10 shocking backstage stories from Wrestlemania you didn't know about

In the long history of Wrestlemania, there have been numerous high-quality matches and shocking moments to speak of. The event is still seen to this day as the most important night in the business of professional wrestling and everybody has their own opinion about which show was the greatest of all time.

As well as a huge catalogue of great bouts, Wrestlemania also has some lesser known backstage stories, mostly involving personal animosity between superstars. Given the wrestling business is such an intense industry, it's no surprise that the action inside the ring occasionally spills out into real life.

Here are 10 backstage stories from Wrestlemania you might not know about:

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#1 Savage and Beefcake nearly come to blows at WM 6

The "Macho Man" Randy Savage is no doubt a legend of the WWE. For most of what later become known as the 'Hogan Era', Savage was always seen as an invaluable player on the roster and would particularly shine at Wrestlemania. His matches at the event, for example, are the stuff of legend, but there have also been a fair few backstage moments where the former WWF and Intercontinental Champion has allowed his notorious temper to get the better of him.

At Wrestlemania 6, Savage's younger brother, who wrestled for the WWF as 'The Genius' for a while in the 80s and early 90s was involved in a match with Brutus Beefcake. Beefcake's gimmick at the time involved him chopping off pieces of his opponents' hair, a tradition that started back at Wrestlemania 3 against Adrian Adonis.

The Genius was managing Mr Perfect going into the bout and attempted to run away from the ring with Brutus's hair clippers. Beefcake was told prior to the match that he was to catch up with Poffo and drag him back to the ring before cutting off his hair.

The problem was, this piece of information was not actually related to The Genius himself. Going back and watching the incident all these years later and you may realise that Poffo's kicking and screaming was partially genuine.

Savage was said to have confronted Beefcake backstage with the two nearly coming to blows. Luckily for the company's HR division, the situation was resolved before anybody got seriously hurt.

#2 Piper's hands were taped closed before his match at WM 2

There may be some who argue that there is no place for celebrity involvement in the world of professional wrestling. In their defence, fans of the WWE, in particular, have had to endure some pretty cringe-worthy moments where celebrities awkwardly use the company as a platform to promote some piece of work they are doing, while not fully getting what wrestling is really about.

That being said, some of the most important moments for the WWE have come at the hands of high-profile celebrity involvement, in particular at Wrestlemania. Stone Cold's victory over Shawn Michaels at Mania 14, for example, was made much sweeter because of Mike Tyson's presence.

At Wrestlemania 1 and 2, Vince managed to secure the involvement of Mr T, a widely popular actor from the A Team television series. What fans might not know is that Roddy Piper, T's opponent at both events, was never particularly keen on the actor's involvement.

In the run-up to their boxing match at Wrestlemania 2, Piper's hands were taped closed before being inserted into his boxing gloves. This was management's way of ensuring that Piper would not go too hard on the actor and probably initiate a series of lawsuits as a result.

While the fans might have been lapping up the presence of such a legend of TV and film, Piper was clearly not a happy camper.

#3 Bundy was due to defeat Undertaker at WM 11

With undoubtedly one of the greatest winning streaks in professional wrestling, WWE's Undertaker once stood at 21-0 at Wrestlemania. In the latter half of the Deadman's career, his match at Mania would be one of the most anticipated and talked about affairs of the entire wrestling calendar year, often surpassing the WWE Championship match in terms of importance.

However, if things had actually followed their original plan back at Wrestlemania 11, there would not have been a streak to talk of. Vince McMahon was reportedly very high on the idea of Taker losing to his Mania 11 opponent King Kong Bundy.

Bundy may have been a big part of the WWF Hogan era back in the 80s, but by the time 1995 came along he had all but run his course. This makes it even more bizarre to think that Vince was so close to having the decision go against the Phenom.

When the streak was finally broken nearly 20 years later by Brock Lesnar, the WWE Universe was sent into a shocked silence. The internet could find nothing else to talk about for months with many questioning the wisdom of the move. Imagine how different things would have been if Taker only lasted 3 victories in a row as opposed to 21.

Luckily for fans of the legendary matches The Undertaker has had at Wrestlemania since then, the right decision was eventually made as Vince changed his mind and had Taker pick up the victory.

#4 Undertaker praises Jericho after his match at WM 18

The career of Chris Jericho is an all too familiar one when it comes to the WWE. After years of entertaining audiences with his numerous gimmicks and carefully constructed personas, Y2J has become one of the most beloved Superstars of all time, at least in the eyes of the fans.

