Everything You DIDN’T KNOW About WCW’s Final Days

20. The Last Ever WCW Backstage Fights

These two backstage scraps aren’t particularly well-remembered. They lacked the lurid detail of something like Arn Anderson Vs. Sid, in which both men were lucky not to bleed to death. There’s no shock upset underdog win either, like with Chris Jericho Vs. Goldberg, or JBL Vs. Joey Styles.

Also, since both reports were published in the March 26, 2001 issue of the Wrestling Observer - the main story in which was the official announcement by TBS, Inc. that WCW wrestling had been cancelled - there were more important things to worry about, Still, it’s very WCW that two backstage “skirmishes” went down in as many weeks at the very end.

In the first, Chuck Palumbo tried to stand up to Rick Steiner, who had become notorious for taking liberties with his opponents in the ring. In the April 2 Observer, Meltzer speculated that Rick’s brutal annihilation of Lash Leroux on the February 19 Nitro - in which Rick at one point tried to rip Lash’s face off - “might not have been coincidental”. Meltzer implied that this was a hit - a message sent by WCW management, who were pissed that Leroux had gained weight.

Palumbo was pissed no matter what happened, and marched up to Rick Steiner backstage. If your parents or guardians ever told you that bullies aren’t as tough as the image they project - and that you should follow the example of Joey Styles - don’t. Steiner beat the piss out of Palumbo.

The second fight was another comprehensive squash; Sean O’Haire thrashed Jason Jett “in 30 seconds” in the last reported backstage fight in WCW history.