10 Real-Life Wrestling Feuds That Played Out In Public

In eras past, a pair of warring wrestlers would have settled their differences the old-fashioned way: by getting into a scuffle backstage, if not agreeing to meet one another outside later on for a full-on fist fight.

But today, things are a lot more civilised. If you don't like one of your co-workers, you either wait for an opportune time to savage their credentials as a performer during a candid shoot interview, or take to social media and post a series of drunken Tweets.

From a fan's point of view, this is largely a welcome change. It means that we no longer have to waste time speculating on which wrestlers don't see eye to eye. Instead, it's right there in the public domain, no more a secret than the fact that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon didn't actually get a divorce following their on-screen break-up in 2001.

For the promotions themselves, however, it must be a source of concern. The only thing stopping an employee from causing a massive rift in the locker room is their own sense of restraint, which isn't exactly a trait you associate with the biggest egos in the business.

This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who watched Monday Night Raw in 2011, but CM Punk and Triple H didn't really get along during their time working together in WWE.

As with their on-screen rivalry, it was Punk who drew first blood. On his now infamous appearance on Colt Cabana's podcast, the future UFC star accused HHH of taking an instant disliking to him, essentially suggesting that this was to blame for his failure to reach the WrestleMania main event.

The Game, being one of WWE's elder statesmen and someone to whom the rest of the locker room now look for an example of how to conduct themselves, was far more measured in his response. He merely characterised his ex-colleague as a capricious primadonna who was impossible to please.

Based on pretty much every out-of-character interview Punk has ever given, Triple H's account of things seems eminently believable, but then so does Punk's if you happen to buy into the idea that Vince's son-in-law is (or was) desperate to keep the young guys in their place.