10 Backstage Fights Between Wrestling Headliners

In a business laden with ego, insecurity, misunderstandings, competitive fire, and general debauchery, it should come as no shock that the history of professional wrestling is filled with behind-the-scenes scuffles among the talent. The aforementioned ingredients have been known to make for corrosive concoctions in wrestling locker rooms the world over, leaving astonished onlookers with stories to tell for generations to come.

Seemingly no level of wrestler is immune to the occasional locker room brawl, be they main eventers with a target on their back, midcarders with a chip on their shoulder, or underneath talents that don't suffer disrespect lightly. Over the years, all walk of grappler has gotten tangled up in some kind of physical altercation.

For this list, we're going to look at times when the best of the best, in-ring headliners and legends, either came to blows, or were in the midst of a skirmish that nearly crossed into that terrain. There will be no wrestler-vs.-executive stories here (sorry Montreal, your story has been told enough times). As we've noted, a locker room fight can happen at any time between seemingly any two individuals, but it's something quite unique when two it's major stars that are at each other's throats.

In a business laden with ego, insecurity, misunderstandings, competitive fire, and general debauchery, it should come as no shock that the history of professional wrestling is filled with behind-the-scenes scuffles among the talent. The aforementioned ingredients have been known to make for corrosive concoctions in wrestling locker rooms the world over, leaving astonished onlookers with stories to tell for generations to come.

Seemingly no level of wrestler is immune to the occasional locker room brawl, be they main eventers with a target on their back, midcarders with a chip on their shoulder, or underneath talents that don't suffer disrespect lightly. Over the years, all walk of grappler has gotten tangled up in some kind of physical altercation.

For this list, we're going to look at times when the best of the best, in-ring headliners and legends, either came to blows, or were in the midst of a skirmish that nearly crossed into that terrain. There will be no wrestler-vs.-executive stories here (sorry Montreal, your story has been told enough times). As we've noted, a locker room fight can happen at any time between seemingly any two individuals, but it's something quite unique when two it's major stars that are at each other's throats.

10. The Ultimate Warrior Vs. Rick Rude (1990)

Though attitudes toward Warrior lightened after his 2014 passing, the truth is that fewer of his peers had kind things to say about him in the preceding years. Accusations of a poor attitude and inflated ego had been levied against the face-painted muscleman, while his in-ring skills also bore the brunt of heavy criticism. Warrior was certainly no technician, but he was capable of having enjoyable matches with the right opponents. Rick Rude was somebody that had the ability to get Warrior to a certain desirable level between the ropes.

There are several versions of the story, but all point to Rude dishing out a pretty good thumping to the then-WWE Champion. Ric Flair (who would not have been with WWE at the time) claims that Warrior made a flippant remark about Rude not deserving enough for a match with him as champion, while Demolition Smash and Bret Hart have said that Warrior's clunky, overly-stiff work inside the ring irked Rude. In either instance, the story ends with an irate Rude confronting Warrior, and doling out the fists in response to whatever the perceived injustice was.

9. Hulk Hogan Vs. Macho Man Randy Savage (1993)

This one resides in the realm of "urban legend", though the late Matt Borne (at the time playing the role of Doink the Clown) claims that the physical part of the story did take place. As 1993 wore on, even after Hogan officially left WWE that August, Savage was apt to take shots at Hulk on commentary (especially an angry tangent about Hulk's ego during a Tatanka squash match that October). Savage had also done an interview on Radio WWF, claiming that Hogan and wife Linda conspired to manipulate Miss Elizabeth into divorcing him.

Apparently, the entire Savage-Hogan saga was a chaotic one in the early portions of 1993, to the point where Savage was reportedly livid when he discovered that Elizabeth had been staying with the Bolleas, and was, according to Borne, dating a friend of Hogan's after her and Savage split. If you've ever seen Hogan's blackened eye at WrestleMania 9, which was allegedly the result of a jet ski accident, you may believe the claim that Borne and others have made, that Savage drilled Hogan in the face during a confrontation related to the tumultuous situation.

8. Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels (1997)

Maybe you haven't heard, but for a while there, "The Hitman" and "The Heartbreak Kid" just didn't care for one another. Montreal may have been the mushroom cloud, but the chain of events leading to that final explosion were already in motion the previous June. One night after the 1997 King of the Ring, the tension between the two was thicker than mud. Hart was still seething over a pointed remark Michaels had made weeks earlier on Raw, openly alluding to Hart having an affair with Sunny.

Hart and Michaels found themselves cursing and shouting at each other hours before that night's Raw in Hartford went on air, and it wasn't long before the mutual hatred degenerated into violence. Reportedly, Michaels missed a punch, Hart (who was still ailing from knee surgery six weeks earlier) clocked him in the chin, and began swinging Michaels by his hair. Michaels then attempted to go after Hart's bad leg, to which Hart took him down and began raining down strikes. After the two were separated, a battered Michaels stormed into Vince's office, announced he was quitting, and apparently made threats about showing up on WCW Nitro, a mere 2 hours drive away in Boston.

7. 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper Vs. Kevin Nash (1997)

Coincidentally, at Nitro the very same evening as the Hart/Michaels brawl, another member of the Kliq had his hands full with an out-of-the-ring altercation.

Nash and partner Scott Hall squared off with Piper and Ric Flair before thousands of rabid, supercharged Boston fans. It was there that Piper apparently went against the agreed-upon match layout by charging the Outsiders at the start, trying to play off of the crowd's energy. There was also residual tension from Slamboree weeks earlier, regarding the composition and structure of a six-man tag involving Nash and Piper.

Piper is said to have "gone home" far too early in the Nitro bout, against the wishes of Nash in particular. Nash, who had damaged his knee during the collective audible, stormed after Piper once back in the locker room. When Piper retorted at Nash's angry tirade, the near-seven-footer smacked Piper across the face. Piper responded by throwing a kick at Nash, which missed. The other wrestlers in the area then intervened to prevent any further incident. Six nights later, tempered had cooled, and the two worked together at the Great American Bash pay-per-view without any issues.

6. Scott Steiner Vs. Diamond Dallas Page (2000)

Three months before the two would wrestle each other in the last WCW pay-per-view match ever, Steiner and Page squared off in what was said to have been an extremely ugly situation.

There was heat between Steiner and Page's then-wife Kimberly, reportedly due to Kimberly claiming that an illegal substance found in the locker room belonged to Tammy Sytch. Not long after on an edition of Nitro, Steiner cut what amounted to a shoot promo on DDP, saying he didn't have the balls to fight him.

DDP was waiting for Steiner when he returned from cutting the barbed soliloquy. F-words were exchanged, and Page fired the first strike. Steiner managed to throw Page with something resembling a Suplex. Steiner then harshly took Page down a second time, and started to go after Page's eye with his fingers. Page managed to free himself by biting Steiner's hand, and the two were finally held apart, bearing swelling and blood from the skirmish. Neither man was punished because, well, it was WCW, and the inmates had long been running the asylum by then.

5. Goldberg Vs. Chris Jericho (2003)

A run between Goldberg and Jericho never really came to fruition in WCW, and there had been a mild strain between the two ever since. More than four years later, Goldberg arrived for his first WWE run, and, according to Jericho, seemed eager to renew the pre-existing tension. Jericho had been told that Goldberg was openly burying him to Kevin Nash during one particular Raw match, and with that, Y2J angrily confronted the larger heavyweight.

The two began arguing about stuff that had allegedly been said, and while Jericho apparently tried to talk sense into Goldberg, the beastly former WCW Champion grabbed Jericho by the throat. Jericho shoved him off, and when Goldberg charged again, Jericho snared him in a Front Facelock (an effective self-defence move), and managed to neutralize Goldberg. Jericho added a Bodyscissors, but the powerful Goldberg managed to lift Jericho and slam him through some dressing room doors.

The two were eventually separated by a cadre of wrestlers and personnel, and made peace minutes later. Jericho also claims that maybe 10 minutes after the fight started, there was a text on his phone from Disco Inferno, asking about the fight. Gossip certainly does spread quickly.

