Backstage Fights

Here's the list of what we have so far. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated. Please contact us with any information you have on any fight not yet listed here.

Disclaimer: Take these stories with a grain of salt. Most of these are hearsay, and their veracity cannot always be confirmed. We are certain some stories here are either untrue or greatly exaggerated. Do not trust any of them as true. Nonetheless, backstage fights do happen, and there is at least some degree of truth to most of the stories here. Plus, they’re fun to read.

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The Wifebeater vs. Johnny Kashmere

This fight happened over some things Kashmere said. Kashmere was saying some anti-CZW things on the internet. John Zandig (the man who runs the show at CZW) heard about this and sent the Wifebeater, a wrestler known for chopping up opponents with a weed-whacker, to Kashmere's house. I don't know the rest of the details of this fight, but I heard that Wifebeater beat Kashmere up. How do guys get away with assault like this? (thanks to Tim)

Ric Flair vs. The Nasty Boys

Got this from Ric Flair's book. At the China Club in Manhattan, The Nasty Boys were bothering Flair's friend Robby Kanoff, who was drunk. The Nasty's took Kanoff's sunglasses and stomped on them, and then tore his suit. Flair got pissed about it, and confronted Knobbs about it. Flair told him to leave Kanoff alone but Knobbs responded with a bad look on his face. Flair slapped Knobbs silly, but he tried to fight back but Flair had it under control. Saggs then jumped across the bar and hit Flair in the eye. Saggs and Flair started fighting but it was broken up and Flair was tossed out of the bar. The damages were put on Flair's credit card. Like it says in Flair's book, what's wrong with this picture? The Nasty Boys stay in, but Ric Flair goes out? (thanks to Tim)

Hulk Hogan vs. Harley Race

From Race's book. As Race (then NWA) stormed the backstage area at a WWF show at the Municipal Auditorium, the Funk brothers looked stunned. Hogan was staring at the Funks and could see their faces. Before he could turn round, Race slapped him in the ribs. Hogan fell backwards into a chair. Sensing a difficult situation, Hulk joked, "Harley, I thought the first time I saw you in Kansas City you'd have a great big gun." Hogan should be advised not to play 'call my bluff' with Harley Race, as Race shot back with, "I don't have a great big one..." before pulling out a .380-caliber handgun. (thanks to Brian Cooper at BigVanVader.com)

Booker T vs. Craig Titus

When WWE comes to Vegas, they always work out at the local Gold's Gym. When Smackdown was in town last, Booker T, Chavo Sr. and Orlando Jordan came in together to work out. About 25 minutes into their workout, a professional bodybuilder named Craig Titus got into an argument with Booker T about Booker not putting away his weights after he was done with them. Titus is a celebrity trainer who was featured on the Remaking of Vince Neil episode that aired on VH1. He has been in prison for charges of steroid use, and is currently in prison on murder charges. Orlando Jordan and Chavo Sr. were in between the two monsters while they were screaming at one another when Craig Titus lunged over Jordan and Chavo Sr. and caught Booker with a weak punch. That’s when Orlando Jordan turned around and threw a right hook at Craig Titus and dropped him to the floor. Chavo Sr. then grabbed Jordan in a bear hug and was yelling at Booker T to get his stuff and that they should all get out of there. Booker, Chavo Sr. and Jordan left in a hurry out the door. Craig Titus was not hurt, just his ego. He's usually the one starting something. (thanks to, well, he probably doesn't want his name printed)

New Jack vs. Chad Austin

Feeling he had been thoroughly dissed by Austin (an ECW jobber) in ‘96, New Jack sought out his retribution. During a double tables match between the Gangstas and Austin/Meanie, Jack laid into Austin with stiff shots at ringside. Then came the planned finish of the chair shot, which was also stiff. It didn't end there, as Jack kept at it with 5 more chair shots after the match had ended. (thanks to Power Slam magazine and Brian Cooper at BigVanVader.com)

