The 1990s made for a decade unlike any other in the history of North American professional wrestling. The World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling battled over television ratings and for popularity and buy rates in what became known as the “Monday Night Wars,” and those promotions gave fans and customers numerous storylines, segments and matches that are fondly remembered up through the spring of 2018. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Goldberg, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page and Rey Mysterio Jr. all became stars during the 90s, and both Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff played on-air characters who helped get babyface wrestlers over and who also negatively affected the wresting business well beyond World Wrestling Entertainment’s victory over its former rival and the death of WCW. Even now, 17 years after WCW aired its final edition of Nitro, the WWE continues to use the idea of a heel authority figure running editions of Raw and supposedly attempting to bury workers such as Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. Knowing all we know now, it may have been better off for every one of us had the Mr. McMahon and Bischoff characters never surfaced in front of cameras back in the 90s.

What one has to remember about the WWE and WCW in the 90s was that many viewers did not have easy access to high-speed Internet, and those who did not subscribe to newsletters such as the Wrestling Observer often only heard about backstage rumors from friends or radio hosts who did their best to keep up with the alleged happenings in those two promotions. Many of the rumors circulating backstage in the WWE and WCW in the 90s weren’t legitimate and grew in stature either because somebody wanted to disparage a wrestler who jumped ship from one promotion to the other or because wrestlers and fans alike could neither officially confirm nor deny those stories. As with most instances regarding rumors and hearsay, there may also be some truth to at least a few of the stories hovering over both the WWE and WCW throughout the 90s. Men and women who worked for one or both of those organizations when they were on fire have hazy memories in some instances, and others who aren’t overly concerned with being the most truthful individuals tell tall tales about what may or may not have been known backstage. It’s pro wrestling we’re discussing, so we can only imagine what is real and what is kayfabe.

16 WWE: Going out of business?

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This is a backstage rumor that has been circulating since the 1990s, and those of us who were not working for the WWE at the time cannot say, for sure, just how accurate it is. Per multiple people who have spoken about the topic since even before WCW shut down for good, Vince McMahon feared that the WWE was on the verge of going out of business in the mid-90s, and that may have played a role in why he desperately wanted to get out of the promotion’s long-term contract with Bret Hart.

In fairness to those who tell this story, WCW dominated the WWE in the ratings for over a year, and there was a time when it felt as if WCW was going to coast to one final historic victory over McMahon.

That, of course, never happened, as the WWE grew in popularity following the “Montreal Screwjob” in which Hart dropped the company’s top championship to Shawn Michaels (more on that later).

Today, the WWE is a multimedia superpower that is bigger than WCW ever was when it was at its best. WWE is about to cash-in on another television rights deal, meaning the promotion is in no danger of going out of business anytime soon.

15 WCW: Starrcade 1997 Screwjob

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The finish of the main event of Starrcade 1997 is one of the more infamous in the history of WCW. Sting, built-up as the company’s biggest babyface for months leading up to his championship bout versus Hulk Hogan, was supposed to be robbed when referee Nick Patrick counted a pinfall too fast in favor of the Hulkster. Patrick’s pinfall at the fateful hour was no different than normal, though, meaning fans saw Hogan earn a visual legitimate pinfall over Sting until Bret Hart emerged from beyond the curtain to restart the match in reference to what occurred to the Hitman in Montreal that same year.

The rumor is that Hogan ordered Patrick to count the pin as he did to take momentum away from the Sting character and keep himself as the organization’s top guy.

It makes sense, as there isn’t any other good reason why Patrick would have done what he did considering Sting was always going to hoist the title at the end of the night. Hogan still held quite a bit of power backstage and behind the scenes, and Patrick would not have gone into business for himself and ignored Hogan’s directions had he been instructed to do something such as count slowly during a match.

14 WWE: Sunny days

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The rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart went well beyond what we saw play out in television segments and matches involving the two icons of the business. In fact, the WWE openly talked about the subject in the 90s, and the company also produced a documentary about it once Hart made a much-anticipated return to the promotion.

One of the reasons Hart allegedly disliked Michaels, at the time, is that HBK suggested that the Hitman had a backstage relationship with Diva Sunny while cutting a promo.

Hart was understandably not amused by Michaels’ words, and both Hart and Sunny have, in interviews, stated there was nothing behind Shawn’s claim.

