5 little-known WWE backstage disagreements

Followers of behind-the-scenes WWE news will be aware that backstage disagreements have been going on in WWE for decades.

Even the most casual of WWE fans likely know everything there is to know about the Montreal Screwjob. The story has been told plenty of times by both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, while WWE has even made documentaries about the incident.

Another famous backstage argument came in 2003 when Chris Jericho and Goldberg were involved in a legitimate fight in the WWE locker room. Over a decade later, Jericho stood up to another high-profile Superstar, Brock Lesnar, in a backstage altercation at WWE SummerSlam 2016.

Those three stories have been recalled countless times by various different people. In this article, let’s take an alternative look at real-life WWE dramas by counting down five other disagreements you might not know about.

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#5 Former WWE Superstars Curtis Axel and Josh Bredl

In the summer of 2015, Josh Bredl won the WWE Tough Enough competition and earned himself a contract as a WWE Superstar. Meanwhile, Curtis Axel had started performing as a Hulk Hogan impersonator alongside Damien Sandow (aka Macho Mandow).

Fast forward to January 2016 and things looked very different for both Superstars. Axel had reinvented himself in the four-man Social Outcasts faction with Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, and Heath Slater. Bredl, who was renamed Bronson Matthews, trained at the Performance Center at this time but he had not debuted on WWE NXT television.

The term “jobber” is used in wrestling to describe someone who loses a lot of matches. As part of Bredl’s new gimmick, he decided to start using insider wrestling terms, including jobber, in promos and on social media.

During the January 18, 2016 episode of WWE RAW, Bredl took to Twitter to refer to The Social Outcasts as “Social Jobbers”.

Josh Bredl's tweet earned him major backstage heat

Speaking to former WWE NXT Superstar Dan Matha, Bredl said he was kicked out of the locker room following the tweet. He also revealed that he had to attend Wrestlers’ Court to explain the situation (31:30 in the video above).

Wrestlers’ Court is a mock court room backstage in WWE. If a Superstar has stepped out of line, they attend Wrestlers’ Court to address what they have done wrong. The Undertaker used to be the judge for many years. However, on this occasion, Mark Henry acted as the judge.

Bredl clarified that he had respect for one of the Social Outcast members, Bo Dallas, but he could not say the same for Axel.

“The one with the Hulkamania shirt, beard. He’s like [shouting], ‘You should quit! You should go back to Colorado!’”

Bredl said Axel left the room at that point. The WWE Tough Enough winner explained to Dallas that he was only trying to be cool as a heel. Then, all of a sudden, Axel returned because he decided he needed to be present for the rest of Wrestlers’ Court.

Axel has never publicly given his version of the incident. However, in Bredl’s opinion, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion threw a “hissy fit” and made the situation bigger than it really was.

#4 Former WWE Superstars Bob Holly and Chris Masters

Speaking on The Hannibal TV, former WWE Superstar Chris Masters was asked to give his take on rumors that he has heat with Bob Holly.

Masters began by explaining that he failed to show up for an Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) television taping in his first week in WWE. He said his name was not on the TV sheet, so he did not think he was needed that day. When it turned out that he was needed, he received a telling-off from OVW officials in front of Holly.

From that moment on, Masters felt as though Holly did not like him. The heat between the two continued when Masters did not shake Holly’s hand at another TV taping because he thought he was busy.

“He was crowded with three other guys and I didn’t want to interrupt, so I just went to my bag. You know, Bob really took that as a sign of disrespect, like I was shunning him, or like I purposely didn’t go to greet him. He was upset. In his mind, too, it’s like, ‘This is that same punk kid that didn’t show up to the OVW TV taping. Now he’s disrespecting me.’”

Masters said he had heat with other WWE Superstars due to his age (20 years old) and because he was set to receive a push. He also revealed that Holly requested to face him that night because he wanted to “rough [him] up”. WWE officials rejected Holly’s request and booked him to face Carlito instead.