ECW vs. XPW

XPW wrestlers showed up at an ECW event for publicity. The ECW guys, understandably, didn't like it. Words were exchanged between Francine and XPW valet Kristi Myst. They pushed and shoved, then the XPW guys got involved, and suddenly the whole ECW locker room emptied out. Witnesses say that the XPW guys took a beating from Jack Victory, Mikey Whipwreck, New Jack, Chilly Willy, Sal Graziano, Kid Kash, Paul Heyman, and others. The fights ended up going into the streets, and the XPW guys escaped in a limo. (thanks to Justin Newbould, Power Slam magazine, and Brian Cooper)

Scott Hall vs. Terry Taylor

In yet another drunken stupor in Germany, Hall decided to harass WCW road agent Terry Taylor. Hall never flew back with the WCW crew; pilots said he was too wasted. So when Hall eventually made it back, he vowed to get Taylor at that week's Thunder taping. When word got out, plans were scrapped for the show, which was written around Hall. With them having to rewrite the show, the taping was delayed, and Hall dealt with the situation by hitting the bars. (thanks to Power Slam magazine and Brian Cooper)

Scott Steiner vs. Terry Taylor

Taylor, the agent, told Steiner about the planned finish of him losing to Awesome. Steiner refused, but Taylor held his ground. Steiner flew off the handle, cutting a promo on Taylor and threatening him. He eventually did as he was told, but was suspended for 11 days WITH PAY. Steiner then lost the title to Awesome at a PPV, but not by pinfall. Amazing. (thanks to Power Slam magazine and Brian Cooper)

Sandman vs. Jack Victory

Before a scheduled 8-man main event in Florida, Sandman nearly passed out on the way the ring, a result of his usual drinking binge. He then got on the mic, mumbled something about Raven being on the wagon, and then dropped his pants. The other guys were shitting their pants and trying to cover him up, realizing how he was embarrassing the company. Backstage, Sandman got into it with Jack Victory, before it was broken up by Sal Graziano. Was ECW party central, or what. (thanks to Power Slam magazine and Brian Cooper)

Hogan/Savage vs. a fan

On a pay-per-view in about 1997, the main event was a cage match between Hogan and Piper. Savage was at ringside with Hogan and when the match was over, Savage ran in and both began pouncing on Piper. Some kid with a painted face jumped the rail into the aisle, climbed up the cage and got in the ring. I can't remember who it was, but somebody tried to hold him down outside the ring and he got away. He got in the ring and Savage held him as Hogan popped him two or three times. He eventually was pulled out of the ring. (thanks to John Nunez)

Reid Fliehr vs. Colby Hardin

This was after a championship wrestling match for the North Carolina 4A Western Regionals in ‘05. Reid (Ric Flair's son) and Hardin were in sudden death, and Hardin won after making an escape with Reid on top. Hardin then did the strut and "Whooooo!" That was too much for Reid, who charged him. Before he got there, punches were being thrown by students from both schools (Providence High and South Mecklenburg High). The fight was broken up quickly, and Reid ended up getting suspended from his first 3 wrestling meets next season. Both high schools were also fined $1,000 each. Looks like Reid inherited his father's temper. (thanks to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

WWE vs. British kickboxers

After the April 2005 TV tapings in England, there was a minor altercation at the Hilton Hotel in Birmingham. There was a kickboxing exhibition the same night, and the fighters and fans were all liquored up. They started calling wrestling fake and making fun of the wrestling fans. One of the fans went after WWE ref Jack Doan. At that point, the wrestlers, who were much larger than the boxers and their fans, held them back and restrained them until the cops came. That was it. But the tabloids, of course, blew the story out of proportion to the point Batista was reportedly throwing around the boxers. Again, that is probably just tabloids being tabloids (maybe they got their journalism lessons from the Torch). (thanks to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Andrew Jubraj, and Mohamed Ahmed)

Lance Storm vs. JBL & Bob Holly

Storm, who was a trainer for OVW in ‘05, was telling one of the OVW students to be careful when dealing with infamous ribbers and pranksters JBL and Bob Holly. In particular, Storm told him that they were bullies who sometimes work stiff, and that he thought it was unprofessional. JBL and Holly confronted Storm backstage at a WWE show, and heated words were exchanged. JBL challenged him, but Storm blew him off. Many saw it as Storm being professional, while others saw it as Storm being a chicken. Anyone with a brain would see it as Storm being a professional. This is a Fortune 500 company, and there's no place for crap like this to happen in 2005. (thanks to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Dustin Rhodes vs. his wife

In April of 2005, Rhodes was arrested on charges of domestic abuse. Details are not known at this time. Why is it that whenever domestic abuse charges happen in wrestling, the guy getting charged is always from Texas?

