10 Backstage Wrestling Rivalries You Won't Believe

By Jamie Kennedy /

3. Booker T Tames The Animal

In 2006, both Batista and Booker T were top stars of WWE's Smackdown brand, battling back and forth over the World Heavyweight Championship. For the latter, who had toiled for years to prove his worth as a main event level player, respect meant a great deal, which meant Booker T was none too happy at the backstage attitude of Batista. Rumoured to have a sense of entitlement about his position on the card, Batista rubbed Booker up the wrong way during a photoshoot to promote the title showdown between both men at Summerslam. Challenging his foe to put up or shut up, Booker has since recanted that there's nothing more to the story than two men getting heated and settling their differences. Numerous onlookers, including Fit Finlay, have mentioned in interviews that Booker had the upper-hand, which is perhaps no surprise, given that he is - by his own admission - pretty handy with his hands and feet. The fight went on for around five minutes, before breaking up, but there was a point where Booker was on top of Batista, dominating the conflict. Both were able to coexist afterwards, and even work a program at the Summerslam Pay-Per-View, showing that they were able to put personal differences aside in order to do business.