4. Kurt Angle Vs. Eddie Guerrero (2004)

A little more than one year before Guerrero's passing, the signs of physical and mental deterioration were reportedly becoming evident to those around "Latino Heat". The extent to which Guerrero was compromised became clearer when he worked with Angle in a Lumberjack Match on SmackDown weeks after SummerSlam. While most would anticipate a great match between the two, the match would have been nakedly awful if not heavy editing in post-production. That's because Guerrero was acting strangely.

Guerrero seemed off-kilter, and was skittish about doing spots, at one point telling Angle, “get away from me! Don’t touch me!”

Guerrero also said something similar to the lumberjacks when he was ejected to the floor. Backstage, Guerrero was reportedly an apoplectic mess, and an irritated Angle (who felt like he'd been carrying a severely-restrained Guerrero in other recent matches as well) angrily confronted him. Guerrero screamed at Angle, who shoved him several times, and blocked a Guerrero takedown attempt with a Front Facelock, holding him there until Big Show broke it up. There were reportedly no issues between the two after that, as it just the venting of frustrations between a compromised wrestler and the close friend that he'd been working with nightly.

3. Ric Flair Vs. Mick Foley (2004)

Pre-existing animosity between the two legendary figures was exacerbated by, of all things, their respective autobiographies. Foley's 1999 tome levied criticisms against Flair as WCW booker in the early-nineties, believing that Flair was short-sighted toward what Foley had to offer. Five years later, in Flair's own memoirs, "The Nature Boy" dismissed Foley's abilities as a wrestler, writing him off as nothing more than a "glorified stuntman". A few months later, Foley made several scathing comments about Flair during a promo at a Ring of Honor event.

The situation came to a head late in the year at a Raw taping in Huntsville, AL. Foley apparently refused to shake Flair's hand, and Flair responded by punching Foley. This led to heated words between the two, with Flair challenging Foley to meet him out in the ring for a fight. No further physical altercation occurred, and in fact the two were able to settle their differences some time after, even working together in a 2006 storyline. Today, the two are friends, with no more petty arguing over harsh assessments from years earlier.

2. Booker T Vs. Batista (2006)

Batista's ascent to the main event tier of WWE wasn't without its share of internal feather-ruffling. In 2005, shortly before getting drafted to SmackDown, Batista made critical comments of the blue-brand's roster, claiming that their wrestlers lacked the commitment of Raw's stars. Those words didn't sit well with many, namely Booker T. The friction came to a head in May of 2006, when stars from both brands filmed a SummerSlam commercial many hours before a Raw TV taping.

Batista was part of the filming, though he had been out of action since January, due to a torn triceps. When he arrived at the shoot, Batista reportedly only shook hands with certain talents, and that's when Booker sprung into action. He and Batista began loudly arguing, which led to Batista saying he could take Booker in a fight. The two found an empty room and immediately went at it, with sources claiming that in the midst of the brief brawl, Booker would up the aggressor, having pinned Batista down whilst raining punches on "The Animal".

Both men were seen with noticeably swollen eyes after the fact (particularly Booker at the SmackDown tapings).

1. Brock Lesnar Vs. Chris Jericho (2016)

You may remember the gruesome finish to SummerSlam 2016, in which Randy Orton bled enough blood to fill an Olympic-sized pool, courtesy of some unworked Lesnar elbows to the noggin.

Apparently, blading is barbaric, but having a 280-pound MMA heavyweight cave in the head of a man in an attempt to draw blood isn't. But anyhow, Lesnar messed Orton up good, and the ensuing visual was a truly horrifying sight. Alarmed by Orton's predicament was Jericho, who watched the whole thing go down on the backstage monitor.

Jericho was in the vicinity of Michael Hayes, and demanded to know if the blood was intentional, or if Lesnar had carelessly gone into business for himself. Hayes apparently felt uneasy about telling Jericho that it was a planned spot, and Jericho grew annoyed at Hayes' apprehension about answering. Jericho loudly stated, "This is bulls**t", just as Lesnar was coming back through the curtain. Interpreting Jericho's remarks as being directed toward the ending, Lesnar exchanged words with Jericho (reportedly even kissing him on the forehead while daring him to do something). Jericho then, with balls bigger than any of us have, shoved Lesnar into a wall. Both Triple H and Vince McMahon intervened, and Vince had to explain to Jericho that it was all a work. After that, cooler heads prevailed.