10 REAL Backstage Wrestling Fights You Didn't Know About

1. The OTHER Backstage AEW Fight

Eddie Guerrero Hawk
AEW

The great irony about the CM Punk run is that he was encouraged to sign with AEW in part because he was so impressed by the tight-knit nature of the locker room, and how little gossip filtered through to the "sheets".

Then, months after his arrival, holes appeared in the ship, which has never really been afloat since. One could suggest that there's a correlation here. Once the culture was, ahem, changed, that was it. Fights broke out constantly and to this day, you cannot move without some under-utilised wrestler or other complaining about their lack of a push or calling for a change in direction (the NWA could do with an overhaul if the Hardys are interested in telling stories and being characters there).

This however is a reduced version of history. AEW wasn't All Friends Wrestling before Punk showed up. Incidents transpired as far back as AEW's fourth-ever show.

Stemming from heat that existed between the two in Japan - Bea Priestly and Will Ospreay buried Sadie Gibbs for being bereaved and leaving a tour early - Bea no-sold Gibbs in the All Out 2019 Casino Battle Royale and blasted her over the back with stiff forearms. She shouted "Stupid!" - or. phonetically, "STEWPID!" - before unceremoniously tossing her out.

This led to an incident, reported by the much-missed Casey Michael, in which Gibbs threw wild shots at Bea backstage and had to be dragged off her.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!