Nevertheless, some who heard what Michaels said and who knew what he was getting at believed Hart’s “Sunny days” really occurred, and it is a backstage rumor that is still talked about among fans who post on social media and on Internet forums. Kayfabe has been dead for some time, but there is something to be said for these type of real old school feuds between two people who did not like each other. Shawn and Bret mended fences both in and outside of the ring, but we expect they won’t be vacationing with each other at any point down the road.

13 WCW: Vince challenged

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Fans who recall watching both the WWE and WCW back in the 90s may remember when Eric Bischoff challenge Vince McMahon to show up at a pay-per-view for a real fight. McMahon’s company was growing in popularity at the time, so it did not make much sense for the WWE chairman to go out of the way to help pop a buy rate for his competitor. Fans and even wrestlers likely originally believed Bischoff was merely playing his character and performing a work that had zero intended outcome.

According to an interview Bischoff gave in January 2018, he wanted McMahon to show up to the arena, so much so that he instructed security to allow Vince and other WWE performers to enter a dressing room ahead of the in-ring showdown.

Per Bischoff’s words, the only person he feared regarding a potential brawl was the Big Show, who had made the move from WCW to the WWE. How much of this is Bischoff telling us what really went down and somebody who has nothing to lose in spinning a story speaking about the past will probably never be known. McMahon won in the ratings and in business, and that’s all that matters in 2018.

12 WWE: Macho Man gave Hulk Hogan a black eye before WrestleMania IX

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“Macho Man” Randy Savage had a reputation for being a bit of a hothead, a tad too eccentric and somebody who maybe lived his gimmick more than he should have backstage and in real life. According to the story told by Hulk Hogan, Hogan suffered a facial injury that left him with a black eye the day before WrestleMania IX when a journey on a jet ski did not go as planned.

The rumor, one that Hogan has addressed in the past, is that Savage punched Hogan in the face after the former accused the Hulkster of introducing Elizabeth to a friend.

Because Savage is no longer with us, we have no other choice than to believe Hogan is telling the truth, something he has not always done during what were supposed to be real and honest interviews. The rumor here is far more juicier than what probably actually happened, and that could be the reason why it has grown and is still talked about even though WrestleMania IX was roughly 25 years ago. For what it’s worth, one wouldn’t have to wonder why Hogan would not want anybody to believe that any wrestler, let alone Savage, could have delivered such a blow to him in a fight.

11 WCW: Hulk sabotaged Bret

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Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart have taken public jabs at each other during interviews since the two worked together in both the WWE and WCW. One of the backstage rumors potentially believed by people who performed for both those organizations in the 1990s was that Hogan went out of the way to sabotage Hart’s run in WCW after the Hitman left the WWE following the Montreal Screwjob.

The story is that Hogan refused to put Hart over in a championship match when the two were working for the WWE, and Hart responded by drawing an offensive cartoon that featured Hogan and Brutus Beefcake, Hogan’s friend, and posting the picture inside of a locker room at an event. Per the rumor, Hogan never forgot about the incident, and he got revenge when Hart signed with WCW by making sure the former WWE Champion never became a massive superstar after completing the move.

Hart’s WCW tenure is not remembered fondly by him or by most fans, as he was largely involved in terrible storylines and forgettable matches. This backstage rumor is not all that difficult to believe knowing the history the two had with each other and also how WCW squandered what should have been a great acquisition.

10 WWE: HBK tried to ruin The Rock’s career

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Shawn Michaels has admitted that he was not always the most supportive wrestler in the locker room and backstage while working for the WWE in the 90s. One of the rumors about HBK allegedly holding a younger talent back involved none other than the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment. Michaels and Rock never worked a program before the master of Sweet Chin Music had to step away from active in-ring duty for four years because of a back injury, and the rumor is that Michaels tried to bury Rock’s career before the future actor got over among audiences.

Even if Michaels wanted to keep The Rock in the mid-card, the cream rose to the top in this case. Rock eventually became a top heel and, later, a top babyface in the promotion, and he went on to achieve even more away from the WWE and the wrestling business in Hollywood. Michaels, meanwhile, returned to the WWE a changed man, and his final stint in the promotion was his best. We never did get to see that WrestleMania match between Rock and Michaels, and we never will now that both men have moved on.

