Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Like all great poetry, professional wrestling rhymes. Not all events that go down around the squared circle are mirror images of yesteryear, but there are plenty of parallels that can be drawn between what goes on in today’s wrestling and what transpired in the past. AEW’s existence alone draws comparisons to WCW, a powerhouse promotion that opposed WWF in the late 1990s. Like Ted Turner’s wrestling company, AEW enjoyed a honeymoon period come acquisition of many of wrestling’s hottest free agents, but it’s boom period is now beginning to tremor.
Much of that is due to backstage tensions between AEW World Champion CM Punk and members of The Elite, the faction that quite literally birthed All Elite Wrestling. Those tensions boiled over this past weekend, as Punk blasted “Hangman” Adam Page, Kenny Omega, and the Young Bucks at the AEW All Out press conference. This sparked a “physical confrontation” between Punk, Punk’s trainer Ace Steel, Omega, and the Bucks, which culminated in Omega being bitten and Nick Jackson of the Bucks being struck with a chair.ย
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All parties involved have been quiet on the situation, as reports have suggested there could be legal ramifications to the situation. On top of that, Eddie Kingston’s recent AEW suspension for striking Sammy Guevara backstage has set a punishment precedent, and many are expecting consequences to be dished out to the parties involved.
While this drama has put history’s eyes on AEW, backstage fights in this scripted combat sport are nothing new. As Punk himself said in an October 2011 promo, “This is pro wrestling. This ain’t ballet.” Brawls outside of the squared circle have generated everything from slaps on the wrist to industry-altering changes.
Brock Lesnar and Chris Jericho (2016)
Chris Jericho remains one of the toughest men in the history of professional wrestling. Following Brock Lesnar’s bludgeoning beatdown of Randy Orton at WWE SummerSlam 2016, Jericho confronted the Beast Incarnate backstage.ย
“He was doing a match with Randy Orton and he was basically butchering him with elbows to the head,” Jericho said of the incident. “I didn’t know if it was planned or not, no one would tell me. Wrestling is a hard-hitting sport, but elbows to the side of the head can kill you.
“When he was hitting him with the elbows, if this is real then it is bulls–t, but if it is called, it is still bulls–t because he is taking liberties and it is p–sing me off. ย I was [backstage] and I was angry about it, he came back and saw me and saw I was angry about it and wanted to challenge me.”
Jericho and Lesnar eventually came nose to nose but were separated by Triple H and Vince McMahon before the situation could escalate. Jericho revealed years later that his plan, should Lesnar have swung at him, was to “bite his f–king nose off.”
This wouldn’t be Jericho’s first rodeo either. Y2J got into it with Goldberg upon his arrival in WWE in 2003. Jericho came out on top of the brawl, which Goldberg admitted on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho.
“Yeah, you kicked my a–,” Goldberg said in August. “Pretty good, man.”
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels (1997)
The most comparable backstage fight to the current AEW situation is Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels’ brawl in 1997. Michaels made a comment on television about Hart having “Sunny days,” which alluded to an alleged affair between the Hitman and Sunny.
These comments rubbed Hart the wrong way, not unlike how Punk was frustrated over Hangman’s promo that alluded to his situation with Colt Cabana, and he confronted Michaels about it backstage. The two brawled, and Hart reportedly pulled some of Michaels’ hair out.
Batista and Booker T (2006)
Batista was a surging top WWE talent in the mid-2000s, and he knew it. The Animal reportedly developed an ego around WWE SmackDown, which many on the roster took exception to.
Booker T decided to take matters into his own hands, which led to the two coming to blows at a SummerSlam commercial shoot. Rey Mysterio was the one who tried to break it up but his efforts went nowhere. There’s long been discrepancy over who came out on top, but many believe the five-time WCW Champion was easily victorious.
Years later, the two squashed their beef and are said to be very good friends.
The Plane Ride From Hell (2002)
An incident so infamous it garnered its own nickname. In 2002, WWE flew its roster and crew from the United Kingdom to the United States, and things went off the rails quickly.
Many were heavily drinking before and during the flight, which led to some dangerous events. Curt Hennig and Brock Lesnar broke into an amateur wrestling match, and the two were forced to be separated by Triple H and Paul Heyman. Hennig was released as a result of the incident.
This was not the only fight on the plane, as road agent Michael Hayes got into it with JBL, which resulted in Sean Waltman cutting off his mullet for payback once he fell asleep.
Other non-physical events on the plane included Dustin Rhodes “serenading” his wife at the time, Ric Flair walking around in just his wrestling robe, and Scott Hall losing consciousness.
The Montreal Screwjob (1997)
Some backstage fights are small and petty, while others change the very fabric of the wrestling industry. November 1997’s “Montreal Screwjob” did just that.
Hart was already leaving WWF for WCW but had refused to drop his championship to Shawn Michaels in his native country of Canada, the site of WWF Survivor Series 1997. Vince McMahon needed the title off of Hart before he left for WCW, but Hart’s WWF contract had creative control built into it. As evident by an earlier entry on this list, Hart had no interest in putting over his real-life rival Michaels.
McMahon called for the bell while Hart was locked in the Sharpshooter, despite Hart not submitting. This enraged Hart, as he would spit at McMahon and destroy multiple things in his path before being confronted by his soon-to-be former boss backstage. As soon as Hart got out of the shower, he punched McMahon, leaving him with a black eye.
