Along with Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman is getting comparisions to the legendary pairing of Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan, but \’The Wiseman\’ doesn\’t want to hear any of that.
Speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Heyman was asked what he thought about being in that echelon of superstar and manager. Instead of comparing Heyman stated that he\’d like to \”set the standard\” with Reigns so others will be looking at them as the measuring stick.
Heyman went on to talk about his admiration for Bockwinkel, noting that he left WCW just before Nick arrived. However, Paul did recall when their paths briefly crossed all the way back in Verne Gagne\’s AWA.
Nick Bockwinkel was on commentary for the broadcast on ESPN and Heyman decided to take the initiative.
\”I walked over to the commentary position and said, ‘I know why Greg Gagne gets to commentate on ESPN, but exactly who are you related to?’ It was an off-script, impromptu line.\”
After the show, Heyman was approached by Bockwinkel, who told the young mananger what he thought of that move.
\”Nick came up to me and said, ‘Young man, it took a lot of balls to challenge my position that way.’ I thought he was really pissed. I said, ‘Yes, sir. Seizing the moment, sir.’ And Nick looked at me and said, ‘I admire the gumption it took to do it.’ And then he walked away. I figured if he walked away without slapping me, it was a victory.”
Bockwinkel never made it to the WWE, but he was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 2007 as his star really shined in the AWA as a heel champion, feuding with Hulk Hogan and Verne Gagne.
The Undertaker is a WWE Hall of Famer who led the locker room for decades. While he led the troops for Vince McMahon backstage, he also saw many instances of tomfoolery along the way.
The Undertaker Speaks on Backstage Pranks in WWE
WWE Superstars spend their lives on the road, and sometimes they get bored. This was especially true during The Undertaker\’s heyday, because WWE\’s schedule was far more grueling. To pass the time, Superstars would often prank each other backstage.
The Undertaker is famously afraid of cucumbers. Owen Hart took advantage of this fact on several occasions, as he pranked the Deadman with the common vegetable. Through it all, things never got too intense as Taker remembers it. He did remember how The Rockers would tamper with other wrestlers\’ belongings while they were busy in the ring.
During his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker was asked what was the most juvenile prank he ever saw backstage in WWE.
\”When I first started with WWE, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. They were a couple little turds. That\’s what they were. They were just bad. I would go out and have a match. Back then, we\’d have somebody there that would bring our ring gear back. Every time I\’d come back from a match, there would be my hat sitting on a case somewhere, and it would be poked. The top of it would be poked in. It\’d be like sugar poured all over the top of it, flowers put in it. Just silly things that they would do to my hat. I didn\’t know who was doing it. One thing with a rib when you\’re in the wrestling business is, you don\’t sell it. You don\’t sell the rib. You don\’t let anybody know that the rib\’s getting to you. Because if it\’s bothering you, it\’s only gonna get worse. So I\’m just playing it cool and I kind of set it up like a trap one day. I had my hat sitting out on the case. My coat was lying next to it and I\’m kind of hiding.\”
\”This is kinda juvenile in its own right. I\’m kind of hiding behind the curtain backstage, watching. I set a trap [and] here comes Shawn Michaels, just be-bopping down the hallway, and he stops. He walked in, he sees my hat and he stops. I remember him looking both ways like \’Is there anybody around?\’ I remember him pushing my hat, the top of my hat, caving my hat in, and I caught him right away. I was like, \’You son of a bitch.\’ And he about pissed himself like, \’Oh, I\’m sorry. I\’m sorry. I\’m sorry.\’ That was some of the more juvenile. I\’ve been fairly lucky.\”
\”There\’s only been a few guys that would rib me. Paul Bearer would rib me and Brian Adams would rib me. Those are the only two. Yeah, those are the only two guys or whatever. I mean Vince. Yeah, he went out of his way to rib me. He would spend thousands and thousands of dollars just to rib me and get a kick out of it. But as far as the talent, though, the only two guys that would rib me were Paul Bearer and Bryan Adams.\”
The Deadman was also asked if he ever saw a prank go too far. That is when the former judge of Wrestlers Court was candid in his response. There were what he called \”close calls,\” and cucumbers were involved. In the end, those ribs were relatively harmless.
\”There were a couple of close calls with cucumbers, that got a little bit too close to consumption, which would have been really bad. But most of them were pretty harmless.\”
History of Practical Jokes in Pro Wrestling
Another notable instance of a famous backstage rib went down during a European tour in 1993 when Owen Hart switched his brother Bret Hart\’s wrestling gear with a smaller-sized version, so the Hitman had to go out alone. Owen Hart also put sliced cucumbers in The Undertaker\’s boots, which caused quite a reaction from the Deadman.
Mr. Fuji, who was a legendary prankster backstage, was known for mischievous ribs. He did things like filling babyface wrestlers\’ water bottles with salt. Bobby Heenan was also legendary for his outlandish ribs, one that would entertain Superstars for hours on the road.