Kevin "Mordecai" Fertig vs. a drunk bar patron

A drunk guy at a bar picked a fight with Fertig in ‘04/’05, and Fertig "Finished it, with an exclamation point." It was so bad that now the guy might sue Fertig. Mordecai, who wrestled on SmackDown in 2004, has returned to OVW, where Paul Heyman is working with him to improve his game. (thanks to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Peter Maivia & Lia Maivia vs. the police

In the early 1970s, Peter and Lia (The Rock's grandparents) were out drinking with friends. One of their friends was refused service, and Peter stepped in. The commotion caused the bartended to not serve drinks to anyone in the group. Then a drunk, off-duty cop jumped in and a huge brawl started. Peter and his guys beat up cops from San Francisco, Brisbane, and San Mateo. Finally they were taken to jail, but so many Samoans protested that Peter and Lia were eventually released and not charged (well, this IS San Francisco we're talking about).

King Blitz vs. Fiend Boy

A wrestler by the name of King Blitz who wrestles for indy feds in Memphis went backstage and caught another local Memphis wrestler by the name of Fiend Boy, and Blitz began to beat him in the side of his face with brass knuckles until he was pulled off by J.E.W. (the promotion they were working for at the time) locker room. (thanks to Jesse Matthews)

Ric Flair vs. a fan

Flair was going to face Kerry Von Erich for the championship at Kiel Auditorium in the early ‘80s. Flair was walking down the aisle (which were much smaller back then) and some moron grabbed a hold of the golden locks. Flair reached back with one hand and landed a vicious punch with the other. Fan went down hard as St. Louis' finest grabbed him. Said moron was "literally" carried out kicking, screaming and bleeding all the way. (thanks to Mike Skinker)

Gordon Scozzari vs. Madusa

This was part of the whole Gilbert/Gaylord thing where Madusa, I believe married to Gilbert at the time, heard Scozzari paid Gaylord to attack Gilbert over something to do with Scozzari's ill-fated promotion. (thanks to Vinnie Carolan)

Matt Hardy vs. Edge (verbal)

Edge was messing around with Matt's girlfriend Lita in early 2005. Matt was alerted to it after Edge's wife called Matt asking him why Edge and Lita kept calling each other. Matt asked Lita, and she denied anything. Matt later found a hidden cell phone of Lita's, and checked the messages. He heard a message from Edge that led Hardy to believe something was definitely up. Lita admitted it, and Matt kicked her out of the house. Matt wrote remarks on his website about Edge (his former best friend), calling him "feces." No punches thrown, yet. Hardy eventually re-signed with WWE and worked a program with Edge, only winning once.

Kurt Angle vs. Daniel Puder

During the Tough Enough segment on SmackDown in ‘04, Angle challenged anyone to wrestle him in a shoot. Puder volunteered. Angle berated him and then they wrestled. It was just an angle, though they were wrestling for real. Puder slapped on a painful lock out of nowhere, and would've broken Angle's arm had he not let go. The agents backstage in the Gorilla position were screaming at the ref to stop the match, which he did. And thank goodness, because it would've embarrassed WWE badly (not that they would've aired it). WWE never turned it into an angle, and from TV you can't tell it happened.