#3 WWE director Bruce Prichard and Simon Dean

Bruce Prichard has an important role these days in WWE. The Executive Director positions that were given to Paul Heyman (RAW) and Eric Bischoff (SmackDown) in 2019 no longer exist. Prichard has essentially taken over both jobs, which means he now works alongside Vince McMahon as one of WWE’s top creative decision-makers.

As well as his WWE role, Prichard discusses his three decades in the wrestling business on his Something to Wrestle With podcast. Over 20 of those years were spent working in WWE, so Prichard has told plenty of stories about past and present WWE Superstars.

One of his most interesting recent stories came during the WWE No Mercy 2005 episode, which aired on October 9, 2020.

The No Mercy event featured a Bobby Lashley squash match against Simon Dean (aka Nova). Prichard’s podcast co-host, Conrad Thompson, mentioned that Dean famously made a derogatory remark about Prichard (01:06:00 in the video above):

“I’d take a bullet for Dr. Tom [Tom Prichard, Bruce’s brother] and put one in Bruce.”

Prichard did not know he had heat with Dean until that quote was brought up one time in a shoot interview. The WWE director added that he hardly worked with Dean, if at all, and he has no idea why there should be any animosity.

#2 The Ultimate Warrior and the WWE RAW baseball cap segment

The Ultimate Warrior did not want to suffer an injury

In March 1996, The Ultimate Warrior competed in his first WWE match in three-and-a-half years when he defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley at WrestleMania 12. He went on to face Goldust, Isaac Yankem, and Owen Hart before starting a feud with Jerry Lawler.

Ahead of their match at WWE King of the Ring, Warrior and Lawler exchanged words during an in-ring promo on WWE RAW alongside Vince McMahon. The segment ended as planned, with Lawler hitting Warrior across the back of his head with a framed portrait of the former WWE Champion.

While that part went according to plan, Warrior’s choice of attire was not received very well backstage. Bruce Prichard said on his podcast that he “went f***ing nuts” when Warrior decided to prevent a possible injury by wearing a baseball cap.

Another important person behind the scenes in WWE at the time, Jim Ross, gave his honest take on the segment on his Grilling JR podcast.

“Selfishness. Lack of trust, lack of understanding. You’re working with Jerry Lawler, for God’s sakes. You think Lawler’s gonna hurt you? No, he isn’t. You think you’re the first guy to get hit over the head with a framed picture? No, you’re not.”

Ross accused Warrior of trying to hijack the angle. He added that nobody in WWE knew Warrior was going to wear the hat and he “went into business for himself” that day.

#1 WWE legends Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan

Prior to the Attitude Era, Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan were undoubtedly the top two Superstars in WWE history. Sammartino held the WWE Championship (aka the WWWF Championship) for a combined 4,040 days, while Hogan’s reigns spanned 2,185 days.

Sammartino and Hogan dominated different WWE eras, meaning their paths never crossed in a one-on-one match. However, that might not have been the case if WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had his way.

According to Sammartino, he was due to face Hogan twice at WWE live events in the 1980s. The Italian-American explained in an RF Video shoot in 2007 that The Hulkster no-showed the matches and Sgt. Slaughter replaced him.

“Yeah, I think twice. Once I remember for sure… the Civic Center in Wheeling, West Virginia. He didn’t show up. No reason why. He just didn’t show up and Sgt. Slaughter took his place.”

Sammartino did not know the exact reason why Hogan failed to turn up, but he speculated that his planned opponent was afraid to face him.

“He knew what kind of shape I was in, even at that age. Anybody that knew me always knew what kind of shape I was in. I really believe, to his day, that he knew I would blow him up in about 10 minutes and he wouldn’t be able to catch his breath. He didn’t want no part of it.”

In the end, a WWE singles match between the two men never took place. Sammartino did, however, team with Hogan in the final match of his career. The legendary Superstars joined forces to defeat King Kong Bundy and The One Man Gang at a WWE live event in 1987.