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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RVD vs. Perry Saturn

At an ECW show, in Waltham, MA, I believe, Rob Van Dam and Sabu were working with the Eliminators. RVD was no-selling Saturn's offense. Saturn pulled RVD out of the ring and quietly told him to "Sell my sh*t." RVD told Saturn to fuck off, to which Saturn replied, "F*ck you, sell!" and punched him in the mouth. The rest of the match went smoothly. (thanks to Fraser)

Booker T vs. Eddie Guerrero

This came from Booker on the Smackdown tribute to Eddy. Booker didn't give any details but he said it was a stupid reason they got into a fight. (thanks to Andrew Betts)

Eddie Guerrero vs. a fan

In Mexico, Eddie Guerrero was having a feud with some Mexican wrestler and he was the heel and had huge heat. One time he and Art Barr (I think) had so much heat there was a mini-riot while they were walking back to the dressing room. He remembered what his father told him, "If you're ever in a riot situation, take out the one that's not screaming and the rest will back off." So Eddie punched a guy and everyone backed off. (thanksk to Josh Lane)

Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit vs. Matt Striker

Matt Striker was supposed to get demoted to Deep South Wrestling and talked his way out of it to Bill Demott. Matt Striker was bragging and laughing about it to Eddie. Eddie did not find it very funny and told him to be quiet and show some respect. When Benoit found out Striker disrespected Eddie, he got Striker's bags and threw them out of the room and told him to change somewhere else. (thanks to James Steeth)

Robbie Chance vs. a fan

From an eye witness: "At an IPW show in Muncie this past July, the promoter brought in Vanessa Harding & Robbie Chance, who are primarily known in the Midwest. Chance was on the mic, getting heat from the crowd. Some kid (probably 20-ish) was jawjacking with him quite a bit. After a few verbal exchanges, Chance turned his attention to the other side of the ring. He had since taken off his bright green and sparkling shirt, and thrown it at me. I handed it to a security guy. The security guy takes it upon himself to walk over to the kid he was jawjacking with moments earlier, and tells him to put it on. The kid does, and gets Chance's attention. Chance yells, "Take off my f-ing shirt!" However, he yells this while flying out of the ring. He starts trying to tear his shirt off of this kid, and going through the crowd. Security starts coming around, and I realized it wasn't a work, and jumped out of the ring. A bunch of guys got on Chance, and myself and a security guy stepped in front of the kid. The kid shoves me, and shove him back, and told him to sit down. Chance was told to change and get out of the building. He was escorted out about 10 minutes later. Later in the evening, the kid was offered a "contract" (free training) from IPW. Winners in my opinions were the fans who didn't have to see Chance wrestle. The losers were also the fans, who didn't get a chance to see the lovely Vanessa Harding bounce around more ;)" (thanks to name withheld by request)

Harley Race vs. Butch Reed

From the Vader shoot... One night when Butch Reed jumped on Race in Atlanta. Butch was just drunk and said "Who said you're so tough?" and jumped on Harley. Harley took him down, in a submission. (thanks to Brian Cooper)

HHH vs. a fan

This was at the Raw/SD draft in Detroit in March of 2004. During the HHH/Guerrero world title match, a fan made it into the ring doing a Pillman type jump from the ring barrier sliding into the ring. He was met by kicks from HHH and then escorted out by security. It did not happen during commercial. On the tape, it was actually very badly edited out, with HHH going from being beaten up to standing or the reverse (from standing to being beaten). (thanks to Aaron)

Sting vs. Dick Slater

The following is extracted from the mighty DVDVR sleaze thread: "When they were all in the UWF, Slater was dating Dark Journey. She hooked up with Sting behind Slater's back, but Slater found out about it and threatened to kill Sting. So Slater shows up in the locker room looking for Sting and finds him putting on his facepaint. Slater gives him a pretty good beat down because Sting doesn't fight back, knowing that he deserved it and didn't want to screw up his reputation by making any more trouble with Slater. After Slater finished with him, Sting got up, put on his facepaint, covering up the cuts and bruises, and went out and wrestled. Slater was fired from the UWF the next day." (thanks to Gerard)