Vader vs. Stan Hansen

Not a real shoot, but a stiff match. Vader's eye did indeed pop out... so he pushed the damn thing back in and continued. He took his mask off to a chorus of ooos and ahhhhs from the Japanese fans because he was having some problems with the swelling. His eye swelled up pretty bad. (thanks to Maddog (Joe))

Bad News "Allen" Brown vs. Andre the Giant

One time in the early 80's during an early stint Bad News had with the WWF, the boys were all on a bus traveling between shows. Andre the Giant was in the back of the bus with Hulk Hogan and company telling racist jokes that Bad News took offense to. Bad News told him to shut up, then when he turned around Andre shouted out a racial slur. Bad News made the driver stop the bus and told Andre to meet him outside. Andre

refused and Hogan and others tried to soothe the situation. The next day Andre apologized to Bad News. Keep in mind this was back when Andre was still in decent shape, before his body really deteriorated. Bad News later admitted he was glad nothing ever happened because he didn’t know what Andre was capable of. (thanks to Grant Prairie, who heard this from Bad News himself)

Bad News "Allen" Brown vs. the Guerreros

Another time around the beginning of his wrestling career Bad News wrestled a tag match in Japan against the Guerrero's (Hector, Mando and Chavo Sr.). Bad News was still quite green at the time and the Guerrero's took exception to how stiff Bad News worked. They confronted him in the locker room afterwards. Bad News apologized but the Guerreros were steaming and wouldn't it let it go until it turned into a 3 on 1 with Bad News destroying all 3 of them. As a side note, Bad News was backstage at a WWE show in Calgary a few years back and Chavo Jr. went up to Bad News and was in awe of him since he'd heard the story from his dad and was telling all the other wrestlers how tough Bad News was back in the day. (thanks to Grant Prairie, who heard this from Bad News himself)

Bruno Sammartino vs. Johnny Shumway

This wrestling match apparently happened in Toronto when Bruno was wrestling for Frank Tunney. Sammartino claims that Shumway tried to shoot on him and Bruno hit him with one shot and it knocked him out (thanks to Marcos Cortest)

Bruno Sammartino vs. Antonio Inoki

Sammartino claimed this as one of the reasons he never would work for Inoki. He was wrestling a tag match and felt that Inoki was trying to make a name for himself by shooting on Bruno during the match. According to Bruno, he responded to Inoki shooting on him by catching him in a front facelock and "almost broke his neck." After that match Bruno knew never to trust Inoki and would only work for Giant Baba in Japan. (thanks to Marcos Cortest)

Masahito Kimura vs. Rikidozan

Kimura is the famed Judo legend who once beat Helio Gracie in a submission match. He later did pro wrestling and before wrestling Rikidozan the two got into some sort of an argument about the finish. Kimura later stated that the match was supposed to be a draw but as soon as it started Kimura ran across the ring and shot in on Dozan taking him down. From there, he pummeled him with punches while on top and the match was stopped with Dozan winning by KO. (thanks to Marcos Cortest)

Akira Maeda vs. Wataru Sakata

Sakata was a student of Maeda's and was being interviewed by the Japanese press after a disappointing shoot match for Maeda's rings promotion. Maeda, pissed off at the lack of effort he felt his student displayed in the bout, ran up to Sakata knocked him out of his chair and starting beating him up with punches and kicks. The whole thing only lasted a minute or so and aired on Japanese TV, it was not an angle or a work though it sounds like one. (thanks to Marcos Cortest)

Arn Anderson vs. Disco Inferno

Disco was sitting on a plane behind Arn Anderson. Mike Enos is on a cell phone and Arn tells him to turn it off. He tells him several times. Finally, Arn threatens Enos and Disco jumps up with four fingers in the air and says, ‘Yeah Arn, take care of him Horseman style!’ Arn turned around and bitched slapped him right in the face. (thanks to Bryan Alvarez at Figure 4 Weekly newsletter)

