The Tragic Side Of WWE Diva Sable's Real Life

Sable is one of the most iconic faces in the history of WWE, rising to prominence during the promotion's Attitude Era and becoming a top star. She is a bona fide sex symbol who graced the cover of Playboy magazine numerous times, though her centerfold fame often caused friction with other women within the company, many of whom were struggling to get women's wrestling taken as seriously as the matches of their male colleagues. The real-life Rena Greek — now known as Rena Lesnar after her marriage to "The Beast Incarnate" himself — is known for her tenures in WWE from 1996 to 1999, and again from 2003 to 2004.

The Florida native was born in Jacksonville and grew up athletic, taking part in gymnastics and softball as well as horseback riding. Sable also competed in beauty pageants as a child, winning her first when she was just 12 years old. She became a model at 23, working with brands like Pepsi, Guess?, and L'Oréal.

Her first WWE tenure began in March 1996 on the arm of Hunter Hearst Helmsley as a valet, debuting on the "Grandest Stage of Them All" at WrestleMania 12. She soon moved on to work alongside her then real-life husband Marc Mero. Sable was immediately thrust into the spotlight because of her notable beauty, leaving many other women in WWE feeling slighted, as they doubted her ability in the ring. 

Despite the glitz and glamor that surrounded her, Sable experienced tragedy before making it inside the squared circle. Furthermore, portions of her career with WWE and beyond were just as traumatic for the former Women's Champion. From death, to divorce, to lawsuits, here are some of the tragic real life moments from Sable's life.

Sable married Wayne Richardson in 1987. The two had a daughter and remained together until Richardson died in a drunk driving accident in 1991. 

She met her second husband, former boxer and soon-to-be professional wrestler, Marc Mero, in 1993. Sable told Slam Wrestling that their romance began when Mero sent a handwritten note to her table at a restaurant. The couple tied the knot after a few months of dating in 1994. It was through Mero that Sable initially broke into the wrestling business. Sable's first real angle in WWE involved Mero, when he saw her being mistreated backstage by Hunter Hearst Hemsley. Mero attacked HHH, and took his real-life wife on as his manager. 

Sable remained at Mero's side, in storyline, until 1997, but became a star in the company on her own while he was out rehabbing from an injury throughout the following year. The two eventually split in kayfabe after Mero caused his wife to lose an Evening Gown match against rival Luna Vachon at Unforgiven in 1998. Sable called out her husband in the ring following his interference, and hit him with the Sable Bomb to get revenge.

The angle added fuel to the couple's real-life marital issues, with Sable becoming increasingly popular and more over than her husband. Following their on-screen split, Mero took Jacqueline as his manager. This led to a feud between the two women, which led to the infamous bikini contest between the pair, where Sable appeared wearing only handprints painted on her exposed chest.

Upon Sable's return to WWE in 2003, she started a romantic relationship with Brock Lesnar while still married to Mero. Mero revealed that he found out about Sable's affair with Lesnar while listening to his wife's voicemails. The pair got divorced in 2004.

Sable had backstage heat throughout her wrestling career, in part because she was never actually trained to compete in the ring. Many women resented her for the push she received, especially when the blonde-haired beauty won the Women's Championship at the end of 1998. 

Luna Vachon couldn't stand Sable as she was asked to help train her ahead of her in-ring debut. Furthermore, WWE officials reportedly threatened to fire Vachon if she injured their new golden goose diva. Backstage reports say that Vachon never got the credit she deserved for training Sable. Vachon allegedly continued to make snide comments about Sable not paying her dues, and the newcomer reportedly refused to drop the Women's Championship to her because of it.

Troubled diva Sunny also had plenty of issues with Sable backstage. Former WWE Head of Talent Relations, Jim Ross, talked about the heat between the women on an episode of his "Grilling JR" podcast in 2020. He said Sable inadvertently stiffed Sunny in the eye with a slap, because she was so inexperienced in the ring, and things escalated from there. Ross said that Sunny overreacted following the slap, noting that getting potatoed is part of the game. 

