'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABv/aAAgBAQAAAAA+y//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT/2gAIAQIQAAAAJ//EABQBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb/2gAIAQMQAAAATf/EACIQAAEEAQMFAQAAAAAAAAAAAAIBAwQSBgAFIgcRFGJzov/aAAgBAQABPwDAsuezbNJHmbbBCS2JzBCtmjReFDRfonP10HSjYHQFzvPbulqBJRBH8a//xAAYEQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAwAEIv/aAAgBAgEBPwB1hqywU//EABkRAAEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAwUSIv/aAAgBAwEBPwCM01ZT/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
WWE Superstars might be the biggest enemies on-screen, but behind the curtains in the locker room, they all stay together as a big family. Of course, spending most of their time on the road traveling and working shows, WWE Superstars stay together with the locker room probably more than they do with their family.
Thus, it's always better to be in good terms with the fellow WWE Superstars and while some do this easily, being highly loved in the locker room, some others aren't liked much by their colleagues due to various reasons. Having backstage heat is never a good thing for any WWE Superstar as it might significantly result in the downfall of their career with the company, but some top WWE Superstars have overcome that.
Trending
In this article, let's take a look at five top WWE Superstars who once had enormous locker room heat. Be sure to comment down and let us know your views on the same.
#5 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar is one of the most dominating WWE Superstars to have ever graced the squared circle of WWE. But The Beast Incarnate is a top-level misanthrope who does not prefer to stay around people.
During an interview, the current Executive Director of RAW and SmackDown Bruce Prichard revealed that Brock Lesnar got a lot of backstage heat when he bought his own airplane to travel to shows during his first run in WWE, rather than traveling with the rest of the roster.
“I think that he needed a break, but at the same time, he was young and we were hoping to go with him at the time and do something with him, so you wanna capitalize on that and make hay while the sun shines.”
“So with him it was ‘what are you gonna do?’ and then when he decided he wanted to go on and play football. It’s ‘Okay’ and you just move on. You can’t do a whole lot if people don’t like ya and they’re jealous of you and you’re happy — who cares?”
“Brock was participating and Brock was doing what he was asked to do and he is an individual. He is a very unique individual. So he didn’t like to hang out with guys, didn’t like to travel the same way — okay travel some other way. It doesn’t affect — that’s what gets me — it doesn’t affect anybody else on the roster.”
Well, Brock Lesnar has apparently become much friendlier than he was before. There have been reports of his kind gestures towards the WWE locker room after an episode of RAW in 2015 where he paid to keep a bar open for longer to let his fellow WWE Superstars have a good time. He was also seen joining for a dinner with the Saudi prince with other WWE Superstars. But still, no one is safe from that F5!
#4 The Big Show
The Big Show is one of WWE's longest-tenured active wrestlers on the roster. While he has been in and out of WWE programming in the last few years, the World's Largest Athlete has done enough during his WWE career to get himself a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.
But all was not well for him when he first signed with WWE. During his appearance on Stone Cold Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions, the Big Show revealed how he had backstage heat during his initial days.
"Well, I first started riding with Public Enemy. That's how bad it was, with all due respect. But the top shelf guys weren't talking to me. Rock was good to me. Rock was very nice to me. And Rock was doing his own thing and building himself was well. I was too lightning rod-hot in the locker room to be friends with. Do you know what I mean? And since I was a new guy, I was a big guy, I had gotten that big contract, all that stuff that pissed everybody off. It was difficult."
"I didn't have backers. One, I couldn't keep up with [top] guys in the ring psychology-wise; I wasn't living up to expectations work-wise because you know how quick people can… a couple of wrong words in the right ear and you're dusted. And I was in that position." (h/t Wrestling Inc)
The Big Show is now one of the most loved WWE Superstars. He recently returned to WWE after WrestleMania 36 and has been involved in multiple storylines since his return. He even got his own Netflix show.