But looking back at his actual career, and despite numerous title victories and other accolades, it becomes apparent that management never really believed in Chris as a 'top guy' for the company.

In fact, he has only appeared in one Wrestlemania main event, despite appearing at the show on numerous occasions. This came during Wrestlemania 18 which saw him defend his Undisputed Championship against Triple H.

Nobody can take away the fact that Jericho did appear on the grandest stage back in 2002, but even back then fans knew there was a very strong possibility that Triple H would be coming away with the victory.

This was during a time in which "The Game" would almost always come out on top, and compared to him, Jericho was basically a supporting actor in Vince's eyes.

One thing that may have raised the spirits of Jericho following the bout was a surprise encounter with The Undertaker. It is said that Chris found Taker waiting in the gorilla position and that "The Phenom" congratulated him on a job well done and for being a worthy champion for the company.

It might not have been the Undisputed Championship, but that's quite a prize to come away with from your first Wrestlemania main event.

#5 Randy Savage faxed Ricky Steamboat a running order of their match before WM 3

Wrestlemania 3 is widely considered to be the greatest single PPV the WWE has ever produced. This is largely down to two key aspects - Hulk Hogan's victory over Andre the Giant following a classic feud, and the Intercontinental Championship match between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.

One of the criticisms of the first two Wrestlemania shows was a lack of solid in-ring wrestling. The two events were said to have focused too heavily on the spectacle and celebrity involvement. Wrestlemania 3 alleviated some of these concerns as Savage and Steamboat put on one of the best-worked matches in Mania history.

On paper, one would expect these two performers to be able to put on a strong performance, whatever the occasion. But Macho Man was always known as somebody who took his matches very seriously indeed, which no doubt helped the quality and flow of his performances overall.

His showdown with Steamboat at Mania 3 was no exception. In fact, it is now fairly commonly known that prior to the event, Savage faxed Steamboat a full rundown of the moves the two men would be utilising including point number one which stated that the pair would 'lock up'.

Working a match with Savage might have been quite an arduous affair at times, but as far as the audience was concerned, we loved him all the more for it.

#6 The Hardy Boyz arrived undercover at WM 33

The latest edition of Wrestlemania isn't considered one of the greatest shows of all time, the event pretty much delivered in terms of match quality but nothing more. As far as shocking and entertaining moments are concerned, perhaps the only thing Mania 33 had going for it was the return of the Hardy Boyz.

When The New Day announced that Matt and Jeff would be entering the RAW Tag Team ladder match at the last minute, the crowd were sent into a frenzy. Far too much time had passed since the pair were seen in a WWE ring and pretty much every fan who watched the product during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras were delighted to have them back.

During this period away from the WWE, the Hardyz had actually been busy on the independent scene, putting together two of the most controversial and entertaining character gimmicks of all time in 'Broken Matt Hardy' and 'Brother Nero'.

The pair, along with teams such as The Young Bucks, reintroduced an element of spectacle and enjoyment into tag team wrestling not seen since the days of the TLC ladder matches at Wrestlemania 16 and 17.

In fact, less than 24 hours before Matt and Jeff won the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania 33, the brothers were headlining an ROH PPV with the Bucks. There had been rumours of a WWE return following this but very few people were actually caught up on the exact details.

The return was kept from the public so effectively that the Hardyz literally sneaked into the arena undercover after Wrestlemania had already started. It was quite the 24 hours for the former tag champs which ended in one of the biggest Mania 'pops' ever recorded.

#7 Shawn Michaels had custom Rolex watch made for Flair at WM 24

Wrestlemania will always be seen as the most important aspect of any WWE calendar year. The event is so prestigious that the company is always afforded numerous opportunities to do something special with it.

Typically the show is used to cement a new star or bring an exciting feud to its conclusion. Sometimes, however, Wrestlemania provides a platform for an old legend to have one final match in front of a huge crowd.

In 2008, Ric Flair wrestled his last match for the WWE at Wrestlemania 24 against Shawn Michaels. While it did not main event the show, fans will always remember it as a hugely significant part of the card. When Shawn was seen mouthing the words 'I'm sorry, I love you' before delivering one last Sweet Chin Music there was not a dry eye left in the building.

What fans might not know is that following the conclusion of the match, Shawn decided to further show his appreciation and love for the Nature Boy by gifting himself and Flair two custom-made Rolex watches.

Despite the pair never really being in the company together for an extended period of time, Michaels no doubt saw Ric as a mentor and friend, and the gesture was his own way of showing this.

Shawn also had the watches engraved. On Flair's, it read 'To be the man', and on Shawn's read 'you have to beat the man', a reference to a popular catchphrase credited to Flair during his highly successful run in the 80s.