9 WCW: Warrior-Hogan payback

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Neither wrestlers nor fans witnessed Hulk Hogan do a lot of jobs during his tenure in the WWE. That made his loss to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI all that much bigger of a deal at the time. Fast-forward to 1998, and Hogan and Warrior are again working for the same promotion, this time WCW. Hogan defeated Warrior at the ’98 edition of Halloween Havoc in a match that has been criticized by journalists and fans, and the backstage rumor is that Hogan wanted WCW to sign Warrior just so that the Hulkster could get his win back and even their one-on-one records at 1-1.

Would Hogan, arguably the biggest star in the history of the industry and a millionaire in the mid-90s, have been this petty? Bischoff has denied this story in the past, but Hogan’s reputation 20 years ago could lead somebody to believe there is some merit behind the rumor.

Signing Warrior was just one of the many mistakes Bischoff and others working for WCW made in the second half of the 90s, but at least Hogan can always know that he got his win back in a fake match that cost a company thousands upon thousands of dollars and viewers minutes of their lives they can never reclaim.

8 WWE: Two Ultimate Warriors

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One of the most bizarre backstage rumors and urban legends from the WWE during the 90s involves the same Ultimate Warrior who was part of one of the worst matches to ever occur in WCW.

The tale here is that the original Warrior passed away for reasons unknown to the public (possibly in an accident that occurred in parts unknown, but that’s a different story for a different piece), and the WWE responded by replacing the man formerly known as Jim Hellwig with an imposter who played the Warrior character until he left the WWE.

As funny as this may be to hear or read in 2018, more than a few people believed this to be true in the 90s. Even the WWE has addressed the rumor in a piece published on the company’s official website. Unlike so many stories that emerged from at least a little bit of reality, there is no truth to this.

Hellwig, who was the one and only Warrior in the 90s is the same man honored at the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and the same man who, sadly, died shortly after that memorable night. We’re grateful he was able to appear in front of fans one last time before his passing.

7 WCW: Under the influence

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WCW was, in some ways, the Wild West of the pro wrestling industry in the 90s, a company where some of the talent allegedly had way more power than they should have held in such a massive and valuable organization. There are multiple rumors of individuals performing under the influence or downright drunk in WCW during the 90s, and Eric Bischoff has discussed these stories in interviews.

WCW even created a storyline where Scott Hall, who has publicly battled addiction for decades, showed up to shows and arenas drunk. The line that separates a shoot from a work in wrestling is often blurred, at best, so we may never know how often wrestlers worked while drunk or under the influence of other substances in WCW during the 90s. If you go back and watch some of those Nitro shows from the era, one can seemingly tell when wrestlers may have had too much fun backstage ahead of a match or segment.

This type of thing would never fly today in the WWE, and these stories say quite a bit about how different the industry was in the 90s. WWE may not always be your favorite promotion, but the company cares for performers much better than it or WCW did decades ago.

6 WWE: Vince Russo sent to WCW

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Vince Russo can be a polarizing figure among wrestling fans and other people who have covered or worked in the wrestling business. Some view Russo as a brilliant wrestling mind who needed somebody backstage such as Vince McMahon to occasionally reel him in, while others have repeatedly hit out at storylines and feuds he created during his time in WCW and, later, Total Nonstop Action/Impact Wrestling.

Critics of Russo would point to the more ridiculous ideas he presented while in WCW as proof that the rumor claiming McMahon sent Russo to WCW to kill off the competition is slightly, or maybe entirely, accurate. This, no disrespect meant, is probably giving Russo too much credit. Russo has stated that he willingly left the WWE for WCW in the 90s for multiple reasons, one of which was his increased workload after the WWE introduced SmackDown as a weekly television show.

Thus, one could suggest that SmackDown helped pile dirt on WCW’s grave. Russo did not help matters once he joined WCW, but the promotion was already on its way into the ground before he decided that he needed to leave the WWE. Russo didn’t kill WCW as much as he made sure the organization never received life-saving medication.

5 WCW: Almost signed Shawn Michaels

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Stories about this backstage rumor have changed, or evolved depending on how you want to look at them, over the years. One of the stories is that Shawn Michaels was originally meant to be the third man to team with the Outsiders and form what became the New World Order, but Michaels remained with the WWE and forced Eric Bischoff to choose Sting for the role before Hulk Hogan was ultimately picked to join Scott Hall and Kevin Nash in the stable.

Michaels has claimed that he wanted to jump ship from the WWE to WCW after the start of the NWO storyline, largely because he was unhappy and yearned to reunite with his friends.

