8 Wrestlers You Didn't Know HATE Each Other For Real
7. Ric Flair & Eric Bischoff...
...in WWE.
The beef between the former WCW chief and arguably the company's biggest ever star were so pronounced and well-known that it felt like the only natural outcome was for it to make television throughout much of 1998. Flair's famous "Fire me! I'm already fired!" rant at Bischoff following his Four Horsemen return in the summer after a litany of legal issues was bilious even for the 'Nature Boy', and the fire in his belly hadn't gone out by the time the two were unexpectedly reconnected four years later.
When Bischoff joined WWE in 2002 as the Raw General Manager, the "never say never" idiom had never felt truer, but hugging Vince McMahon on stage ahead of his first address felt pointed; it was as if the owner was telling his roster that if he could a) hire 'Easy E' and b) embrace him on screen, then anybody else with beefs should squash them too. It ostensibly eased tensions backstage, but Flair was an extraordinarily prominent exception to the rule.
Within weeks of being stuck seeing his former boss at television again, 'Slick Ric confronted him backstage, having allegedly asked Arn Anderson to guard a door to keep the space private. Unsurprisingly, both sides paint a very different picture - Flair claims to have managed to land a few blows, Bischoff says otherwise. The truth probably resides somewhere in the middle, but - in keeping with his initial strategy - Vince McMahon wasn't interested in the before, during or afters when it came to the pair. He specifically ordered Flair to keep his cool in the future or risk losing his job, and cordiality between the colleagues was restored.
Flair still doesn't have the nicest things to say about Bischoff, but then again he too is on the longstanding hit-list of another WCW survivor...