WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Steiner Once Brutally Slapped Rip Rogers In Front Of Everyone
It's no surprise that from time to time, the animosity and adrenaline that powers professional wrestling on-screen can also spill over into backstage altercations. Take Scott Steiner and Rip Rogers, for example. According to a Sportskeeda Wrestling interview with Dutch Mantell, aka longtime WWE manager Zeb Colter, the two men once got into a brief physical exchange backstage over a spot in an upcoming match they were set to have together.
"I remember Rip Rogers came back one night to the go position and he was complaining about something," Mantell recalled. "Scott Steiner came in there and Rip said, 'You know, I don't want to do it.' I don't know what got over Scott. Scott turned him around — I think he was talking about Scott or something — and he open-hand slapped him right in front of everybody. I looked at Rip and the slap was loud. I'm standing there, I looked at Rip's face — it looked like Chernobyl — and then it was over."
Mantell laughed as he told the story, recalling both Scott and his brother Rick Steiner as being "great guys." Referring to the altercation Mantell added, "some of those things like that happen, then it just goes away."
Scott Steiner's Other Infamous Backstage Brawl
While Scott Steiner's slap on Rip Rogers may have dissipated into some light water under the bridge, another incident during the later days of WCW wasn't so quickly forgotten. Diamond Dallas Page's wife at the time, Kimberly, had reportedly accused Tammy Sytch of bringing an "illegal substance" backstage. According to Cultaholic, Steiner was mad about the trouble thrown at Sytch and then cut a shoot promo targeting Page, calling him out and claiming he didn't have what it takes to fight him.
Perhaps to Steiner's surprise, Page was more than ready and was waiting for Steiner when he got backstage. IGN reported at the time that the two had a heated exchange that quickly turned into a 10-to-15-second skirmish. There was uncertainty whether Page went for a sucker-punch or a simple shove, but reporting at the time implied that Steiner came out on top in the brief encounter. Cultaholic's recap 20 years later noted that punches, a suplex, and biting all occurred in those seconds.
Page set the record straight and laughed about the fight with Wrestling Shoot Interviews, explaining that Steiner is a "good buddy" of his now, adding, "if we just would've talked, it all would've worked out, but we didn't." Page called their fight "a surreal moment," and though it may have left him clawed and bloodied, it also earned him credibility backstage, given Steiner's reputation as a legitimate force to be reckoned with.