The Forgotten WWE Backstage Fight Between Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty, Explained
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The Rockers were a very popular WWE tag team back in the late 80s and early 90s, with their faster-paced and sometimes high-flying style being something completely new and fresh to the tag team scene, helping to revolutionize the division in the company. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty were both very talented, though they would eventually be used as the comparison tool when tag teams split up, with the successful partner being referred to as the “Michaels” and the lesser successful one being the “Jannetty”. Despite being a tag team for a run which lasted five years, the pair would actually have a real life backstage fight at one stage.
The Eventual On-Screen Bad Blood Between Shawn Michaels And Marty Jannetty Started Backstage
Although The Rockers never managed to “officially” win WWE Tag Team Title gold (their one title win was ignored and removed from the history books), they managed to become a hugely popular duo among fans due to their uniqueness to nearly every other team at the time, with an innovative style. Despite their growth as a team, WWE talked back and forth about whether or not to break them up and to try and push the pair as singles stars to help bolster the midcard division.
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In 1991, Shawn Michaels would infamously turn on his partner in one of the most iconic heel turns of all time, super-kicking him and throwing him through the barbershop window, kickstarting a feud between the pair which would be revisited numerous times. However, their bad blood wasn’t always from a kayfabe perspective, as they would suffer from real life heat and a fight a year prior, which may have also ended up playing a part in the fact that they were never given the chance of becoming WWE Tag Team Champions for a real reign.
Roddy Piper Caused A Fight Between Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty
When spending most days of the year on the road with the exact same people, it feels natural for things to at times get too much. That was the case between Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels, whose life on the road simply got to breaking point, and it caused them to fall into a fight. This took place in a hotel, with it never really being exactly clear what specifically started the brawl, though it was noted that Roddy Piper allegedly stirred the pot between the pair to cause a fight.
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They were both bruised and beaten up following this altercation, and it got so bad that the police were called. When in the process of taking the two away, “Macho Man” Randy Savage arrived at the hotel and asked the officers what was going on. After being told about the fight, Savage told the cops that they were just practicing and setting up a storyline. Somehow this explanation worked, and following Savage signing a few autographs, the cops left without any second thoughts.
Jannetty and Michaels didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye after this altercation, with Michaels even threatening to quit WWE based on this incident alone. Due to looking in the battered physical states that they did, they were each sent home and not used on any shows for a month or so, with WWE opting for punishment rather than conjuring up a storyline where the pair were beaten down by another team.
Shawn Michaels Was No Stranger To Real Fights In The 1990s
This breakdown of their relationship could have led to WWE speeding up the process of their eventual split. When that breakup did occur, Michaels propelled himself to superstardom, whereas Jannetty eventually fell away into obscurity. Although Michaels would establish himself as one of the all-time greats in WWE, this real-life fight wouldn’t be the only instance in which he found himself embroiled in controversy and backstage heat, with him being quite problematic throughout the 1990s due to his ego and bad attitude.
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Michaels would notably be a part of other fights, for instance one outside a bar when his eyelid would get torn. Thankfully, as time went on Michaels’ bad traits soothed over with wisdom and age, and he eventually became more of a respected veteran and cool-headed individual, in stark contrast to his reputation in the 90s. It was certainly a shame to see him caught up in as many bad moments as he did during this era. It was also unfortunate to see such a promising tag team fall out and fight in the way that they did, especially when it looked like they were on the precipice of further breaking out and getting pushed based on their growing popularity and well-rounded talents, but alas, The Rockers as a top team would never come to fruition.