Ross went on to say that Sunny initially had a monopoly as the company's top diva, and may have felt threatened by Sable's popularity. He said that despite the two women not liking each other, it wasn't like anyone backstage expected them to get into a behind-the-scenes confrontation. Ross said it was what anyone expected to happen, and that's the way things were back in the day, especially in the women's locker room.

Sable had real-life heat with Chyna. The two were top stars at the same time in the company during Sable's first WWE run, but couldn't have been more different. Sable was the virtually untrained blonde beauty, and Chyna was a mega powerhouse mixing it up with the guys in the ring. Both Sable and Chyna held the company's Women's Championship only once, but Chyna surpassed Sable in the gold department thanks to her runs with the Intercontinental Championship. Their real-life hatred for each other even spilled out into the mainstream media at one point.

The pair got into a shoot argument live on TV when they both appeared on a TSN talk show alongside Debra to promote upcoming WWE events around WrestleMania 15. The host asked Chyna why she wouldn't be challenging for Sable's Women's Championship, to which "The Ninth Wonder of the World" replied she had no interest in the belt, claiming she could beat the champion in two seconds.

Sable fired back, questioning how Chyna obtained her muscular physique and impressive strength. She told Chyna she worked as hard as she did, but didn't supplement her body, implying the use of steroids. Chyna fired back at Sable, calling her breasts "supplements," implying Sable had plastic surgery. The pair stared holes into each other as the TSN host awkwardly threw the show into a commercial break. 

Sable and Chyna never settled their real-life differences in the ring, as the former left the company for the first time just four months after the TSN interview. Most of the locker room reportedly sided with Chyna in the feud, however, as Sable's thinly-veiled accusation of steroid use wasn't taken lightly behind the scenes. Chyna left WWE in 2001 after reportedly asking for the same amount of money as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, but the company didn't meet her financial demands.

Sable's backstage heat didn't just stop at catfights. Even some of the men weren't too keen on the amount of screen time she was getting, especially for how inexperienced she was in the ring. D-Generation X member Sean Waltman, better known as X-Pac, reportedly played a gruesome trick on Sable that could have, in part, inspired a later lawsuit filed by the diva against the company. 

The prank was described by former WWE writer Vince Russo on an episode of Sportskeeda's "The Bro Show." Russo spoke about the various pranks that were played backstage, most of them harmless, but pointed out one instance in particular that even he deemed to have crossed the line. He called it the worst thing he ever heard, and said it was still awful to him to this day.

The former writer explained that when X-Pac was known as the 1-2-3 Kid, he defecated in Sable's bag backstage. Russo said that even Jim Ross had to get involved as Head of Talent Relations. Later, during an interview on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's podcast, X-Pac confessed he had put faeces in Sable's bag on the final day of her first run with the company. X-Pac revealed she only became aware when she went through customs at the airport while traveling home. X-Pac was informed by WWE officials that Sable's attorneys were considering taking legal action, which they soon did against the company following her departure. 

After leaving WWE, Sable took legal action against the company in a Connecticut federal court to the tune of $110 million, initially. In addition to the monetary value, she also wanted the right to retain the "Sable" name and profits from all future merchandising involving her sports entertainment moniker. 

In the lawsuit, Sable accused the company of unsafe working conditions and alleged sexual harassment while she was employed. The allegation of unsafe working conditions was filed just after the accidental death of Owen Hart on air in May 1999. Sable also said in the suit that the backstage environment of the company was fueled by steroid rage. After filing the lawsuit, Sable did an interview with TV Guide discussing the alleged steroid use among wrestlers, the incident involving faeces in her bag, as well as "peep holes" between the men's and women's locker rooms.

"I can't say for certain. But...it's common knowledge that you do not look like the people in our sport without enhancement," Sable told TV Guide. "The wrestlers, the crew that we count on to set up the ring and the ramp, I believe may be on drugs." (H/T People Magazine)

The lawsuit was fraught with behind-the-scenes information and allegations against the company. In the suit, the former champion claimed she was asked to wrestle topless against Debra on an episode of "WWE Raw," but refused due to the sizable group of children and teenagers who watched the program. The suit went on to allege other additional instances of sexual harassment, including pressure to participate in storylines Sable deemed inappropriate, as well as being told to do things she deemed dangerous.