The infamous \”Plane Ride from Hell\” in 2002 saw various disruptive ribs, including Ric Flair\’s naked antics, which did not age well at all. A wrestling match also broke out between Brock Lesnar and Mr. Perfect, who also allegedly dosed wrestlers with halcion tablets for giggles at times as well.
The days are getting darker. The winds are getting colder and that can only mean one thing.
The Holidays are coming!
Each year, WWE makes sure to air a Holiday episode, complete with Christmas trees and other sights associated with the most wonderful time of the year.
Countless Superstars and personalities have donned the iconic red and white suit of Santa Claus himself, but not all did so with the best of intentions.
Here are five Santas from wrestling who will be getting coal in their stocking this Christmas.
5: Damien Sandow
Damian Sandow\’s 2013 ended with him on the naughty list after losing to the World\’s Strongest Santa Mick Foley.
For Damien Sandow, 2013 could be best described as a \’mixed year.\’
After winning the SmackDown Money in the Bank contract, Sandow seemed on the cusp of becoming World Heavyweight Champion, but failed in his cash-in attempt on John Cena.
By December, Sandow had fallen down the card dramatically and played the role of \’evil Santa\’ on the December 23, Raw.
Facing off against the World\’s Strongest Santa Mark Henry, Sandow had little chance, and what started as a promising year for the intellectual ended on a dud.
4: Bubba Ray Dudley
Tajiri used a festive red mist to defeat Bubba Ray Dudley in a Santa Vs. Santa match in 2001.
For much of the Invasion storyline, Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley were key players in the Alliance and would hold the WWF and WCW World Tag Team Titles.
Even after the Alliance was defeated, the Dudleys remained, and Bubba would don the iconic red suit for the Christmas Eve Raw.
Facing off against SanTa-jiri, Bubba earned himself on the naughty list with his heel antics throughout the match.
To their credit, both men would put on an entertaining match despite their costumes, and Bubba even used some Santa-themed taunts to rile the crowd.
In the end, Tajiri\’s mist (festive red of course!) would give the Japanese Buzzsaw the win in a highly-entertaining match.
3: Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan tried to reveal s hocking secret while dressed as Santa Claus.
Rightly considered one of the greatest heel managers in wrestling history, Bobby Heenan earned himself a spot on the naughty list countless times with his actions.
On Christmas Day in 1989, Heenan took to Prime Time Wrestling for what he called his \’Santa Claus Shoot,\’ in which he declared to the world that Kris Kringle isn\’t real.
No doubt breaking the hearts of children watching, Heenan\’s rant was cut short by Roddy Piper, who told the kids Santas is real, and pushed and prodded the famed manager.
Heenan, in typical fashion, tried to talk his way out of being beaten up by Piper, and we imagine that The Brain got coal in his stocking the next year.
Of course, this Santa suit wouldn\’t be the only costume Heenan would don on-screen, but his other, more iconic outfit, would be that of a weasel.
2: Xanta Claus
Xanta Claus, played by Balls Mahoney, showed that everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man.
For In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings, Santa Claus took a break from a busy December to appear for the World Wrestling Federation, handing out presents with Savio Vega.
Confronting Million Dollar Men Ted DiBiase in the ring, it seemed the numbers were in the good guys\’ favor until the unthinkable happened.
Santa Claus sold out!
Attacking Vega and aligning with DiBiase, the man was now Xanta Claus (hailing from the South Pole,) a pretender to the role who had been paid off by DiBiase.
Xanta\’s one and only match would come on the Superstars of Wrestling show on December 19, defeating Scott Taylor, but the character would last a few weeks after Christmas.
Years later, Xanta would return to WWE, but under his more recognizable name as Balls Mahoney, and his actions showed that everyone has a price for the Million Dollar Man.
1: John \’Bradshaw\’ Layfield
Like Damien Sandow at the start of this list, 2005 was not the best year for John \’Bradshaw\’ Layfield.
In April, his ten-month-long reign as WWE Champion ended at the hands of John Cena, ushering in Cena\’s rise to the top of wrestling, and the Texan would fail to regain the gold.
That December, JBL donned a camouflaged Santa outfit for that year\’s Tribute to the Troops in Baghdad, and berated the troops for the
Complaining about having to use a porta-potty for his rosy backside and the lack of Dom Perignon for his reindeer, and even threatened to cancel Christmas.
JBL\’s Santa didn\’t stop there, threatening to cancel all holidays (even Bastille Day!) but his plans were thwarted by WWE\’s resident Santa, Mick Foley.
Facing off in a match to determine the true Santa of WWE, Foley got the win with a literal bag of tricks and Mr. Socko.
JBL\’s berating of the troops was certainly not becoming of Jolly Ol\’ St. Nick, and when you consider his actions as a character (and his history of hazing and bullying) JBL has a lifetime spot on the naughty list.
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