World Wrestling Entertainment/Ho Yay

"Triple H: Shawn, you're obsessed. There are plenty of other guys for you to main-event Wrestlemania with! Shawn Michaels: Not for me."
 * Certain characters in the |WWE, especially D Generation X (most notably from a comment by Triple H: "I'm bi- a lot of things, but lingual ain't one of them.") WWE has once parodied this trope in the form of Billy and Chuck, wrestling's answer to the Ambiguously Gay Duo.
 * "Biracial"?
 * D Generation X is always handy for this. Their most recent reunion kicked off with Triple H tracking down Shawn Michaels at an office cafeteria, where Michaels had apparently found employment as a cook (don't ask). After some mistaken flirting with a male waiter, Trips found Michaels, who tried to explain that he liked his new job by putting his arm around a young man in a suit. It looked for all the world like Michaels was introducing his new boyfriend to his less-than-supportive ex.
 * This is further supported by this video, wherein Shawn Michaels initiates kissing Triple H, twice! The second kiss, Triple H actually flutters a hand as if fanning himself but that was cut out.
 * Okay, at this point, even the promo monkeys are shipping Shawn Michaels with other men. On the 2/22/10 Raw, the recap video of Shawn's downward spiral leading to his screwjob of The Undertaker in the previous night's Elimination Chamber PPV looks like nothing so much as a failed Love Triangle relationship between Shawn, Triple H, and The Undertaker. It's even set to Placebo's "Running Up That Hill", and it's a gold mine of HoYay. Just, watch the video.


 * Shawn and Hunter, again, this time at Shawn's farewell to the WWE. First, Hunter comes out early in the show and promos for a bit on how much he'll miss Shawn. He then says "Mainly, I just wanted to come out and say it, something I've always wanted to say to Shawn. I've never said it. But I want to say it now in front of the whole world-" . . . and then Sheamus comes out and dashes the dreams of the fangirl brigade by whacking Hunter upside the head with a lead pipe. Later, as Shawn is saying his goodbyes, at the very end of the show (about 5:30 in the clip) Hunter comes out and gives him one of the sweetest damn goodbyes ever, complete with a Headbutt of Love.
 * Shawn's Hall of Fame induction brought a boatload of it. You have the two of them constantly hugging, Hunter telling Shawn he's his brother and he loves him, Shawn teasing Hunter about never saying anything nice about him, and finally, the biggest three-minute lovefest from The Kliq (minus Scott Hall, sadly) ever seen in public. Also, according to Hunter's wife, Shawn is his "road wife".
 * Not even retirement can separate them. Shawn feels the need to dive across tables to hug Hunter, they sit extra-close on couches for Wrestlemania interviews, and snuggle for Twitter pics.
 * Shawn Michaels is often accused of Ho Yay. I wonder why.
 * Of course, depending on who you ask, all of Professional Wrestling is Ho Yay. Many of its detractors love to make this claim (and to be fair, two musclebound men in their underwear rolling on top of each other sounds suspicious out of context -- the way matches between two women usually go down doesn't help matters, as they're often blatant Fan Service.)
 * One recent example that sticks out is an overly long promo by John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and JBL that came off more as Cena and Michaels wanting to make out and big, bad JBL not allowing it than Cena pleading for Michaels' dignity to remain instead of him working as JBL's flunky. Even this troper's non-wrestling fan, non-Ho Yay spotting brother got that vibe throughout the entire promo.
 * On the diva side of things, Mickie James has been a constant source of lesbian subtext. Well, initially it wasn't even subtext at all as she debuted as Trish Stratus' Stalker with a Crush, but after she turned face that aspect of her character was dropped... mostly. Except for the fact that for a brief period in 2007 one of her finishers consisted of Mickie kissing her opponent and then knocking them out with a spinning kick... and pretty much any time she and Melina have any interaction whatsoever the subtext level goes to eleven, honestly.
 * The Trish/Mickie Stalker with a Crush angle was predated by one with Sable and Tori (formerly Terri Powers of the LPWA, not Torrie Wilson). Although in that one, Tori played a starstruck fan and Sable the arrogant bitch who blew her off.
 * Candice Michelle and Victoria engaged in some pretty heavy flirting as part of the Pink Ladies/Vince's Devils faction.
 * Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy get the Bro Yay context quite a bit when they aren't fighting with each other. Matt particularly is a kisser. They didn't help matters in their autobiography by describing incidents of bed-sharing and other somewhat unusual brotherly bonding moments.
 * At 2:32 in this video, Matt Hardy angrily informs his girlfriend Lita that "Just like the Hardy Boyz, Lita, me and you, we're breaking up!"... explicitly comparing the breakup of his tag team with his brother Jeff to a breakup with Lita.
