Real Fights That Took Place Backstage In The 90's
Shawn Michaels & Davey Boy Smith & X-Pac vs. Some Thugs from a Bar in Syracuse, 1996
We all know this one. As the story goes, Shawn got a little too flirty with a female who was dating one of the military thugs at the bar. Once outside, the thugs jumped Michaels and beat him silly. Big ol’ Bulldog and small (but feisty) X-Pac jumped out of the car to help out Shawn until the thugs ran away. A battered and bruised Michaels appeared on Raw shortly thereafter and the announcers acknowledged the legit beating. WINNER: Thugs, and all Canadian fans who hate Shawn.
Shawn Michaels vs. Ron & Don Harris, 1996
I think this happened right before the Syracuse incident. The Harris twins were on their way out of the WWF, and decided to shake a little fear into HBK in the locker room before they left. If they really wanted to scare Shawn, they should’ve threatened him with tapes of their matches in WCW in ’99. WINNER: WWF fans, who didn’t have to watch the Harris twins wrestle anymore. And the Canadians again.
Eddy Guerrero vs. Road Warrior Hawk, 199?
Heard about this one while listening to “Wrestling Observer Live.” Dave and Bryan were discussing the Hawk-Savage incident and brought up this fight. I suspect it happened in Japan. Meltzer said, “How could anybody beat up Eddy Guerrero? He’s like the nicest guy.” WINNER: Hawk, but he came off as such an arrogant bully.
Randy Savage vs. Road Warrior Hawk
Backstage at a New Japan show back in 1996, words were exchanged between the two men (not sure about what) but it ended up with a fight where Hawk hit Savage with a right hook and knocked him out. Heat obviously still existed between the two because they had another confrontation three years later in the United States backstage at a Kid Rock concert at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Fl. Hawk saw Savage coming in his direction so he put his hand out (probably just out of respect) but Savage immediately threw a sucker punch that staggered Hawk. Hawk's wife was then attacked by Savage's then girlfriend Stephanie Bellars (Gorgeous George) and another female leaving her badly beaten. Hawk claimed that he would take legal action against the two women for attacking his wife but not against Savage since fights amongst wrestlers are usually kept away from the law. However, no action was ever taken. WINNER: Whoever got to see this Jerry Springer-like free-for-all lucked out big-time. (thanks to Rob Harvey and TPPW.net)
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, 1997
Tension had been brewing between these 2 for months. They had a shouting match in the locker room and Michaels just had to yell out, “What are you gonna do about it?” Bret punched him, they rolled on the floor, and Bret left with a clump of Shawn’s hair in his hand. WINNER: Shawn Michaels, for laying the foundation for the upcoming double-cross plot.
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon in Montreal, 1997
What did Vince expect? After the infamous double-cross at Survivor Series, Vince approached Bret and got a handful of knuckles. A groggy Vince is seen walking out of the room in the movie, “Wrestling with Shadows.” WINNERS: A&E, some documentary filmmakers, Bret Hart, and bookers who plan to use this finish for centuries to come.
Nasty Boys vs. Ken Shamrock
This was quite a few years ago, before Shamrock was a UFC star. They really roughed him up in a 2-on-1 hotel room brawl. I heard Ken was thrown right through the hotel room window! Rumor has it that a few years ago when Shamrock was in the WWF, Rock and Shamrock were walking through an airport. One of the Nasty's was walking around and Shamrock spotted him. Story has it that Shamrock immediately went into the "zone" and Rock had to really calm him down, before all Hell broke loose. WINNERS: Nasty Boys, although it wasn’t a fair fight. (thanks to Matt Mazany) UPDATE: Mike Mooneyham of the Charleston Post and Courier interviewed Ken Shamrock for his latest column. He recalls a funny story regarding The Nasty Boys (Jerry Saggs and Brian Knobbs) many years ago in Charlotte where he claims they blindsided him at a hotel following a night club argument. "I was sitting with a friend and his fiance, and one of the Nasty Boys reached over and made an inappropriate gesture. They did it again. My friend was getting upset, but he was a small guy and what was he going to do? They disappeared, but I didn't let it lie because I thought that was just totally punkish of them. I knew where they were staying, so I went after them at their hotel. I had a few choice words and told them they had a lot of nerve. Rumor has it that I got clubbed from behind with a steel phone, and then they put the boots to me." That was the last he saw of them until a chance airport meeting while working for the WWF years later: "You talk about the biggest wimps you have ever seen... Knobbs ran when he saw me. The other one (Saggs) thought he'd be funny and walked up next to me at the counter. I was with Billy Gunn, and everyone knew the story because they bragged about how they beat me up. I looked at Saggs and said, 'You know what? I'm going to kill you.' He looked at me and said, 'Chill out, man, that was a long time ago.' I said, for you it was, but it feels like it just happened and I haven't forgotten about it." Shamrock says that Gunn pulled him away but he eventually caught up with Saggs: "I jumped up, pulled him around and told him I was going to knock him out right there. He turned his shoulders away from me, and said, 'If you hit me, it's a felony offense.' At that point and time all the anger left my body. He was totally sickening. But all the boys saw it. All the bragging about how he whipped my ass once... It was kind of satisfying at that point. I think I got the last laugh." (this came straight from an interview with Ken conducted by Tim Brown)