Rick Steiner vs. Vordell Walker

There are many versions of this 2005 story, so I will just cut and paste from the W365 Newsletter. "Rick Steiner went nuts at a Southern Championship Wrestling event this past weekend in Ocala, FL. He was teaming with Erick Stevens vs. Vordell Walker & Dustin Rhodes. According to those at the show, Steiner (who had taped his fists up ready for a fight backstage before the match) began shooting on Walker and tried to choke him out. Walker broke free with ease and then basically gave Steiner a beating, taking him down twice with front face locks. Steiner was really taken back because he thought he was dealing with a kid who didn't know any better. The match was thrown out with Stevens and Walker visibly upset. That left Steiner and Rhodes to work singles.
After that match the crowd watched Walker run out to confront Steiner at the concession area, shove him, and call him out. Steiner backed down telling him to "f--k off" and then left the building, apparently worried for his well being." Basically Steiner was being his usual bully self and going rough on the indie guys. Vordell knew how to shoot, and gave it right back to him. Steiner realized it and backed off, wisely. Vordell became a hero for it, and rightly so. Steiner always does this crap and it's entirely unprofessional. (thanks to Zeeboe and Mike Aldren at the W365 Newsletter)

Scott Norton vs. an Armpit reader

We got this from a reader named Jon Southerland: "Just wanted to let ya guys know of a close call I had a few years ago while WCW was in Las Vegas in 1997 for Halloween Havoc. The night before the PPV at the MGM Grand, numerous wrestlers and fans were checking into the hotel. Myself and a few friends were hanging out drinking with some of the wrestlers at the Betty Boop bar located in the hotel. We were not bothering the wrestlers, but just saying hello and shaking hands with most of them as they passed our table. During one point I went to the bar and ordered a few beers, Scott Norton was seated at the bar with a female patron. Scott looked my direction as I was ordering our drinks and I said hello. I told him I was big fan and shook his hand, the female then became upset and told me I had interrupted their conversation. I apologized and tried to leave and go back to our table, but Scott still had a grip on my hand. Scott then looked rather pissed off and would not let go of my hand and started to squeeze. For a moment I thought he was going to break my hand and I had thoughts of hitting him with my beer bottle to escape, I'm sure he could have very easily broken my hand if he wanted too. Anyway, he finally released my hand and I returned to our table." Now that is frightening. Glad you're okay, Jon.

The Rudeboy vs. Abdullah the Butcher

This was a match on the Insane Clown Posse's JCW in a cage match. Not really a backstage fight but Abdullah took some liberties on Rudeboy by stabbing him with a broken beer bottle. I heard Abdullah was drinking before the match too. (thanks to Tim)

Zach Gowen vs. a fan

We got this from a reader who asked to remain anonymous: "This is an extract from Zach Gowen's own Livejournal. After reading all of the entries, it seems like Gowen really has a hatred of fans, or the smarky ones at least. "I turned from fan favorite to rule breaker early in the show with an angle that was heavily influenced from Flair/Funk in 1989. We had a big brawl and a pull apart gimmick which was fun but I accidentally beat up a fan that I thought was part of the show. I jump on this dude and start working punches when all of a sudden I hear Brain Gorie say, "Dude, he's a fan, get off him!" So I started punching him as hard as I could. F*cking idiot. Fans should NOT run onto the floor in a basketball game and they most definitely shouldn't get involved in a wrestling angle."

