Even fans who are relatively new to the WWE will be aware of the Anoa’i wrestling family tree, better known as The Bloodline. The Bloodline narrative has been central to everything in WWE over the last decade. Roman Reigns’ stronghold over the WWE Universal Championship is chief among them.
Still, the tag team achievements of the Usos, as well as the exploits of Nia Jax, Solo Sikoa, and Jacob Fatu, cannot be discounted either. A distinguished lineage that also includes The Rock, Rikishi, and the Wild Samoans, The Bloodline have been synonymous with WWE for decades.
It is a narrative that the WWE have celebrated with The Bloodline Edition of WWE 2K25. The cover features Reigns and a number of Anoa’i family members currently on the roster, as well as notable affiliates such as Sami Zayn and Paul Heyman. Family, whether by blood or kayfabe, runs deep in professional wrestling.
Nevertheless, it would be naive to think that wrestling family dynasties begin and end with the Anoa’i wrestling family tree. As Cody Rhodes states with good reason: wrestling has more than one royal family.
Rhodes
If recent history is anything to go by, the Rhodes and Anoa’i wrestling families will be intertwined for the foreseeable future. If the marker of wrestling royalty was ever in doubt, any critics were surely silenced when Cody Rhodes finished his story at WrestleMania last year.
Before the American Nightmare established himself as a top-tier talent, his father Dusty and his half-brother Dustin laid the groundwork for a successful legacy.
An all-time great, Dusty Rhodes personified the American Dream – the inspiration for Cody’s American Nightmare moniker. Not possessing the typical wrestler’s physique, Dusty cemented a lasting popularity as a symbol of the everyday man.
Dustin Rhodes, however, has cultivated a chameleonic character throughout his long career in professional wrestling. Having wrestled for every major American promotion, Dustin is perhaps best known for his androgynous Goldust character in WWE.
Goldust remains one of the most bizarre and funniest gimmicks in WWE history and a testament to Dustin’s versatility.
Guerrero
Wrestling fans will be very familiar with the late Eddie Guerrero. However, the family’s relationship with professional wrestling began almost a century ago with the patriarch, Salvador Guerrero Quesada. Better known as Gory Guerrero, in reference to his bloody matches, Gory was an early pioneer of Mexican Lucha Libre.
Gory won multiple titles in NWA AND CMLL, but his greatest legacy continues to be the origination of a number of iconic wrestling moves. Gory is credited with creating the Camel Clutch and the Gory Special. They are moves that not only continue to be used today but have provided the basis for the creation of other moves.
Of his six children, four were boys, and all of them became professional wrestlers. Chavo Sr., known to WWE fans as Chavo Classic, found success all around the world as a wrestler before concluding his career with a short, but memorable stint in WWE.
Feuding against Eddie with his son, Chavo Jr., Chavo Classic became the oldest WWE Cruiserweight Champion in history when he won the title in 2004. Chavo Classic also has a victory over John Cena on his résumé, having defeated him in a handicap match with Chavo Jr.
Hector and Mando are the least well-known of Gory’s sons but still have notable successes to their name. Hector is best known for originating the Gobbledy Gooker gimmick in WWE as well as providing Spanish commentary at TNA.
Mando, who split his time between wrestling and stunt work, originated the Moonsault Press in the 70s before it was popularized by his older brother Chavo in the 80s. Countless cruiserweights have since perfected the move and continue to be a finisher for the likes of Iyo Sky and Tiffany Stratton today.
The most well-known Guerrero continues to be Latino Heat himself, Eddie Guerrero. Best known for his cunning heel status, which endeared him to wrestling fans all around the world, Guerrero won the WWE Championship in 2004.
Guerrero was also the original leader of the Latino World Order faction, which was revived by his close friend Rey Mysterio in WWE. Guerrero’s signature moves, in particular the Frog Splash and the Three Amigos, continue to be utilized by wrestlers today.
Windham
The Windham lineage is a little more difficult to track due to many members of the family choosing not to adopt the Windham name. Nevertheless, it hasn’t prevented the Windham family from leaving distinct marks all over the professional wrestling landscape. The Windham tale begins with Blackjack Mulligan.
A classic cowboy heel clad in black, Mulligan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside his Blackjacks tag team partner, Blackjack Lanza, in 2006. Mulligan was also noted for using the ‘Hulk up’ style comeback before Hulk Hogan popularized it himself.
The Windham name, however, was adopted by Mulligan’s sons, Barry and Kendall. Kendall would have success in WCW, notably defeating Harlem Heat for the World Tag Team Championships with Barry in 1999. Barry is a two-time inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame – first with the Four Horsemen in 2012 and then again with the U.S. Express in 2024.
Barry formed the U.S. Express with his brother-in-law Mike Rotunda. Rotunda won the WWE Tag Team Championship five times – twice with Barry and three times with Ted DiBiase.
As a solo star, Rotunda achieved cult status for his alter ego character Irwin R. Schyster, playfully abbreviated to IRS. A villainous former IRS tax collector, Schyster formed Money Inc. with DiBiase. They dominated the tag team division from 1992-1993, capturing their aforementioned tag team titles three times along the way.
Rotunda’s sons, Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt, have earned acclaim in recent years for their chilling personas in WWE. Wyatt is a three-time WWE Champion and achieved great success with his stable, the Wyatt Family.
He was also noted for his ability to reinvent himself. Perhaps the most noteworthy example of this was the split personality gimmick that introduced the WWE Universe to The Fiend. Sadly, Wyatt passed away in 2023 aged just 36.
Admirably, Bo Dallas’s current gimmick has kept Wyatt’s memory alive. Until recently, Dallas was best known for his Uncle Howdy character – an accomplice of Wyatt.
After Wyatt’s illness and passing, Dallas returned to WWE last year as leader of the Wyatt Sicks. His portrayal of Bo Dallas and Uncle Howdy as part of a split personality keeps his brother’s memory firmly alive.
Vachon
The Vachon narrative begins with Maurice ‘Mad Dog’ Vachon – the first in an extensive line of psychotically villainous Vachons. As well as representing Canada at the 1948 Olympic Games, Maurice won Gold in the Middleweight event at the 1950 British Empire Games (Commonwealth Games).
It was at the 1948 Olympics that Vachon first met Verne Gagne, all-time great and future co-founder of the AWA. It was in AWA where Vachon would perfect his psychotic persona, engaging in an almost 20-year feud with Gagne.
Vachon would hold the AWA World Heavyweight Championship five times before concluding his career with a short stint in WWE.
Maurice’s brother Paul followed him into the business in 1957, adopting ‘The Butcher’ moniker alongside ‘Mad Dog’. Paul and Maurice held multiple tag team titles across various promotions.
Maurice and Paul’s sister, Vivian, was one of the most successful female wrestlers of the 70s. Having feuded with The Fabulous Moolah in WWE, Vivian dominated AWA’s women’s division, holding the Women’s Championship for 651 days.
The final chapter in the family lineage belongs to Luna Vachon. Adopted into the Vachon family by Paul, Luna cultivated a psychotic persona similar to that of Maurice and Paul. Notable stints in FCW, CWA, and POWW led Luna to WWE in the early 90s. While Luna never won a title during her two WWE stints, she did create a lasting legacy. I
n 1994, Luna was the first woman to appear in a WWE video game – WWF Raw. In 1995, she became just the second female wrestler to be ranked on the PWI 500 (PWI’s female-only rankings were only established in 2008). Emulating Maurice, Luna was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.
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