 * Legacy - the alliance of Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Ted DiBiase Jr. - has been described as the Ambiguously Gay Trio for a large number of reasons. The big one is that they are constantly without pants, even when just hanging out backstage with each other.
 * Chyna and Stacy "The Kat" Carter were in a dropped-almost-as-quickly-as-it-started Ambiguously Lesbian angle. Chyna wore a cropped T-shirt that said "MASTER" and The Kat wore one that said "Slave". Chyna only did the routine for one single episode of Raw, but The Kat kept the look several times and briefly accompanied Eddie Guerrero in an outfit that one of the commentators called "Chynette".
 * How does this not have a mention of Beth Phoenix yet? Outside of Glamarella, Beth has a laundry list of Les Yay moments, from having her own Stalker with a Crush like angle with Rosa Mendes, who later became her "protege" (there was a very cute "An Officer and a Gentleman" bit after one match on Superstars where Beth carried Rosa back to the locker room in her arms), to this promo with Candice Michelle before their 2/3 Falls Match, to this promo with Maria Menounos the night she was traded to Smackdown (yes, explain in detail what you can do to her, Beth!). And is now in some vaguely gay friendship with Natalya as they both feuded against the equally suspicious Lay Cool and continued their partnership after Face Heel Turns...
 * Ho Yay has been a long tradition for most buddy tag teams, if you don’t believe me just look up a mid 80’s promo for the Can-Am connection and tell me that Rick Martel and Tom Zenk did not seem like they were in love with each other.
 * The Big Show and Chris Jericho have taken this to a hilarious new level. Jericho referring to Big Show as his "partner" on an episode of Smackdown being one, this being another.
 * Big Show and The Miz later provided a lesser example (to the point where Show said that what he had with Miz was "special"), and upon their breakup and Jericho returning to Raw, the exes met and commiserated about Show. It sounded like they were griping about a mutual ex-boyfriend more than an ex-tag partner.
 * CM Punk's obsessive, retreading thrashing of Jeff Hardy during their feud gave this troper a definite "I hate you because I'm attracted to you" vibe, especially with Punk's adamant resolve to drive Jeff away from the show.
 * That whole storyline makes one think of the proverbial little boy on the playground with a crush on a little girl, so he pulls her pigtails. Except that Punk and Jeff Hardy are both the little boy and both the little girl with pigtails.
 * CM Punk and Luke Gallows. Just check towards the end of this.
 * And for that matter, Gallows' recent attack on Punk's NXT Rookie Darren Young can be interpreted as jealousy, considering how much attention Punk has been paying Young lately.
 * Not to mention Gallows' obvious anger when Punk spent several months obsessed with bringing Rey Mysterio, Jr. into the fold...during which Punk usually followed beating Rey into a pulp with laying on the mat, petting on him, and blatantly cuddling him.
 * Towards the end of this segment, when R-Truth punches CM Punk out of the ring, Luke Gallows immediately leaps out after him. Normally, if a wrestler's tag team partner is knocked out of the ring, the wrestler will attack the person responsible as a matter-of-course. But there Gallows goes, cradling Punk and brushing his hair out of his face, like a worried boyfriend fussing over his girlfriend.
 * Kofi Kingston is Punk's "road wife".
 * CM Punk again, feigning a faint at one point during the 2011 Royal Rumble and being caught by Batista lookalike Mason Ryan. Ryan looked pretty happy to be holding on.
 * CM Punk has become WWE's resident Ho Yay magnet. Here he is with Alberto Del Rio during the 2011 WWE Draft.
 * There's also Edge calling him a "pretty boy" when he confronted CM Punk and Jeff Hardy over the championship.
 * The promo for John Cena and Randy Orton's match at Bragging Rights features some very interesting lyrics, the most blatant being "You and I were made for this / I was made to taste your kiss." Not to mention the official music video for this song revolves around a romantic relationship.
 * Not to mention after Randy's recent beatdown by The Nexus that Cena was forced to watch, he looked so miserable, especially weird since Orton has tried to kill Cena in the past.
 * John Cena hugged Randy Orton after being fired from the WWE. Randy's anger at Cena potentially screwing him...out of the title could be seen as Orton being disappointed that Cena is no longer the man he respects. Plus their Red Oni, Blue Oni, Villainous Cheekbones vs. Lantern Jaw of Justice, and having the two largest Estrogen Brigades made this pairing impossible to not happen.
 * During the Orton and Cena tag team match against the entire RAW roster, the announcers breathlessly rave over how well Randy and John are "cohabitating" (their exact words). The chemistry is only helped by Randy Orton and John Cena's real life friendship.
 * Team Lay Cool celebrate by Layla throwing her arms and legs around McCool and Squeeing loudly. They're also only nice to each other and their manager Vickie Guerrero. Not to mention the synchronized dancing and constantly being around each other.