Shane Douglas vs. a fan

During a mixed tag match between Dreamer and Beulah vs. Douglas and Francine on July 12th of 1996, Douglas and Dreamer were brawling just outside the guard rail. Douglas has Dreamer down on the floor, choking him with a crutch and Douglas is really getting mouthed at from the fans who are very close to him. He stops choking Dreamer to heckle back, and some guy in a cap goes to pick up a chair. Douglas sees him doing it and lurches at him, but Douglas ends up getting hit with the chair anyway, and then the camera goes all shaky and cuts away to a view of the arena. After some brawling (and the audience at home being able to hear the security's walkie talkie messages over Joey Style's commentary) the match continues as planned. (thanks to Matthew)

Bob Holly vs. a fan

At a Manchester house show in 2004, it was Booker T & Holly vs. MNM. The fan was shouting "Failure" at Holly and insulting him the whole time. After the match, Holly greeted fans at ringside. The fan pulled his hand away, and Holly looked like a caveman being confronted by a cell phone. Holly spit right in the fan's face. The fan complained and got some signed merchandise in exchange. (thanks to Peter)

Tony Devito (of the Baldies) vs. a drunken fan

ECW House Show, 6/3/00 Pensacola, FL. From an eyewitness: "I don’t think many people in attendance saw this encounter because it was literally about 10 seconds long and at the back of the crowd. The Baldies had just finished the match with Balls Mahoney & Mikey Whipwreck and I believe Balls & Mikey may have still been celebrating in the ring and that’s where everyone’s attention was. Well, The Baldies were exiting towards the locker-room and at the very back of the crowd near the wrestler’s entrance and the stage; there was this drunken fan with his girlfriend/wife. If I remember correctly, the drunken fan was heckling and flipping-off Tony Devito as he was walking to the back, so Devito slapped the drunken fan’s cup of beer out of his hand spilling it all over the place. The fan then immediately grabbed the cup of beer that his girlfriend/wife was holding and threw it directly in the face of Devito. Devito looked almost shocked and surprised for a second and then quickly gave the fan a forearm shot right to the jaw that almost knocked the fan on his ass. ECW security quickly grabbed the fan from behind and quietly escorted him from the building (note: the same ECW security guy’s had seen the whole incident take place and basically let Devito get the forearm shot in for good measure). Tony Devito simply turned away and continued to exit like nothing happened and didn’t draw any extra attention. I never saw anything reported about the incident, nor have I seen it mentioned on any sites/or forums, but it happened and I don’t think a majority of the crowd saw it. It was definitely not a work. I guess the main story that night was the Sandman dropping his pants in the ring." (name withheld by request)

Hall & Nash vs. a fan

It was Bash at the Beach '96. Right before Gene Okerlund got into the ring, they showed a shot of Sting helping Macho back to the locker room. Well in the ring you can see a fat white guy with a Hulkamania shirt wrapped around his head sneak in underneath the bottom rope and bumped Kevin Nash in the back of his leg. As soon as Nash felt him he made a fist and turned around wondering what the hell was going on. He sees that it is a fan and unclenched his fist and as soon as the fan stood up Nash knocked his ass back down with one clean punch. Then the camera shows Hall and Nash stomping the sh*t out of this guy in his head. WCW never cut this out like how WWE does these days so if you ever rent the DVD or buy it you might see the whole thing go down in its entirety. (thanks to Runnels)

Scott Norton vs. a fan

This was after the WCW Uncensored PPV in 1998 in Mobile, AL. There is a guy with his shirt off bleeding badly above his eye. The guy wasn't real big but he wasn't small either. He was cussing up a storm and calling someone out. Someone nearby said Scott Norton (who was on his way to his car) was trying to get by and the guy kept getting in his way so Norton decked him one and walked off. Why would anyone mess with Scott Norton? (thanks to Runnels)

Chris Jericho vs. a fan

During a match involving Jericho (champion) and Austin, a fan jumped the guard railing in attempt to grab the championship belt. Security quickly hauled him away but Jericho still got 2 or 3 shots on the guy. (thanks to Richard)

Matt Bentley vs. Alex Shelley

At the TNA Turning Point '06 PPV, Bentley and Shelley were going over the finish of their match. Shelley was adamant that a certain finish go down exactly as he wanted, which would have made Bentley out to look weak. Bentley overreacted and got hot, and it almost came to blows before things were settled down. Is Bentley just like his big cousin or what??

