Road Dogg has been around the wrestling business all his life growing up in a wrestling family. The Armstrong family played a role in wrestling for decades with Road Dogg adding more success at the highest level. D Generation X was the faction to see Road Dogg reaching new heights when becoming part of the group.
Quite a few stories have come out about him for better or worse throughout the years. The ups and downs have seen him wrestling in multiple promotions with WWE standing out the strongest. Road Dogg certainly is worth a deep dive when it comes to his overall career. Find out just what went down behind the scenes with the legend. The following backstage stories were the most interesting about Road Dogg’s time in wrestling.
8 Showed Up At Last Nitro Expecting WCW Job
The end of WCW hurt the futures of many wrestlers who loved the system of two major promotions to go back and forth with. WCW was the first place where wrestlers developing issues with WWE would look to when wanting to make a change.
Road Dogg expected to get a job in WCW with numerous friends there after getting released from WWE. However, his timing of showing up to the final episode of Nitro was the worst-case scenario. Road Dogg realized WWE was purchasing WCW and a job would not be available there.
7 Felt Tag Team With R-Truth Could Mirror New Age Outlaws Success
One of the strangest chapters of Road Dogg’s career came when he formed a tag team with R-Truth under the name of K-Kwik in 2000. WWE was looking to find something new for Road Dogg after The New Age Outlaws split up again with Billy Gunn suffering an injury and planned for a bigger push on his return.
Bruce Prichard revealed that Road Dogg was the one who saw something special in R-Truth when looking for something new. The rapping gimmick used by both R-Truth and Road Dogg with the latter hoping it would create the same level of crowd interaction before his matches as The New Age Outlaws.
6 Had Breakdown Requesting To Go To Rehab
The ups and downs of the wrestling life can see wrestlers getting on the wrong side of using substances that become addictions. Current wellness policy rules see big stars getting suspended publicly, but this was kept quiet behind the scenes in the past.
Road Dogg had a breakdown in the late ‘90s when talking to Bruce Prichard about how far things went downhill. The desire to take a short amount of time off to get rehab was rare for wrestlers, but Road Dogg admitted his problem, and management happily obliged his request.
5 Triple H Helped His Sobriety In DX
Triple H was one of the rare wrestlers of the Attitude Era to never get into drinking or drug use outside of the ring. The famous Kliq stories featured Triple H as the only sober one while his friends were in rough shape.
Road Dogg’s attempt at changing his life with the short rehab stint saw Triple H trying to help him out. Their time together as members of D Generation X saw Road Dogg traveling with Triple H and Chyna when they would avoid the post-show mishaps that came in the partying scene.
4 Wore Tag Belts In Airport
The weirdest aftermath of winning a championship in wrestling is figuring out how to travel with it. Wrestlers typically fly around the world with it in their luggage, having to explain it at airport security. However, some wrestlers take pride in showing it off.
Road Dogg was joked about in many shoot interviews from wrestlers revealing he often wore the title around his waist to get the attention others hated. The post-show love of being a champ saw Road Dogg putting the belt at the back of his car window and wearing it like showtime when walking around the airport.
3 Val Venis Was Upset About Losing Title To Him
The biggest accomplishment of Road Dogg as a singles star was winning the Intercontinental Championship. Many were surprised at Road Dogg winning the title a few weeks before WrestleMania 15 since he was still teaming with Billy Gunn in The New Age Outlaws.
Bruce Prichard revealed that Val Venis wasn’t happy about losing the title to Road Dogg since the latter was coming off his time in rehab. Venis was straight-laced at the time and felt it was unfair that someone was rewarded ahead of him despite their issues.
2 Asked To Leave SmackDown Creative For NXT
The backstage job of Road Dogg sees him in a creative position helping put together the NXT show with fellow former DX members Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Road Dogg was on the main roster in a top spot in the years before making this huge change.
The top creative producer position on SmackDown added too much pressure for Road Dogg having to work under the unpredictable nature of Vince McMahon. Road Dogg reportedly was the one who asked for the change even though it seemed like a demotion. The relaxed vibe of NXT and chemistry with Triple H make his time in NXT easier than running SmackDown.
1 Walked Out Of WWE With Jeff Jarrett
The first WWE character of Road Dogg was The Roadie when he teamed with Jeff Jarrett. WWE gave Jarrett a country singing gimmick with Roadie basically as his manager attempting to help him cheat his way into victories. Jarrett and Road Dogg became tied together backstage as well, especially during one controversial decision.
Both wrestlers walked out of WWE together in 1995 without giving a warning due to the unhappiness about their contract. WWE eventually brought Road Dogg back under the name of Jesse James. The singles role saw him getting the credit for Jarrett’s singing in a failed run before forming The New Age Outlaws to save his career.