimately shocked the WWE Universe. They also clashed in the above-linked cage match at SummerSlam 1994, which saw older brother Bret take home the victory.

The end result of these two brothers bitterly battling each other? Oh, just some of the greatest pro wrestling matches of all-time.

You don’t have to go too far back in time to watch a particularly intense battle between two other real-life brothers. Cody Rhodes and his older brother, Dustin, once memorably mixed it up at Fastlane 2015! Sadly, they didn’t do battle under their real-life names back then. Instead, the WWE Universe was treated to a Goldust vs. Stardust one-on-one bout.

As we’ve reported before, this period of Cody’s WWE career is one marred by controversy and disappointment, and it wouldn’t be long after this match, which was won by Dustin, that Cody famously took his hiatus from WWE. 

What’s more memorable than the match itself is Cody’s actions after the final bell rung, as he revealed that he was sick and tired of living in the shadows of his more famous (and more successful) family members. It’s safe to say he finally eclipsed his brother and father when he made his triumphant return to WWE in 2022.

When you’re dealing with a family as competitive as the Guerreros, you’re bound to fight each other once or twice throughout your wrestling careers. 

Although they found themselves on opposite ends of the rings many times in WCW, Eddie and Chavo turned heads at the 2004 Royal Rumble when they took their uncle-nephew relationship to the next level. 

Don’t get us wrong, the tag team of Eddie and Chavo was one of the most prolific and capable tag teams in modern WWE history, but we’d be lying if we said we never enjoyed them going up against each other.

It was a vicious cycle for the Hardy brothers — make waves as one of the most exciting tag teams in history, break up, battle each other, and then get back together again. What can we say? The Hardys couldn’t resist trying to one-up each other in every possible way. For decades they made a living driving their opponents through tables from the highest-possible structures possible, but they were arguably at their best when they were doing that to each other.

Matt and Jeff faced off multiple times in WWE, once even at WrestleMania. However, their most memorable bout came at Backlash 2009 in an “I Quit” match. In true Hardy fashion, tables were broken, ladders were dived off of, and the two Superstars beat the absolute hell out of each other in dazzling displays of athleticism.

Wherever Matt and Jeff are now (they left WWE a few years ago), we can only hope they’re scheming how exactly to get back in front of the WWE Universe again. They’ve made a shocking return at WrestleMania before, after all!

Don’t worry, rivalries between real-life siblings aren’t reserved exclusively for the men of WWE!

The Bella Twins famously imploded more than once throughout their careers, as both eventually accused the other of jealousy. While Nikki was unquestionably more talented and successfully in the ring, Brie had what Nikki could only dream of at the time — a stable relationship. It surprised exactly no one when these two sisters duked it out at Hell in a Cell 2014 and put on a show for the WWE Universe.

Seriously, check out that ending to their match — we forgot how impactful Nikki’s forearm was 10 years ago! Ouch!

Although a good old-fashioned grudge match was exactly what the Bellas needed at that point in their careers, in the end, they found themselves right where they literally started, by each other’s sides.

So there you have it.

Whether Dominic and Rey or Jimmy and Jey ever settle things once and for all, these five families have set the bar high for ultra-personal feuds. And if they do go down that path, we hope that they take a cue from their predecessors and reconcile their broken relationships in the end.

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