This feelgood, backstage story indicates just how much respect certain superstars have for each other, and when it comes to the Nature Boy you can guarantee there's a hell of a lot of respect floating around for him.

#8 Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior appear to bury the hatchet at WM 30

Wrestlemania 30 was always going to be a special night for the WWE. In such a landmark event it was mightily important that old superstars from the past were given their 15 minutes in the spotlight.

Not only was Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock brought in to open up the show, but they were also joined by Hulk Hogan, the man that had helped create the spectacle that is Wrestlemania in the first place.

Another big-time name from the past brought in around this time was the Ultimate Warrior. Warrior was to be inducted into the 2014 Hall of Fame class after years of legal disputes and personal grievances that had left his relationship with the McMahons all but shattered. The return was timely, considering Warrior lost his life a few days following the event.

One story that has since emerged from Wrestlemania 30 was that Hogan and Warrior were initially told to stay away from each other backstage. The two had experienced a highly troubled relationship over the years and it was not certain how the pair would behave should they come face to face with each other.

Luckily, when the two did eventually meet, supposedly by accident, things went by without any animosity at all. In fact, there exists video footage of the Wrestlemania 6 opponents engaged in conversation, perhaps an indication that just before Warrior's death he was able to make peace with the man who he once considered his greatest enemy.

#9 Randy Savage becomes angry with HBK and Razor at WM 10

Yet another backstage Wrestlemania story involving the non-kayfabe wrath of Randy Savage. This instance came at Wrestlemania 10 in 1994 and the victims were none other than the two men who arguably stole the show - Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon.

While Mania 10 is seen as Bret Hart's night, fans will always remember the way Shawn and Razor amazed the audience in attendance with the first ever Wrestlemania ladder match. People were quite clearly into this bout, in particular, Shawn's near-impossible athleticism and skill.

Another reason why this show finds its way into the hearts of so many older fans is that it marked the last time Randy Savage would appear at a Wrestlemania event. Perhaps this is why, after the conclusion of Shawn and Razor's classic, the Macho Man confronted the pair backstage, admonishing them for taking too much time out of the card.

Apparently, the pair outright ignored calls from the referee and decided to continue wrestling long after they were due to finish. Of course, there were no actual repercussions from this decision as the show went by without a hitch and is largely considered one of the better Mania shows of all time.

However, when dealing with a purist like Randy Savage, it is understandable that he would have become aggravated at the younger duo for not following orders, no matter how well it turned out. Macho Man - we salute you.

#10 The Undertaker was ready to confront Shawn Michaels backstage at WM 14

At certain times in the history of Wrestlemania, we have seen crucial turning points play out, particularly in the main event. At Wrestlemania 3, Hulkamania finally triumphed over the one man who looked likely to end it once and for all.

At Mania 6, a new top star for the company was born when Ultimate Warrior did the unthinkable and defeated Hogan for the Championship on the grandest stage.

At Wrestlemania 14, a new era was due to be realised, the era of Austin. The WWF had been suffering from poor ratings and a general lack of engagement for a number of years. In addition to this, their southern rivals WCW were starting to supplant them as the biggest wrestling company in North America. Changes clearly needed to be made.

Stone Cold Steve Austin offered the WWF something innovative and fresh. A babyface on paper, Austin embodied that ruthless anti-authority sentiment that was sweeping the country throughout the 90s.

Fans rallied behind the Texas Rattlesnake as somebody they could play out their own fantasies through. Soon all everybody wanted to do in wrestling arenas was put their middle finger up and drink a hell of a lot of beer.

The main event of Wrestlemania 14 pitted Austin against the man who had been leading the company during its difficult period. Shawn Michaels, despite helping kick-start the Attitude era in his own way, was clearly on his way out of the company and everyone assumed that this would be the occasion where "The Heartbreak Kid" would step aside and help issue in this new Austin era.

However, not everybody was convinced that things would go by so easily. Shawn has always carried a reputation as somebody who thinks more about himself than the business. His ego is big enough to rival that of Hogan's or Triple H's. Given Shawn had nothing left to lose, there was every possibility that he would not lay down for Austin the way he was supposed to.

Therefore, sat backstage during the match was the Undertaker who was reportedly ready to confront Michaels should anything untoward go down. It must have been quite the intense situation for Shawn given that both Austin and Tyson were inside the ring, with and the Phenom watching his every move from the gorilla position.

Sometimes, no matter how much you place your trust in somebody to do the right thing, you have to have a backup plan.

Edited by Nishant Jayaram