Security (WWE) vs. a fan

From reader Tyrone: "This was the Raw before Wrestlemania of 2005. Batista and Trips were having a dark match. Ric Flair was at ringside for The Game and Shawn Michaels was ringside for Batista. Some random fan started either taunting Michaels or throwing something at him, I am not quite sure, but want I do remember was that Michaels got really mad and started pointing towards the fan. I saw him pointing out to security some fan, and I know it wasn't arena security, because the dude had a black shirt on (most WWE security have black shirts). So WWE security comes over and it was just one, roughs on dude with dude yelling (he may have of been drunk), but it was cool to see."

Joey Mercury vs. a fan

At a SmackDown house show in London last year, Mercury was standing outside the ring when a fan hit him across the back, at which point a security guard jumped on him and threw him back into his seat. The fan was then shouted at by Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and Johnny Nitro who were also in the match. (thanks to Andrew)

Shane Helms vs. Christian York

From reader David: "There was a fight between Shane Helms and Christian York maybe when they were at Hooters. A guy started making money off them for being stars. Then another guy who was there got mad that the owner was making money and they had girls around them just because they were wrestlers. Shane Helms eventually knocked him out. When they got back to the Hilton they had a giant flag up the pole and they were both totally wasted where they actually got pissed at each other and had a Flag Match for the giant Hilton flag. Winner Christian York - Shane later admitted he was so drunk it couldn't have been to hard to beat him. Not sure if it was Christian York I will double check where I read the story and get back to you."

Crazy Rudy vs. a fan

From Alexander Arce: "This little incident was at a New Wrestling Star (NWS) show in Moca, Puerto Rico (I was there in the crowd). As Crazy Rudy was going to the locker room a fan with a cell phone in the other hand throws water at Rudy and challenges Rudy to a fight, so security stepped between the two and Rudy challenged the fan to fight him in the parking lot. As he was leaving the NWS security stood between both men until Rudy left. The fan was allowed to stay in the arena and the security left."

"Mr. Hardcore" Rico Suave vs. Alex Montalvo vs. an Armpit reader

From Alexander Arce: "Rico Suave was coming out I wanted to give him a high-five. He said F**K you as he was coming out so when he cut a promo at ringside I started the 'WHAT' chant as he was talking (or trying to). He said 'Please Moron stop F**king with me." Rico got a Babyface like pop from the people in my section of the Luis T. Diaz Coliseum. He really slapped Montalvo (A STIFF SLAP IN THE TRADITION OF HARDCORE HOLLY) after the promo asking him if he was ready to wrestle him. So as Montalvo and a referee were helping Chris Joel (who really bladed Hardway) vs his match vs "Mr. USA" Brent Dail. As Suave and Montalvo were fighting all over the ringside area of the coliseum he was screaming at both Montalvo and the fans who started to make fun of Rico. He was really beating down Montalvo until Delta Force did a run-in to end this match. As Rico Suave cut a promo on both Delta Force Viper & Cannon I was chanting 'WHAT." Afterwards Rico screamed at me saying that if I got in his face he would slap the S**t out of me."

Hurucan Castillo's relative vs a female fan

From Alexander Arce: "As Castillo, his wife, son and family were leaving the Luis Munoz Marlin Coliseum after a NWS show, said relative got into a shouting match with a fan. Chicky Starr's wife got in the middle and screamed at her too. A crowd had formed with me, with Jay Sinn there as well. The screaming fight ended as Castillo's relative got in her car and screamed at the female fan & her friends as she left.

Apolo vs a fan

From Alexander Arce: "As Apolo was leaving the ring following his match with Savio Vega vs Ray Gonzalez & Invader #1, he rock-bottomed Abrivela and a drunk fan screamed at him so Apolo spit in his face and was going to the locker room. The fan screamed at Apolo and the fan was ready to jump out of the crowd and fight him so IWA security stepped in and Apolo mocked the fan. The fight ended as Apolo left and the fan calmed down."