#3 Triple H
Triple H is one of the most accomplished WWE Superstars in history, having had 14 World Championships to his name, only behind John Cena and Ric Flair. Throughout the years, his position in the company has become more and more important with him being a top backstage official, serving as WWE's Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development.
But all was not well for Triple H after the infamous "Curtain Call" at Madison Square Garden in 1996. Kayfabe was a huge deal back then, but the Kliq (Scott Hall, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Kevin Nash) broke kayfabe and hugged each other after their match, even when they were on-screen rivals. The moment in many ways changed WWE and the entire industry.
Former head writer of WWE, Vince Russo revealed in an interview that Triple H had massive backstage heat after the incident, so much so that he was closed to being fired.
"Well, here’s what happened. Curtain Call happened at Madison Square Garden. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall went to WCW. Shawn Michaels was the champion, so they weren’t going to touch him. So, who was going to be the whipping boy? Triple H."
"They were gonna bury Triple H, and they were gonna torture Triple H. And they were gonna humiliate Triple H. And they were going to make his life miserable for doing that one thing."
"I mean, at the time, Bruce Prichard and Jim Cornette wanted Triple H fired. They wanted him fired. That’s how pissed off they were."
Triple H has been doing a great job with NXT in the last few years and has mostly stayed away from competing in the WWE ring. It is to be seen whether we'll see The Cerebral Assassin lace-up his wrestling boots again.
#2 Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins is one of WWE's top Superstars of the modern era, even hailed by many as the new "face of WWE" after he defeated Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. But long before all this, even before he made his main roster debut as part of The Shield at Survivor Series 2012, he had a lot of backstage issues with many coaches thinking that he had "behavioral issues".
Rob Naylor, a former WWE writer revealed the following about the situation with Seth Rollins in NXT.
"Rollins’ issues were simply that he didn’t always listen precisely to his coaches. He’d be told not to do a move… and then do it. I know that while Rollins was in FCW and NXT, people felt at times he had ‘behavioral issues’. That was never the case in my estimation. Every coach on the staff was just as hungry at one time, so that was overblown. But he was on the bubble to be let go months prior to the Shield angle, based on the perception of some from the office.”
Speaking to WWE.com, Seth Rollins himself later revealed that he was so frustrated at that time and was close to being fired.
“I literally almost lost my job. I had been there for almost two years. I was very frustrated. I couldn’t get along with anyone. I thought I deserved more than I did."
Imagine if Seth Rollins was let go by WWE back then? We probably would not have gotten The Shield, would not have witnessed the amazing heel-run in 2015, the Kingslayer and Beastslayer storyline, and finally, we wouldn't have gotten the enlightenment from the Monday Night Messiah. Gosh, scary! Thankfully, Triple H talked sense into him and helped him realize his mistakes.
#1 Braun Strowman
The current WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman has had a great year so far. While he was always a top guy in WWE ever since breaking away from the Wyatt Family, 2020 has proven to be a great year for the Monster Among Men who won his first world title by defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania 36.
Braun Strowman was in the title picture for a long time but was unable to get his hands (no pun intended) on the Championship. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Strowman had heat in WWE because of his backstage etiquette, often showing up late for shows.
“One of the things that I heard from multiple people – we’re talking 4 different people. There are times where Strowman is negligent when it comes to showing up on time,” Johnson said. He added “He has a reputation at times for leaving a little early and sometimes he makes mistakes in terms of etiquette in the backstage in the locker room. Sometimes, as one person put it, he’s his own worst enemy and his worst advocate. They would be high on him and just when he gets to the point where you would think the next step is putting him into the centerpiece position for the company [then] something happens and he makes some sort of misstep backstage and people within management kind of cool on him and they take a step back.” (h/t WrestlingNews.co)
Braun Strowman looks to have learned from his mistakes as WWE has been high on him for some time now, with him first having a run with the Intercontinental Championship, and now being the current WWE Universal Champion.
