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The downfall of WCW is often blamed on bad creative direction and the bulk of it is put on the shoulders of a select few people. There is no doubt that WCW committed some of the biggest blunders in pro wrestling history, and while atrocious booking was definitely a factor, it wasn’t the sole reason for the company going down under. Another important factor was the work environment of the company, and according to folks who worked for the company; it was toxic as all heck.
In WWE, you had the Kliq stirring up trouble backstage but Vince McMahon was still the boss and the guy who established order. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, the top superstars were constantly in conflict with each other. Lots of main-event wrestlers had creative control clauses in their contracts and every single one of them thought that they were in command and in charge of the show.
Kevin Nash And Roddy Piper Couldn't Agree On A Match Conclusion
With all this chaos, it is no surprise that wrestlers got into spats and even wild brawls. Jericho against Goldberg. Scott Steiner against DDP. But the most bizarre backstage fight was between a 7'0" giant by the name of Kevin Nash and a legend by the name of Roddy Piper.
The year was 1997 and the event in question was Slamboree 1997. A six man tag-team match was penciled in the main event and the two wrestlers were on opposing sides and unfortunately, neither Piper nor Nash agreed on the outcome of the match.
Both had creative control clauses and this led to a stalemate in discussion. Piper’s team was booked to lose and his partner, Flair, thought the finish was unreasonable as well. Eventually, on the night of the PPV, the finish was agreed upon by all parties but during the match, Piper went off the script and this did not sit well with Nash and his NWO buddies. When the match came to a close and the wrestlers went backstage, all hell broke loose, but this is where the accounts begin to differ.
Kevin Nash And Roddy Piper Fight Backstage
According to Piper, he was in dressing room when Nash kicked the door open and yelled at him. In response, Piper got up, charged at him and knocked him down with a takedown of sorts. After that, the nearby folks came in to separate the two. Nash was taken out of the locker room and that was the end of the little scuffle.
On the other hand, Kevin Nash tells something completely different. From his account, the fight happened in the locker-room, and he attacked Piper when he jumped out of his seat. Nash said that he knew that Piper was going to come at him, so he smacked with an open-hand slap and that sat him down. Piper did nothing in response because he wanted “no part of” of Kevin Nash and that was that.
The two competed at the next PPV, the Great American Bash, and they were professional throughout. That was the end of the feud as Piper was booked in another storyline, but almost two decades later, this incident was brought up by Piper on his podcast and Kevin Nash took exception to the version of the story told by Roddy Piper.
Kevin Nash then blasted the WWE legend, calling him a deranged fool and a liar. He further stated that he saw the fear in Piper’s eyes and that he had lost respect for Piper. In the end, Nash said that he was willing to appear on Piper’s podcast and that was the end of the rant.
Roddy Piper And Kevin Nash Buried the Hatchet
In response, Piper said that Nash was degrading himself by using that sort of foul language and said that he was welcome on his podcast. Nash was back on Twitter again, telling Piper to follow him, so they could exchange numbers and set up the episode but nothing else came after that.
Sean Waltman backed up the account of Kevin Nash and said that Nash indeed smacked Piper and knocked him down. Furthermore, according to Waltman, Nash re-injured his knee during the melee. In the end, he tried to pacify the situation and encouraged Nash to let it go, while also telling Piper to speak the truth. Waltman was a close friend of Nash, so he is not exactly the most credible witness.
Fortunately, Nash said that he and Piper became friends after talking it over. He chalked up the incident to him being too aggressive in trying to mark his territory as a superstar.