10 Wrestling Rivalries Too Personal To Be Fake
No kayfabe here...
Pro wrestling is a strange sport. It consists of grown men pretending to fight in their underpants after all. It may seem wacky for someone who doesn’t know much about the business but it’s actually a lot more serious behind the curtain. The on screen feuds these wrestlers take part in are planned out months in advance sometimes. Usually it all goes off without a hitch and the wrestlers don’t really hate each other.
However, on occasion feuds become so personal that they continue behind the scenes. Usually this will just result in wrestlers getting into little scuffles over one thing or another. It’s only natural for things like this to happen given the characters and egos that exist in the world of pro wrestling.
Sometimes it can go a bit further than a scuffle and result in rivalries and hatred that last beyond one night. This hated can stem from complex things like love affairs to huge fights that broke out over a simple disagreement. Frankly, it can all get a bit too personal for a sport many call "fake".
10. Ric Flair Vs. Mick Foley
To know the origin of this feud you'd have to have read Foley's first New York Times' Bestseller Have A Nice Day.
It was in this book Foley let it be known how he felt towards Flair during The Nature Boy's time as WCW booker. He would even go as far to say that Flair tried to sabotage his career.
Of course Flair was always going to fire back. He would call Foley “a glorified stuntman” in response. In 2004, after Foley rejected a Flair handshake backstage at Raw, Flair is said to have connected with a punch on Foley.
Despite Foley saying an on screen feud would be rewarding bad behaviour, this wouldn’t end here as this feud would have storyline implications. This all led to the two having an “I Quit” match at SummerSlam 2006. Flair would go on to win this match.
At least this was resolved and led to a memorable match between the pair.