JC Bailey vs. a fan

This happened at an IPW show in Indianapolis, Indiana. JC Bailey was wrestling EZ Cruz in an Extreme Cage Match and the two were fighting outside the cage. While they were brawling a fan, a friend of Cruz, attacked Bailey. The fan got one shot in on Bailey before Bailey turned and just laid into the fan. Bailey hit him with at least three straight jabs to the face followed by just kicking this guy in the ribs when he was down. Security grabbed both men and escorted the fan out of the arena. (name withheld)

JC Bailey vs. Simon Sezz

This is happened at an IPW Show where the two where wrestling each other. This is Simon's debut and JC's second show but first in an actual wrestling match, his first match was a Fans Bring the Weapons match. The match was going well when Simon messed up a minor spot. JC tried to do the same spot again and the timing was off. Next thing I know JC is just soccer style kicking Simon in the stomache when Simon was on all four. JC kicked Simon several times across the ring and then JC picked up Simon hit his finisher and the match was over. Winner: JC Bailey, showed not to mess with him. (name withheld)

CM Punk and Chris Hero vs. a group of fans

From Punk and Colt Cabana's Shoot Interview. Punk and Hero were working a tag team match against Ace Steel and Danny Dominion. Punk and Hero were the heels so they were working over this group of college kids because they were really into the show, popping for the babyfaces and booing the heels. Well Punk got down on the floor and told one of the kids to come over the guard rails if he was tough enough to take out Punk. The kid then told Punk "duck the punch," Punk couldn't believe that this fan was trying to work him so when the kid threw the obivious work punch, Punk caught his arm. Seeing this from the ring Hero jumps from the apron and just nails this kid in the face. Next thing you know Punk and Hero are fighting 6 college kids. Punk and Hero had the upper hand until security broke it up and kicked the college kids out of the show. Winner: Fans that saw the interview because Punk re-telling the story is the funniest thing I've ever heard. (name withheld)

Ian Rotten vs. Bullet

This was in the now defunct ICW in Indianapolis. Bullet was known for getting beat up by all the hardcore guys. Ian and Bullet were wrestling and Bullet took a couple of stiff shots from Ian and couldn't take it. Bullet tried to take over the match and started no selling. Ian got super pissed off and started chasing Bullet around the ring just hitting him with anything Ian could find. Ian beat up Bulllet for a couple of minutes and Bullet started to try to crawl away from the ring, thinking he was going to die if he stayed, but Ian caught him and continued the beating. With Bullet laying of the ground face down, Ian grabbed a chair and swung it like a golf club and just nailed him in the head knocking out Bullet. After the match I heard Ian from the crowd say "I'll bet you'll sell next time Mother F*cker!" Winner: Ian Rotten by KO (name withheld)

WWE vs. local wrestlers

From an anonymous source: "During the recent January 21st RAW house show at Viking Hall in Bristol, TN, some local wrestlers almost got their asses kicked by the WWE wrestlers. There's a local organization around here called Iron Ring Wrestling, which is run by a wrestler named Jeff Tankersley. He's basically Jeff Jarrett on a smaller scale...he makes himself champion over and over and over, despite the fact that he's a terrible wrestler and nobody gives a damn about him (I say this only because it's an obvious fact, not because I have heat with him or anything). Anyway...Tankersley, Bobby Eaton (yes, 'Midnight Express' Bobby Eaton), and a few of his other buddies decided that they should be allowed backstage. From what I hear, they caused quite a ruckus when their request was denied. Apparently, before it was all over with, Triple H and at least a few others told Tankersley and his crew to beat it or suffer some pretty severe consequences. I heard all this from a friend who knows most of the security guards at Viking Hall, so I'd say it's probably true."

