4 Current WWE Superstars who once had backstage heat (and 1 who still does)

Hardly a month goes by in the wrestling news world without a WWE Superstar being associated with two dreaded words: backstage heat.

The insider wrestling term is used when a person has done something to upset a co-worker or someone within management. Backstage heat often results in someone losing their on-screen push. On rare occasions, it can even lead to a person getting fired.

Several active WWE Superstars have received backstage heat during their time with the company. In recent weeks, it has even been claimed that one person currently has heat with other members of the locker room.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at four current WWE Superstars who once had heat, plus one who still does.

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#5 WWE Superstar Sami Zayn once had backstage heat

In 2020, Sami Zayn revealed that he unintentionally irritated some of his WWE co-workers early on in his time with the company.

Zayn felt he was not “a fully mature person in some ways” when he joined WWE at the age of 28 in 2013. As a result, people within the promotion made him aware of some of his actions.

Speaking on The New Day’s Feel The Power podcast, the former Intercontinental Champion gave an example of how he might annoy people:

“For example what I might perceive as fun-loving, let's have some fun chat on the bus, might be like, ‘Man, this guy's annoying.’ I always just looked through my own lens, but being around these people with all these different points of view starts making you look at yourself through their lens,” he said. [H/T Digital Spy]

During the podcast, Xavier Woods told a story about Sami Zayn light-heartedly putting people in armbar submissions if they did not laugh at his jokes.

Zayn added that people in WWE saw him differently in real life to how he viewed himself. Over time, he gradually became more aware of how his actions were perceived by others.

#4 WWE Superstar Cedric Alexander once had backstage heat

Kurt Angle received a behind-the-scenes insight into modern-day WWE during his recent stint as a backstage producer.

The WWE Hall of Famer, who worked in the role in 2019 and 2020, witnessed an incident that resulted in Cedric Alexander garnering backstage heat.

On his Kurt Angle Show podcast, the Olympic gold medallist said Alexander once ignored an order from Vince McMahon. The former 205 Live star’s behavior landed him in major trouble with the WWE Chairman.

“He got in a little trouble last year. He didn't do something that Vince wanted him to do, and you know, if you don't listen to your boss, things could get a little bit, you know, depressing for you, and he didn't listen the one night, and they scolded him for a good half-year before they started using him again, and rightfully so, he should have listened,” Angle said.

Angle did not specify exactly when the backstage incident occurred. Based on the timing of his comments, Alexander likely upset McMahon in early 2020, which is when he suddenly began appearing regularly on Main Event.

Alexander received another chance in the main-roster spotlight when he became a Hurt Business member in September 2020.

#3 WWE Superstar Riddle once had backstage heat

From Brock Lesnar and Goldberg to Booker T and Roman Reigns, Riddle has never shied away from giving his brutally honest opinions about WWE Superstars.

One of Riddle’s most controversial comments came in August 2021 when he criticized Roman Reigns. During an interview with Bleacher Report, The Original Bro claimed he could beat Reigns up in a real fight. He also implied that the Universal Champion is only successful because he is related to The Rock.

Speaking in another interview with the IB Times, Riddle confirmed he received backstage heat for his comments about Reigns:

“I’m not even in that realm of competing with The Tribal Chief. He’s on another level at this moment. I think maybe I got a little too big for my britches, you know what I mean? Maybe I got a little backstage heat. Maybe a tiny bit,” he said.

Reigns is not the only current full-time superstar who Riddle has upset backstage. The former NXT Tag Team Champion’s wife, Lisa, body-shamed Becky Lynch on Instagram in 2019 and questioned why WWE’s women do not do more squats.

Lynch’s husband, fellow WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, said in 2020 that he had no interest in ever facing Riddle. The two men later made amends when they spoke backstage at Survivor Series 2020.

#2 WWE Superstar Seth Rollins once had backstage heat

Before they became Shield members, Jon Moxley and Seth Rollins both had heat during their time in WWE’s Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental system.

Moxley wrote in his book, MOX, that he confronted an unnamed main-roster opponent after suffering a concussion during their match. The former WWE Champion had no recollection of the argument due to his concussion, but he still received a bad reputation after the incident.

In the same chapter, Moxley revealed that many people thought Rollins' attitude needed to improve:

“The two top guys in developmental had become anti-office. Our situation had bred an us-against-the-world mentality already. If they think Seth has an attitude, good, f*** ’em, he should have an attitude,” Moxley wrote.

Rollins also spoke on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show about the problems he encountered during the early days of his WWE career. The 2014 Money in the Bank winner said NXT founder Triple H once told him he would be fired if he did not work on his attitude.

Former WWE coach Joey Mercury advised Rollins to learn “how to play the game” if he wanted to succeed in the company.

#1 WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair still has backstage heat

Charlotte Flair allegedly received backstage heat from other members of WWE’s women’s division following her botched title exchange segment with Becky Lynch.

On the October 22 episode of SmackDown, Flair dropped the RAW Women’s Championship on the ring canvas instead of handing it to Lynch. Although the moment looked deliberate, PW Torch’s Wade Keller reported after the show that Flair denied dropping the title on purpose.

Keller also wrote that Lynch was viewed as a “hero” by her peers after she stood up to her former best friend backstage. Flair, by contrast, has apparently alienated herself from the rest of the locker room.

“She has been more and more isolating herself behind the scenes. ‘No other women want to work with her now,’ one wrestler tells PWTorch, citing she is seen as only interested in how she looks and scrutinizing everything she’s involved in through a self-centered filter,” Keller wrote.

On-screen WWE official Sonya Deville was also involved in the title exchange segment. According to PW Insider’s Mike Johnson, Deville was “mad enough to want to fight Flair” after SmackDown.

Four weeks after the segment, Lynch spoke openly about Flair in an interview on Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour. She claimed several people in WWE, including production crew members, thanked her for standing up to Flair.