 * Rey Mysterio, Jr. tends to attract this a lot. It was most obvious during his five-year relationship with Batista and on-again off-again partnership with Billy Kidman, but it crops up with nearly every tag partner he has and pretty frequently in Foe Yay contexts with his enemies, as in the CM Punk example above.
 * Remember the Alliance's Shane and Booker T, from giving each other presents to interfering with matches, not to mention the glee they had in their eyes while looking at each other.
 * Shane McMahon and Rob Van Dam, too. During Shane's feud with Kane and the testicle-elecrocution incident (look, It Makes Sense in Context), the one that rode to his rescue and made it look like something out of a hurt/comfort fanfic? Rob. They hung all over each other tearfully.
 * Speaking of Kane, he and Rob Van Dam had a lot of tension during their teaming and Kane's subsequent unmasking, the latter also looking like something out of a hurt/comfort fanfic.
 * NXT Season Three has AJ and Kaitlin, who greet each other with hugs, have a weird handshake, and constantly giggle about jokes they tell amongst them.
 * The Miz and his apprentice Alex Riley, Riley jumped on top of The Miz to save him from a finishing maneuver, he takes the traditionally female role of valet, seems to be the only person, beyond Michael Cole (Who has his own very creepy relationship with The Miz) to bear his presence, and is constantly hyping him up.
 * Add to that The Miz hiring Riley to a "personal services" contract. He's supposed to be his protege, but the wording of that borders on creepy.
 * Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater. Regular tag partners who ruffle each other's hair and refuse to beat each other up when ordered. It's adorable.
 * The 02/14/2011 episode of Raw featured a special Valentine's Day edition of the Khali Kiss Cam, where it focused on various audience and backstage couples, urging them to kiss. Then it suddenly showed William Regal listening to Zack Ryder rant about something... whereupon Regal shuts Ryder up by giving him a quick peck to his cheek before exiting stage left with a smile and a shrug.
 * Any time a WWE wrestler retires, there are a lot of behind-the-scenes friendships revealed. Man Hugs abound, and Manly Tears are shed. Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and Edge's retirement speeches and send-offs on Raw/Smackdown have ridiculous amounts of some of the most heartwarming Ho Yay around.
 * Go back and watch the episode where John Cena was drafted to Raw and introduced to the audience on Chris Jericho's "The Highlight Reel." Notice that when Cena's theme music is heard, Jericho's face lights up almost immediately and a huge grin spreads over it. He even opens his mouth - silently, but as if he's about to scream like a schoolgirl.
 * At about :30 seconds into this Randy Orton vs. Evan Bourne match, Orton grasps Bourne by the hair, and maybe it's just the camera angle, but for a moment it looks like the start of a gay porno.
 * On NXT, "power couple" Maxine and Derrick Bateman were involved in a love triangle with Johnny Curtis -- except that it came across like the two guys were more interested in each other than they were in Maxine! The tension and the eye-fucking, wowza!
 * When Kane and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman teamed up in 1999, Kane was a masked, silent, and nigh-unstoppable behemoth with no emotions or motivations other than destroying his brother The Undertaker and anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way. His partnership with X-Pac revealed his more protective side, and their subsequent falling-out was a storm of Ho Yay. Highlights include:
 * 1/25/1999, Shane McMahon is humiliating Kane and making him beg for forgiveness. X-Pac runs out to defend Kane and tells Shane to "shut the hell up". Kane proceeds to chokeslam X-Pac, but they form a tag team nonetheless.
 * 3/5/1999, Kane rescues X-Pac from Road Dogg and Billy Gunn without having to throw a punch. He then tenderly picks up X-Pac and carries him from the ring.
 * 08/22/1999, The Undertaker chokeslams X-Pac then summons Kane to follow him. Kane runs back to check on X-Pac, but catches the Titantron replaying the chokeslam. Enraged, Kane chokeslams his brother in revenge, then carris X-Pac to safety. X-Pac recovers, and teary-eyed, pulls Kane into a Manly Hug.
 * 9/9/1999, X-Pac's speech to Kane comes across as more of a relationship ultimatum than anything else. Words cannot describe the sight of Kane clinging to the rope, staring longingly after X-Pac as he regretfully walks backstage.
 * 10/11/1999, Kane rescues X-Pac yet again, only for X-Pac to get mad at his Damsel in Distress status.
 * 11/14/1999, neatly summarizes X-Pac and Kane's relationship leading to their falling out. X-Pac and Kane begin acting like feuding exes who never got any closure.
 * 1/11/2000, after X-Pac has turned on Kane, he then makes a suspiciously bitter speech about Kane's new girlfriend, Tori, calling her a "slut". He proceeded to attack and torment Tori the entire time she was with Kane.