Andre the Giant vs. a waitress

From Basil: "I was talking to a few friends of mine who love wrestling just as much as I do, well anyways, I heard this story more than once, about Andre the Giant Vs a female waitress. Its not really a fight. Well, Andre was being very nice to the waitress and after he got seated Andre heard her making fun of Andre for his size. So Andre ordered everything on the menu and asked for it one by one. but there is more, after he was done eating everything, he left her a big fat tip of $0. Winner: Andre because he didn't have to leave a tip."

New Jack vs. a fan

From Kevin: "I was at an ECW house show in Jim Thorpe PA and before an eliminators/Gangtas match new jack and a fan started jawing. After the match new jack and the fan went at it and the guy took a swing at new jack. Jack hopped the guardrail and it was on from there. The back emptied out and they cleared the building. The last thing I saw was Jack on the merchandise table jumping off at the guy. Another point was this place had beer, cheap beer."

Tank Tolland vs. Chad Wicks a.k.a. The Dicks vs. each other

The story goes is that the Dicks were getting quite a ribbing from JBL Benoit and The Undertaker and Wicks was complaining about the ribbing and Tolland was afraid Wicks whining would cost them their jobs so Tolland hauled off and punched Wicks no other details are known about the fight so far Winner: nobody. The Dicks have Been released by the WWE (thanks to Andrew, Jeffrey, Dan)

Doug Felton vs. Neil Carr

In 1989, a promoter by the name of Doug Felton decided not to promote a show
that he had brought a couple of guys in for who were on tv at the time, to
work a show at a school. One of the workers who showed up and found out
Felton wasn't going to pay him (Gary Robins, who then worked as The Canadian
Giant and was featured on Bizzare, and most recently played the biggest
deformed redneck in 'Wrong Turn') just packed up and left prior to the start
of the show. Neil Carr, a former WWF tv jobber, showed up severely
intoxicated and agreed to wrestle Chuck Simms in the main event. When
Felton could only pay Neil 20 dollars and not the balance of the money he
still owed him from other shows, Carr brabbed Felton in the bathroom and
started shoving him around before smashing him face first into a heavy stall
and glass door. A couple of guys dragged Neil off of Felton before Neil
could kill him! (This is the same Felton who would screw over Dave Penzer
and a ton of other support staff and workers and gain a world wide
blackballing over it in 2001) (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)

Eric Dawson vs. Troy Buchanan

In March of 2001, Troy 'the Boy' Buchanan was brought into Ontario by a
promoter who put him in a tag team match with Ricky Stardust against
'Tyrant' Eric Dawson and Scott Chase. Buchanan thought he would go into
business for himself and blow every spot and work stiff on Dawson. Dawson,
who was a hothead with a terribly shitty locker room rep, basically shot
back and pounded the hell out of Troy the Boy. Buchanan tagged out as soon
as things got hot, and Dawson went after him backstage. The promoter pulled
Dawson away, as Buchanan had his head down and was afraid for his safety.
Troy got changed and was out of the building within 5 minutes. (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)

Kwan Chang vs. Chris Tidwell

September 2001. Eric Dawson finds out that he has to put Kwan Chang over in a 4 way match to build heat for a character they were trying to develop for Chang. Kwan, who was a terrible worker who most guys refused to work with, had a great look but had a lot of heat with a lot of guys mainly due to his conspiring with Doug Felton in stranding
several Ontario workers in North Carolina in 1999. Dawson didn't even want Kwan in on the planning of the match, as Kwan was only supposed to do the last minute screw job for the win, and the story in the match was written to get the character over for the long term. Kwan immediately screwed up the match and kept coming into the ring, even blind tagging guys in and out which pissed everyone off. The finish, which was supposed to be a superkick into a school boy and roll out; turned into a slow fishermans buster, pin, and mic spot. When Kwan got back to the dressing room, the promotions Talent Relations guy, Notorious Chris Tidwell, screamed at Kwan and asked him who told him to do anything he just did. Kwan took one step towards Tid, who took 2 steps toward Kwan and told him to 'come on' - then Kwan turned around and ran out of the dressing room. Kwan then got dressed quickly and left. Next day, Kwan was telling everyone how he stood up to Tidwell. All 20 guys in that locker room know different. (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)

