10 Shocking Wrestlers Who Had Locker Room Heat

Apr 02, 2024

The locker room can be a volatile place, but it is still pretty shocking that these respected wrestlers had locker room heat.

A pro wrestling locker room can be a pretty tense environment as a place filled with contrasting characters cannot expect to have peaceful conditions, as wrestling fans have heard many stories about wrestlers finding themselves with unwanted backstage heat with either fellow wrestlers or the management.

RELATED: 10 Times Wrestlers Received Backstage Heat For Silly Reasons

While it's common for some troublesome performers, who are known for their non-cooperative attitude, to land in such situations, even some of the legendary performers who are considered some of the nicest guys in the business have also had some unwanted locker room quarrels. With that said, let's take a look at ten shocking WWE wrestlers who had locker room heat.

Sami Zayn is considered one of the nicest wrestlers in the entire pro wrestling industry due to his work ethic and his charitable activities outside the ring.

But even he had some backstage problems when he found himself on the wrong side of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair. The 16-time world champion revealed in an interview that he had personal issues with the current WWE Undisputed Tag Team champion as he felt that Zayn was not easy to talk to compared to his best friend, Kevin Owens. Flair felt that Zayn was somewhat aloof and distant in comparison to Owens.

Bayley was one of the purest babyfaces of all time during her time in NXT, and when she saw that the character had started fading away on the main roster, she reinvented herself with a new look and heel character. She did everything to make her character work on television, and that's the level of dedication the promotions expect from all performers.

But even she had some backstage heat with the WWE officials when she made some criticizing comments about WWE creative on social media and in interviews. She reportedly had some differences with her and Sasha Banks' booking for WrestleMania 34, which got her in trouble with WWE management.

Shinsuke Nakamura is one of the most respected performers of all time as the Japanese legend is a veteran of the industry and has showcased tremendous professionalism everywhere he went.

RELATED: 10 Things WWE Fans Should Know About Shinsuke Nakamura's Time In NJPW

However, he had some backstage heat with none other than Brock Lesnar when the two worked together in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2006. Nakamura and Lesnar competed for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the Tokyo Dome on January 2006, with the latter coming out on top. Nakamura revealed that he had some problems with Lesnar as he felt the Beast Incarnate had no respect for NJPW and him and claimed that Lesnar literally scoffed at them after winning the match and taking the title home.

Finn Balor is generally not the kind of person who has any conflicts with his co-workers and employers backstage. However, a miscommunication between him and former WWE Superstar Lio Rush caused quite a stir between them during their time together in WWE. According to early reports, Balor had given some advice to Lio Rush about the latter's son being backstage, which rubbed the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion the wrong way.

When the news of their heat broke out on the internet, Lio Rush tweeted out that he wanted to nip it in the bud but stated that he was disappointed with Finn Balor not stepping up to deny the rumors. Balor then sent out a tweet stating that he likes to live his life in reality and does not care about what people cook up online and also asked Rush to talk to him personally to sort out their differences.

Current AEW and ROH star Claudio Castagnoli is well-known for his time in WWE under the name Cesaro between 2011 and 2022. While he spent the entirety of his WWE career waiting for his opportunity to break out into the main event picture, The Swiss Superman didn't complain online or have any problems with his co-workers.

However, he did land in some backstage heat after he made a sarcastic comment about John Cena and Randy Orton's feud in 2014 in an interview. The comments reportedly didn't go well with WWE management, and they ended up halting Cesaro's push for a while.

Many current and former WWE Superstars have credited Big E as one of the nicest guys they ever met as the former WWE Champion made a positive impact on everyone he worked with over the years.

However, being a part of The New Day required him to make some quirky comments during promo segments, and he went off script when he made a sarcastic comment about Charlotte Flair dominating the women's championship picture on live television. It reportedly got him into trouble with WWE management, but it thankfully didn't cause any disturbances in The New Day's push.

Following The Shield's break-up, Roman Reigns went on to start his singles journey in WWE, and the company chose him to be the next top babyface and placed him in high-profile storylines. The company continued to give him a strong push, which eventually led to him becoming a multiple-time world champion and a highly influential member of the WWE roster.

RELATED: 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Roman Reigns

While Roman Reigns holds tons of backstage influence at present, it wasn't the same during his early days in the company. But that didn't stop him from having a verbal altercation with Randy Orton backstage, which landed the young Big Dog into some unwanted heat with WWE management.

John Cena was the top babyface of WWE throughout the Ruthless Aggression and Attitude Eras and became one of the most influential members of the company's roster. Having such a significant position on the roster resulted in other wrestlers not wanting to get on the bad side of the 16-time champion. But The Rock is not any wrestler on the roster, as he held Cena's position for many years before the latter even made it into the company.

During the build-up to their match at WrestleMania 28, John Cena went off-script during a promo segment and called out The Rock for having notes of his promo on his wrist. The Rock didn't take too kindly to Cena's gesture as he reportedly had some backstage heat with the latter to the point that they couldn't be in the same room together.

The Undertaker had a cordial relationship with WWE and Vince McMahon throughout his iconic career 30-year career with the company, and The Deadman became one of Vince McMahon's closest friends over the years. But the two allegedly had a brief falling out in 2019 when The Undertaker appeared at Starrcast II, a mini-convention, which took place on the same weekend as All Elite Wrestling's inaugural PPV event, Double or Nothing.

The Undertaker wasn't aware of the show, and Vince McMahon was reportedly not happy with The Deadman appearing in a non-WWE event at the time of the competition's inaugural PPV. McMahon and The Undertaker reportedly had a falling out while talking things over regarding the mishap and didn't talk for a while before patching things up.

Throughout his decorated in-ring career with WWE, Rey Mysterio earned tons of respect among his co-workers and management with his work ethic and dedication. But even he had a brief setback in 2012 when he landed in some heat with management.

Mysterio sustained an injury in August 2011, which took him out of action for several months. While the company expected him to make a quick recovery and return to in-ring action, Mysterio took his time before coming back, and coupled with contract negotiation problems, Mysterio landed in some unwanted heat with the WWE management during that time.

Kebin Antony is a God-fearing, peace-loving pro-wrestling fanatic from South India. He's been a fan of the sport since 2004, and also has a little experience by wrestling pillows in front of an imaginary crowd. He now works as a wrestling list writer for Valnet, Inc, covering thesportster.