Even in this business, not all professional wrestlers get along. We’ve heard stories over the years of superstars having legitimate hatred for one another. We all know about The Rock and John Cena being at odds before their historic match at WrestleMania 28 and then carrying it over at WrestleMania 29. Those kinds of feuds make this business great, but they also show egos and resentment get in the way at times.
According to lore and later corroborated by other wrestlers, Sid Vicious and Arn Anderson got into one of the craziest and most dangerous fights of all time. In October 1993, Sid and Arn Anderson got into an argument at their hotel bar while in Germany on tour. It started off innocent enough but escalated quickly.
Ironically, Sid insulted Ric Flair, who was and still is Anderson’s best friend. The two were separated but after thinking it over, Sid went back to Anderson’s room to settle the argument. He allegedly hit Anderson over the head with a hotel chair leg when Arn answered the door. The two ended up spilling into the hallway where a vicious, bloody assault ensued involving a pair of scissors.
You can figure out the rest. Anyone who says tempers don’t flare between opponents just doesn’t understand the business. We all know both wrestlers would live to fight another day. That’s just one example of the “reality” in this business. Here is a look at five other backstage feuds that had a major impact on the wrestling business.
1- Bruiser Brody and Jose Gonzalez
This one might be the most important because, in the end, Brody died as a result of the argument. There are different versions of how this all went down, but Gonzalez allegedly stabbed Brody over a disagreement in the shower and was never prosecuted for it. Brody was an uncooperative sort, who if he did not like something or an ending to a match or how he was used in a promotion, he would leave.
He was hard to work with. But in this case, he was the one who was on the wrong side. In 1988, Brody was in the locker room before his match with Dan Spivey in Bayamón (a city near San Juan, Puerto Rico), when José Huertas González, a fellow wrestler, and booker, asked him to go into the shower to discuss business.
Brody entered the shower stall and a few minutes later a scuffle ensued, followed by two screams, loud enough for the entire locker room to hear. Tony Atlas ran to the shower and saw Brody bent over and holding his stomach. Atlas then looked up at González and saw him holding a knife.
2- Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels
This is a case of disagreements in the ring being carried out backstage in real life. The relationship the two had been rocky, to begin with, but it all came to a head in 1997. While fans saw a segment of Raw, they had no idea of the altercation that took place behind the camera prior to the show. Weeks prior, Michaels stoked Hart’s ire with the now famous “Sunny days” comment on Raw, a thinly veiled implication that Hart had an extramarital relationship with the Diva named Sunny.
It was rumored Michaels was involved with Sunny as well in the following years. According to sources In his 2007 autobiography “Hit Man,” Hart wrote that he had sought out Michaels in Hartford in order to “straighten him out once and for all,” and upon finding HBK backstage, provoked him with the words, trying to start the altercation to end things for good. Hart supposedly connected with a punch on the chin.
3- Adrian Adonis and Dan Spivey
Hulk Hogan wrote about this in his autobiography, “Hollywood Hulk Hogan”, where Adonis was considered one of the boys and the outsider, Spivey, had enough of Adonis’ arrogance. There was an unspoken understanding back when Kayfabe was still the rule of professional wrestling that a fight between wrestlers backstage wasn’t broken up until one man had a clear advantage.
Adonis wanted to settle it after the show and stormed past his locker room to confront Spivey. Adonis walked into the front room which was empty, and then busted through to the back room. Dan Spivey rose to his feet to protect himself. Adrian said, "C'mon Spivey, let's see how tough you are." It happened in a split second. There was no chance to break it up.
Adrian took the wrestler's position and lunged forward for Spivey's legs. Spivey, who is six feet six and has an ungodly reach, caught Adrian with a vicious left to his left eye and cheekbone. It splattered like a watermelon and blood went everywhere. Spivey came with one more right to the face and the fight was over before anyone could break it up.
4- Chris Jericho and Goldberg
What? I guess Jericho was “NEXT.” Remember that Goldberg got his start in football and was “discovered” by Sting and Lex Luger in a casual meeting. Also remember, Goldberg was hard to work with and was stiff in the ring. Back in WCW, Jericho and Goldberg came face to face backstage, which Jericho spoke of in his autobiography.
In 2003, According to the six-time WWE champion, Goldberg criticized Jericho’s performance behind his back, and when Jericho confronted him with the accusation, Goldberg growled and grabbed Y2J’s throat. When the former NFL nose tackle charged for a takedown, Jericho snapped on a front face lock with a leg scissors.
Other wrestlers finally jumped in and separated the two and cooler heads prevailed, Jericho and Goldberg – whose uneasiness dated back years earlier to WCW, when a brash Jericho mocked the pomp and circumstance of Goldberg’s security-escorted entrance – shook hands and decided they’d keep their fighting to the ring.
I wonder if Goldberg does come back to WWE, would Jericho instantly become a heel to work with Goldberg, potentially playing on that confrontation?
5- Steve Austin and Vince McMahon
The war (yes, it was a war) between these two made the Attitude Era some of the best wrestling on television of any era, period. It isn’t often an employee can drink beer, swear at his boss, kick his butt and still remain employed. McMahon and Austin had their differences backstage, which were carried over into the ring to the tune of millions of dollars.
An agreement between the two led to Austin walking away from the company in 2002. Austin claimed he left WWE due to a combination of “fatigue and frustration,” to which Jim Ross, a close friend of Austin’s confirmed. He was upset at how he was being used by the company and wanted change.
McMahon acknowledged the rift between the two, and used it to promote himself as the “winner” in this confrontation, that he was owed an apology because Austin walked out on the fans and the company. Time mended fences and Austin still works for WWE today.