Zach Gowen, Truth Martini, and Brian Gorie vs. a bar patron

Another anonymous reader sent us this. "Another Livejournal extract. "I was part of a 4 Horsemen beat down tonight. Keep in mind this actually transpired outside of Derby's Bar and Grill in Detroit. To protect the innocent, names have been changed. I'm Ric Flair, Truth Martini is Nikita Koloff and Brian Gorie is Arn Anderson. The guy that got ass beat is Lex Luger. Ok, so we're in the bar minding our own business when this ugly fat chick starts verbally assaulting me. She keeps accusing me of calling her a fat b*tch. Did the words "You're a fat b*tch" come out of my mouth? Well, of course they did. Were they directed at this particular fat b*tch? No, they weren't. She finally stops bothering us and I'm thinking all is cool. That is until we step out of the bar. The same fat *itch is waiting for me outside and she starts up again with her incoherent rambling. I gently pull her aside to explain to her that I wasn't talking about her and here's where Lex Luger jumps in. He grabs my arm, pushes me away and says, "Don't f*cking touch my girl". This guy's just asking for trouble. I try to explain to him that I have no interest in touching his "girl" but he won't have any part of it. Then he starts threatening me, that's where he crossed the line. I keep looking over at Nikita (played by Truth) and I can see the fire building up inside of him. So I start cutting the promo on this dude. I cut the f*cking promo of my life. I don't remember word for word what was said but I do remember saying this..."Look at you, you little bald headed f*ggot. I'm Zach Gowen baby, I drive a 75,000 dollar car (ok, so I lied in my promo, big deal), I'm a f*cking multi-millionaire (again, another lie) and I f*ck the hottest girls in the world (that part's true actually). And what do you do? Go home and f*ck that fat cow of a b*tch every night? You f*cking hillbilly, you make me sick. Get the f*ck outta here." That's when he started to walk away. I thought, "Cool, no fighting". Then he called me a p*ssy...or maybe I called him a p*ssy, I dunno. But the next thing I know, Arn Anderson (played by Brian Gorie) spits at him. He comes charging back but Nikita's hot as hell at this point. Truth grabs him by the collar of his shirt and throws his ass the ground. I mean this guy took the bump of his life. Details are a little sketchy after this but I remember looking over at Truth and him flashing the 4 Horsemen sign at me. Luger (played by douchebag) gets up and starts punching Truth, that's when Gorie tackles him to the ground and puts the choke on along with a few punches to the face. So, they're on the ground, Truth's kicking 50 yard field goals into his ribs and I'm just punching this dude in the face as hard as I can. That goes on for a minute or two, the cops show up (no charges were filed) and I end up with blood all over my new shirt my mom got me for my birthday. And my knuckles are swollen and my hands hurt like hell. Gorie gotta black eye and lost his glasses. All in all, it was a fun night."

Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero

Zeeboe sent this in. "Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero got into an altercation backstage at Smackdown after the final segment of the show. As they came through the curtain, they exchanged words, loudly, in front of everyone at the Gorilla position. It quickly escalated from verbal to physical. The word was that Angle grabbed Eddie in a face lock and took him down to the ground, incapacitating him, before being pulled off by Johnny Ace and some of the agents. Then, they apparently got into it again further in the back before getting broken up again. From what I was told, Vince McMahon talked to both men about the incident before leaving the building. The rumor making the rounds was that Eddie missed his cue in the final segment, which made Kurt's character look weak. Given the fact that Eddie wasn't himself at the time with some people thinking he hadn't fully recovered from his concussion, the story I heard is that Angle grew frustrated and told Eddie to basically get his head in the game, and it escalated from there. (thanks to Zeeboe and PWInsider)

Perry Saturn vs. Mike Bell

In this match from WWF Metal a few years ago, Saturn snapped and started to work stiff on Mike Bell. The match began with a bit of chain wrestling, but after a few botched takedowns from Bell (Saturn landed on his head/neck) Saturn snapped and started to punch him for real. After that, Saturn threw Bell out of the ring (right on his head, it looked really nasty), then he threw him on the steel steps. Saturn rolled Bell back in the ring and brawled a little bit and delivered a vertical suplex. He ended the match with a stiff looking superkick. Word is that WWE management was mad at Saturn, and on the next show they let Bradshaw work stiff on Saturn. (thanks to Frits)