"I was asked to go in to the ring and perform things I was very uncomfortable with, doing jumps from high ropes in five inch heels," Sable said.

Sable reduced the amount of monetary damages she was seeking in the lawsuit, and she and WWE settled out of court in August 1999. When it came to the use of the name "Sable," the former talent used her real name for her September 1999 issue of Playboy. Former Head of Talent Relations, Jim Ross, explained on an episode of his "Grilling Jr" podcast that WWE was blindsided by Sable's filing. He said he personally never saw the lawsuit coming at the time.

"I thought it was a nuisance lawsuit," he said. "I thought it was put in place so she could get her release. It was the negotiating chip she needed to walk [away from the company]."

Sable walked away from WWE for years, but returned to the company in April 2003. Things were very different for her upon her return as she was no longer the company's top female star. Torrie Wilson now held that spot, and Sable often played second fiddle to Wilson in storylines, whether it was feuding with the fellow blonde beauty in matches and bikini contests, teaming up in a tag team, or gracing the cover of Playboy magazine for her third time alongside Wilson. 

Sable was also given the role of Vince McMahon's mistress in a feud against the boss' daughter, Stephanie McMahon. Despite Sable alleging sexual harassment and being asked to do things she was uncomfortable with in the lawsuit just years before her return, at one point during the feud, her breasts were exposed on live television during a parking lot brawl with Stephanie, who ripped off Sable's bra. Sable went on to have various feuds and character changes during her very short return to the company, which lasted only through 2004.

Sable's career with WWE ended officially in August 2004, but they split on good terms this time around. Sable claimed that she left the company to spend more time with her family, though her exit seemingly came at the behest of her current husband.

In Brock Lesnar's memoir, titled "Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival," Lesnar wrote that before he could marry his love, he needed to get her out of WWE. He wrote that he told her that neither one of them could work for the company due to long-term side effects of everything there. Lesnar called it his only demand of Sable, while acknowledging the fact that his soon-to-be wife had worked hard to get back into WWE, and was now giving up her career for him.

That said, their relationship wasn't all sunshine and rainbows after leaving WWE. The couple broke off their engagement in 2005 before getting back together in January 2006. They married in May of that year. Following their nuptials and the birth of their two sons, Turk (born in June 2009) and Duke (born in July 2010), Sable fell off the radar and removed herself from the public eye, outside of a few appearances octagon-side when her husband fought in the UFC. 

Sable has never made another on-screen appearance for WWE, despite Lesnar's multiple returns and runs with the company. Additionally, there have never been rumors of her appearing backstage to visit her husband. Sable doesn't use social media, keeping both her and her children's lives extremely private. The family currently lives on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Just when Sable's tumultuous public life seemed to be dying down enough for her to raise her and Brock Lesnar's sons in peace, her husband was alluded to in a lawsuit that changed the course of WWE forever. The lawsuit was filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant, who accused Vince McMahon and former WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis of sex trafficking. 

Though Lesnar was not directly named in Grant's complaint, he was implicated. Lesnar was allegedly promised a sexual interaction with Grant upon his re-signing with the company. The Wall Street Journal directly identified Lesnar as the talent described in the suit later on. This led to Lesnar being reportedly dropped from creative plans in WWE, and he was allegedly removed from the 2024 Royal Rumble and WWE WrestleMania 40.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Lesnar has not appeared on WWE programming. His name has been mentioned as recently as the Money in the Bank premium live event in July 2024, however, suggesting that he hasn't been blacklisted yet. Sable, as private as ever in her later life as a wife and mother, has not publicly commented on the allegations, and neither has her husband. Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed that Lesnar is still with WWE, though he didn't comment on his alleged involvement in the Grant case. As of this writing, the battle between WWE and Grant rages on, as the federal government is investigating McMahon.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).