Kevin Nash vs. Roddy Piper, 1997
On the very same night that Michaels and Hart were fighting backstage at Raw, Piper and Nash were doing some of the same at Nitro. After a match that ended up being a complete mess between Scott Hall & Nash against Piper & Ric Flair, Nash stormed backstage, booted Piper's dressing room door open and leveled Piper with a punch to the head before the pair were pulled apart by various backstage personnel. Nash went unpunished (which became the theme for WCW later) and nothing further came of the fight. WINNER: Nash, but he picked on someone half his size. (thanks to Rob Harvey and TPPW.net)
Buff Bagwell vs. Ernest Miller
Bagwell's parody leading up to Road Wild of Miller didn't go down too well. Right before the live PPV match, Miller approached him about it. Bagwell slapped him. Miller immediately responded with two punches, and Bagwell fell, cutting his elbow badly. Bagwell backed off before more damage could be done, and the match went ahead as planned. Bagwell won, and neither man was disciplined. WINNER: Miller. How many times you think he has bragged about this one? (thanks to HB2KBuzzsaw)
Kevin Nash & Scott Hall vs. a Bunch of Stupid, Drunk Kids, Spring Break Nitro, 1997
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Syxx (Sean Waltman) were guests on stage as a part of MTV's annual spring break coverage. The three were there to punish losers of a talent contest I think and to build up the annual Panama City Nitro that Monday. Anyway a drunk guy in the crowd was causing trouble and threw something at the stage. The NWO guys asked security to get a grip on the rowdy crowd, but were blown off. When the guy threw something else the NWO guys astonished their MTV hosts by leaping off the stage, grabbing the guy themselves, and turning him over to security. They then threatened to walk out if security didn't get the crowd under better control. MTV usually shows the footage annually as a "wildest ever moment" while building up spring break coverage. (thanks to Tamalie, wrestlingclassics.com, & the Meatball)
William Regal vs. Bill Goldberg, 1998
Regal had the moment with Goldberg where he did a little unscheduled mat wrestling. I think the only reason why this is considered, is because Goldberg didn't know what was going on. Regal could lead a dead man through a believable sequence, and I believe that is what he was trying to do. But Goldberg flopped around, and ended up looking like an idiot. I remember watching this live on Nitro, and didn't know about it, but it sure looked like something was wrong. (thanks to Chris & codytheimpaler.com)
Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, 1998
Austin, McMahon, Undertaker and Michaels were in a meeting with other officials planning the WWE's strategy going forward. Apparently, leading up to WMXIV, the idea was for HBK to drop the strap to Austin, which HBK initially rejected. At this point Undertaker began to tape his fists methodically. The Deadman told HBK that it was advisable that he, HBK, change his mind about doing the job by the time that he, Undertaker, finished taping his fists or he will MAKE HBK change his mind the hard way. WINNER: WWE and WWE fans because Austin went on to become one of the biggest stars in wrestling history during the Attitude era. (thanks to Geoffrey Joseph)
JBL vs. Steve Blackman, 1999
WWF was in between shows at the local airport, and the wrestlers were waiting by the baggage collection bay and Bradshaw decided to dick about trying to push Blackman onto the moving luggage belt. Blackman turned around unflustered and planted a crescent kick flush on Bradshaw's jaw, knocking him clean out, picked up his bag and walked on. Both shook hands when it was done. UPDATE: a reader saw an interview with the Blue Meanie which says Bradshaw was pissing Blackman off, calling him allsorts of stuff. Blackman just turned around and hit him in the face and body a dozen times then went to finish him off with a kick but got his foot caught in a luggage bag. This gave the guys watching a chance to separate the two. Bradshaw apologized straight after. If only other legit tough guys would do the same to Mr Layfield.
Thanks to Steven, Chris, and John. I knew of a few of these but I didnt know about Taker and HBK. Guess that was Taker thinking business and HBK being cocky champ. Takers the Godfather of wrestling man. Funny how those 2 guys are the No. 1 Contenders @ WM23