Promoter vs. a fan

During a Rock and Wrestling show in Toronto, where the matches are all hardcore with no seats in the concert hall - security is tighter as the night goes on. During a spot when 2 guys leave the ring to grab a table from ringside, a fan decided to grab one of the wrestlers. The show promoter grabbed the guy and tossed him hard against the wall, knocking him down. The guy turned around and motioned to his friends, and when they headed back over the the promoter one of the workers and another security guy were there too. The fans apologized and everything went cool for the rest of the night. (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)

Phil Latio vs. a fan

In a tag match between Phil Latio and Notorious T.I.D. and the Hollywood Hunks, Phil and Jamie Jackson took their match onto one of Toronto's busy downtown streets, and a fan started kicking Jamie in the head. Phil then jumped up and began to beat the living shit out of the fan until security separated them. (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)

Chris Drury vs. JC Owens

A guy who used to train at PWE's school in Hamilton told me this one. In 2003, some 400 pound guy named JC Owens used to work for PWE then started bad-mouthing the promotion. The promoter, Chris Drury, heard about it and apparently Drury took Owens into a stairwell and screamed at him for about 15 minutes and begged Owens to repeat anything he had said. Owens backed off very quickly. (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)

Roddy Piper vs. a fan

I have a faint memory about it, but I do remember a fan actually stabbed Roddy Piper at a card in Greenville, South Carolina in the early 80's. (thanks to David)

Johnny Devine of Team Canada vs. 2 little kids

He was working an indy show in Ingersol and during intermission 2 little kids (10-13) were in the ring running around and flipping, Devine came out during that time and totally flipped out and told them "Get the f*ck out!" the kids slid out and ran back to their seats. (thanks to Double J Jobber James)

Kevin Nash & Goldberg vs. 2 fans

Two drunk idiots decided to pick a fight with Goldberg and Kevin Nash in the ring. Nash big booted one of them in the testicles and Goldberg punched out the other guy. It happened pretty fast so after it was finished security got in and took the two men outta the ring gold berg and Nash never received a "real" punishment but they got a lot of heat for it. (thanks to Aaron)

Hitman for Hire vs. Lord Jacob Cain

In 1997, on an IWA show in Hamilton Ontario, a worker by the name of Hitman for Hire was working Lord Jacob Cain. Hitman stiffed Cain with a kick to the groin, which Cain brushed off as a clip and just kept working. A few minutes later, Hitman for Hire stiff kicked Cain AGAIN in the nuts...twice, and Cain just basically went ballistic on Hitman. Lord Jacob Cain pounded the side of Hitmans head until blood ran out of his ear. Hitman never worked in IWA again, and Cain became their top guy. This winter at the Great Canadian Expo in Oshawa, Ontario, referee Pee Wee Cassells was in the ring (stoned as usual) and was checking the ropes when he legitimately started yelling at the ring announcer for the ropes not being tight enough to his liking. The announcer thought it was a work, so Pee Wee shoved him and kept up being an a**hole until the announcer turned around and started introducing the workers for the next match. After the show, one of the workers pulled Pee Wee aside and let him know that shoving their announcer would result in them having 'problems', when 'Hotshot' Johnny Devine came over and put his arm around Pee Wee to protect him and walk him away. Devine shot back a glance at the worker, who shot the 'let's go' glance back to Devine...who wisely walked away as he would have had his ass handed to him by the worker, who is the brother of Sean 'Val Venis' Morley and is the size and toughness of Sean. Winner: The announcer, who was shown how much the office and boys respect him as part of the crew. Loser: Pee Wee for having to supply dope to guys to get booked; and Devine who feels he has to protect his hook up even though Pee Wee shouldn't be within 10 miles of any arena. (thank to Scrapiron Warrior)

Referee Wayne Cashman vs. a fan

A fan attacked Cashman after a Canadian Wildman card in Peterborough in 1985. Cashman took a ref bump to work the finish to the main event, so a fan took a swing at Cashman in the parking lot after the show and slipped when he took the punch. Cashman gave the guy one shot in the side of the face and knocked the guy out! (thanks to Scrapiron Warrior)