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Contrary to what their on-screen characters try to portray, the majority of WWE Superstars get along just fine behind the scenes. Bayley & Sasha Banks and Shawn Michaels & Triple H are two examples of legendary WWE rivals who are best friends in real life.
Those examples show that even the closest of friends can successfully convince the WWE Universe that their personas dislike each other. However, in some cases, WWE Superstars do not even need to pretend that they do not like a certain co-worker.
Some opponents have been unable to settle their real-life animosity before their match or during the match itself. On rare occasions, this has led to a genuine dispute or physical altercation in front of a live audience.
In this article, let’s take a look at five times that WWE Superstars had real disagreements during a match.
#5 Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior (WWE WrestleMania VI)
While Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior had several disagreements outside of a WWE ring, they also had one during their WrestleMania VI main event.
Hogan discussed the famous match, which The Ultimate Warrior won, during his appearance on The Steve Austin Show in 2019. The Hulkster revealed that Warrior wanted the match to end early because he was “blown up” – a wrestling term for being tired:
“I put a rear chin lock on him as I held him down. I said, ‘Brother, just breathe and calm down.’ He’s going, ‘No, man, let’s go home now, let’s go home.’ I go, ‘Brother, we’re only about five, six minutes in, we’re not going home.’”
In wrestling, “going home” means bringing an end to the match. Hogan said he refused to finish the much-anticipated encounter after just a few minutes. He also told Warrior that they needed to get to the spot where Hogan kicked out of his opponent’s finisher.
“I told him, and he goes, ‘Oh no, let’s go home now.’ The crowd was rumbling. He goes, ‘Let’s go home.’ ‘No, brother, you’re gonna have to press me over your head in a gorilla press and I’m gonna kick out of your finish before we go home.’ I told him that in the ring. I got him to calm down, we got through it.”
Hogan vs. Warrior ended up lasting 22 minutes, making it the longest match of the night. Hogan kicked out of the gorilla press/splash sequence before failing to land a leg drop. Warrior then followed up with a splash to win the WWE Championship.
#4 The APA vs. The Public Enemy (WWE Sunday Night Heat)
One of the strangest matches in WWE history took place on the March 7, 1999, episode of WWE Sunday Night Heat. The APA (Bradshaw & Farooq) were supposed to defeat The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge & Rocco Rock), but things did not go according to plan.
Seconds before The Public Enemy made their entrance, one member of the team told Bradshaw (aka JBL) that they were not doing the original finish. The match was supposed to end with The APA picking up the win after putting a Public Enemy member through a table.
JBL said on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast that he expected to lose to the WWE newcomers at a future WWE PPV. He also recalled that he and Farooq (aka Ron Simmons) did not know what to do after their opponents suddenly changed the finish
“Well, their music’s playing. They walk out. Ron goes, ‘What was that about?’ I said, ‘They don’t want to do the finish.’ Ron said, ‘Well, they don’t want to do the finish? We’ll take the finish to them.’”
The APA dominated the short match from start to finish, with The Public Enemy having no offense whatsoever. Referee Jimmy Korderas brought an early end to the physical encounter and declared the match a no contest.
#3 Shawn Michaels and Vader (WWE SummerSlam 1996)
Shawn Michaels had backstage disputes with several WWE Superstars in the 1990s. The Undertaker even became so tired of Michaels’ antics that he threatened to beat up his co-worker if he sabotaged the WrestleMania XIV main event.
One person who Michaels did not particularly like working with, Vader, challenged The Heartbreak Kid for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam 1996. WWE director Bruce Prichard revealed on his Something to Wrestle With podcast that the two men were originally supposed to have three high-profile PPV matches.
The first of those three matches (SummerSlam 1996) was going to be won by Michaels. Vader would then become WWE Champion three months later (Survivor Series 1996) before dropping the title back to Michaels (Royal Rumble 1997).
Unfortunately, their SummerSlam match was full of miscommunication, leading WWE’s decision-makers to replace Vader in the WWE Championship storyline with Sid.
Michaels could not hide his frustration throughout the disappointing match. He even had a disagreement with Vader after the two men botched an elbow drop spot. Michaels thought his opponent was going to move out of the way, while Vader thought he was supposed to stay still.
When HBK landed the elbow drop and Vader did not move, the D-Generation X member legitimately kicked the challenger in the head.
Prichard said on his podcast that Michaels was “livid” after the match, which explains why plans for a rematch were scrapped.
#2 John Cena vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton (WWE RAW)
When Randy Orton’s “Stupid!” comment to Kofi Kingston is replayed, it often goes unmentioned that John Cena was in the match. The triple threat match took place on the January 11, 2010 episode of WWE RAW, with the winner challenging Sheamus for the WWE Championship.
Orton was supposed to win the match by hitting Kingston with a punt kick to the head. However, Kingston kept getting back to his feet when his opponent lined him up for the punt kick. As a result, Orton had to compromise by hitting him with an RKO to pick up the victory instead.
Like Shawn Michaels in 1996, Orton did not exactly try to hide his frustration. In fact, he did the complete opposite. The Viper repeatedly shouted “Stupid! Stupid!” in the direction of his opponent, whose main-event push came to an abrupt end.
It was speculated for many years that Orton personally put a stop to Kingston’s push by complaining about him to WWE management. In 2019, those rumors were alluded to in the build-up to the WWE Championship match between the two men at SummerSlam.
#1 Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Kane (WWE Royal Rumble 2018)
Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman was viewed by many people as a dream WWE match. The two men battled it out in a Fatal 4-Way match at WWE SummerSlam 2017, with Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe also involved.
Lesnar picked up the win at SummerSlam but Strowman arguably stole the show with his impressive performance. One month later, they went one-on-one for the first time at WWE No Mercy 2017, where The Beast picked up a surprisingly comfortable victory.
Fast forward another four months and the two behemoths competed in a Triple Threat match, also involving Kane, at WWE Royal Rumble 2018. Lesnar retained his WWE Universal Championship, but the big story revolved around the moment when he legitimately punched Strowman in the head.
The incident occurred after Strowman clearly rocked Lesnar with a strong knee to the side of his head. The Beast instantly retaliated with two real punches, forcing his opponent to stumble and go down to one knee.
For the avoidance of doubt, The Monster Among Men confirmed in an interview with talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy that the punch was unscripted. He also revealed that, although Lesnar was obviously frustrated in the moment, they both saw the funny side when they returned backstage.
“We laughed about it afterwards. It is what it is. We got to the back and I said, ‘Hey, my bad.’ He said the same thing and we went about our business.”
Strowman has faced Lesnar in four televised WWE matches but he has still never won. Their last scheduled meeting at WWE Royal Rumble 2019 was canceled, with Finn Balor taking Strowman’s place.