JBL vs. Sean Conaway

Sean Conaway was Stephanie McMahon's favorite member of the WWE creative team. He has a reputation for befriending wrestlers, just to figure out what their real opinions of WWE management are, then ratting them out to Stephanie. Conaway, along with a few other production assistants, were in the same bar that Orlando Jordan and JBL happened to be in after a show one night. JBL and Jordan decided to get some revenge on Conaway, and challenged him to a drinking contest, which lead to much more. Conaway lost the contest and began to walk away, however Jordan told him he couldn't quit, so he kept on drinking. Conaway passed out in his room, and Orlando Jordan went in and ordered gay pornography on his room bill without him knowing. Conaway, who was still passed out, ended up completely missing his flight for RAW that night. Conaway ended up lying to Stephanie McMahon about it, telling her that he was detained by airport security, and that was what caused him to miss the flight. She understood, and there were no issues. The next night at the Smackdown tapings, JBL and Jordan told other wrestlers the negative stories about Conaway from that Sunday night. Not only did they tell the wrestlers, but they also interrupted the production meeting before Smackdown, which was attended by Vince and Stephanie McMahon, to tell the story about what happened. As a result, Stephanie McMahon found out that Conaway had completely lied to her about why he missed raw, and needless to say, is furious. On top of that, now management knows about the other negative stories, and has probably gotten word about those extra expenses on his hotel bill as well. Sean Conaway, a member of the WWE creative team, is no longer with the company. Conway, only 23, had been with the WWE since June 2004, serving as a writing assistant. Within the company, many considered him a "spy" for Stephanie McMahon. This incident happened in 2005. (thanks to XtremeFalls43 and WrestleView.com and Gerweck.net)

Ric Flair & Dusty Rhodes vs. Carmine Despirito (wrestling Eye magazine editor), Richard Sanders (photographer for Apter Mags), and Brian Razzi (Carmine's best buddy at the time), 1987

Here's an email we got from a reader: "This ridiculousness actually started at the show earlier that night. Upon entering the cage for War Games 1987, Flair gets into it with a photographer at ringside (for no apparent reason). Flair tried to have the photographer (Sanders) removed from ringside but couldn't. (Sanders was working with the Pennsylvania Athletic commission at that time as well as the Apter mags). After the show, the after party spilled back to the airport Marriot. Despirito, Razzi, and Sanders were outside of the lounge when Flair walks by. Just so happened we were all laughing about jokes Carmine was telling at the time. (that had NOTHING to do with wrestling). Carmine had heat with all of the boys because his magazine printed the "truths" about pro wrestling. Flair walks back again returning from the men's room, and we just so happened to still be laughing. (Carmine was a REALLY funny guy if you ever had a chance to talk to him.) Flair stops, and confronts Sanders. "Do you think something is funny?" he asked. I reply, "What are you talking about?" No one is laughing at you, if that's what you mean. Then he goes on about me never being allowed to shoot at ringside again, and I remind him that he's not in North Carolina, and he doesn't call the shots with athletic commission here. He then starts to cut a promo about the things he has (what was funny, I was making about $45K a year between my regular job and selling wrestling pictures on the weekends) and how he bets I'm broke, (poor) blah, blah, blah. At this time, a semi crowd starts to form from the fracas. Flair and I are about 1 ft apart (as I was wishing that he slugged me, so I could have whipped his ass, and then sued him later. At that time, I was benching 325 in sets of 8. About 245lbs and 6'4" tall) I reminded him that no stomping would be done when my punches starting flying (mocking a wrestling punch). Out of no where, Dusty Rhodes is in the middle of this. "What the fuck is your problem?" he asks. I immediately return the same question to him. The F bomb was dropped a couple of times from all parties involved. They were reminded that they were a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng way from home to be talking trash to guys that they didn't know. (A few of my frat brothers were less than 25ft away talking to some women) Hotel security intervened. Of course, we were thrown out. We all left the hotel lobby, went to Denny's (where we ran into JJ Dillion and Ron Simmons. Simmons pulled me to the side, and told me that " I knew what this was about," (assuming he was talking about race, because I'm black) and I told him the same thing that I told Flair a little while earlier........ He was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng way from North Carolina to be talking to strangers in a disrespectful way. Ron Simmons tried to remind me that he wasn't worth spending the rest of my life in prison for. Today, I have to agree with him. Winners: the crowd who got to see someone stand up to that punkass Flair and Dusty Rhodes. I covered a Turnbuckle sports show last year in GA featuring Abdullah the Butcher and Rhodes on top and I wanted to remind Rhodes soooooooooooooo bad about bragging about the "things he had" back in 1987. I probably have more money in my wallet, than he has in bank account. I'm equally glad to see Flair make an ass out of himself in the WWE nowadays. I wonder if he still thinks he's the man?? Whoooooooo that. Chump." (thanks to Ricci Bard)