In reality, there is probably not much to this rumor other than speculation that Michaels discussed the possibility of him joining WCW with buddies behind the scenes. Vince McMahon had HBK under contract leading up to the Montreal Screwjob in late 1997, and the back injury that Michaels suffered in 1998 would not have allowed him to wrestle in WCW. Everything probably worked out for the best. Michaels was in no shape to perform physically or emotionally at the time, and things could have ended disastrously had he signed with WCW at any point.

4 WWE: The Hardcore title

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All that we really know about this backstage rumor is that the WWE has confirmed its existence in a piece published on its official website, but also that the promotion can neither confirm nor deny if it’s true. Supposedly, the original Hardcore Championship that debuted on WWE television during the 90s was the old WWE Championship belt that was destroyed by Mr. Perfect back in 1989.

The Hardcore title was a broken version of the old “Winged Eagle” belt, which made the rumor easy for fans and wrestlers, alike, to believe.

In fact, Mick Foley has stated that even he does not know if the belt that he carried and the one once taken apart by Mr. Perfect were the same.

It does seem a little weird that somebody within the WWE would have held onto the smashed belt for such a lengthy period of time before using it as a recognized title. Besides, somebody could have just as easily taken a hammer to a fresh belt before naming it the Hardcore Championship in the 90s. Whatever the case, this is a rumor that will live on in our minds and hearts until the WWE tells us the truth; if that day ever comes.

3 WCW: Almost signed The Undertaker

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Much like with rumors about Shawn Michaels potentially signing for WCW in the 90s, we will probably never know how much truth there is behind this story. Kevin Nash has claimed that he, and possibly others working for WCW in the late 90s, believed that the promotion was close to signing The Undertaker before the WWE changed his character from the Phenom and Deadman to the “Biker Taker” gimmick.

Eric Bischoff stated earlier this year that was never the case, and that nobody with any real power ever held serious contract discussions with Undertaker during the 90s. Somebody here either doesn't remembers what actually happened, or he is fibbing to generate headlines or tell a story.

WCW offering a major star such as Undertaker a boatload of cash to leave WWE is believable. The company routinely went this route rather than build up stars on is own other than Goldberg. The Undertaker has been known as a loyal soldier who would not have abandoned McMahon, and the WWE was the hotter company of the two when WCW allegedly wanted to sign the living legend of the industry. Maybe Undertaker himself will one day shine light on this rumor after he retires from the WWE.

2 WWE: Montreal Was All A Work

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You can pick your favorite backstage rumor about what wrestlers, analysts and fans believed and maybe even still believe happened the night of the infamous Montreal Screwjob involving Vince McMahon, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. At the time, Michaels denied having any knowledge of what was going to happen at the conclusion of the match, but he has since admitted that he was fully aware of what was scheduled to transpire before McMahon ordered for the bell to ring and the bout to end.

Some wrestlers still believe Hart had to have known what McMahon was going to do, but that he had to keep up appearances and protect his character and kayfabe even after he and the WWE parted ways.

Others are convinced the entire thing was a work and that McMahon, Michaels and Hart all laughed their ways to the bank.

Conspiracies aside, it is most likely that the tale that has been told by journalist Dave Meltzer and, eventually, by the WWE is the true story. McMahon told Michaels how he wanted the match to end, and neither one of them informed Hart that was going to be “screwed” in Montreal in what was his last match in the WWE as a full-time wrestler.

1 WCW: Vince McMahon Sent nWo To WCW

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While the trio of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan helped propel WCW ahead of the WWE for a period of the Monday Night Wars, the New World Order faction and storyline helped sink the company by the end of the decade. One of the backstage rumors floating around both WCW and the WWE in the 90s was that McMahon had actually sent the three men to WCW to ruin the competition in a brilliant and historic business move.

It’s an intriguing story straight out of an on-air wrestling feud, but it is also completely false. Hall and Nash willingly left the WWE for WCW after receiving better contracts for more money than what McMahon offered them. Hogan, meanwhile, left the WWE for WCW years before Hall and Nash first appeared on Nitro. McMahon would probably like wrestlers and fans to believe he was capable of such foresight back in the 90s when he was fearing that he could be put out of business by Ted Turner and WCW.

Unfortunately for Mr. McMahon, we all know better in 2018. He did not, in fact, inject WCW with a lethal dose of poison that resulted in the company dying in March 2001.