The Real Life Fight Between The Nasty Boys & Ken Shamrock, Explained
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Ken Shamrock rose to fame on the back of his run in the formative years of the UFC. Due to his victories over his peers and his rivalry with Royce Gracie, Shamrock became a superstar in the combat sports world, but before all this, Shamrock was a pro wrestler.
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Yes, the UFC legend was a wrestler well before his UFC and WWE days. His in-ring name was Vince Torelli, and he wrestled for the South Atlantic Pro Wrestling promotion for a few short years. During his short stint with the promotion, Shamrock got into a real fight with the Nasty Boys, and by his own admission, he was nearly killed.
Ken Shamrock Was A Wrestler Before His UFC And WWE Days
Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags were known as the Nasty Boys, and they had a habit of getting on other wrestlers’ nerves. They were stiff in the ring, outspoken outside the ring, and had no problems ribbing other people. In October 1990, the Nasty Boys were out drinking after a show and by the time Ken Shamrock entered the bar, the tag-team was already drunk.
Shamrock was accompanied by a friend, and his friend’s girlfriend. The three sat next to the Nasty Boys, and as per Shamrock, Brian Knobbs, who already drunk, constantly harassed his friend’s girlfriend. Shamrock warned him the first two times, but when Knobbs did it again, Shamrock got up and warned him that he was going to break his hand.
The bouncers of the bar of the bar got involved, and the Nasty Boys were kicked out, but Shamrock was still enraged. He said goodbye to his friend and went over to the hotel room where the Nasty Boys were staying. Shamrock knocked once but nobody answered, so he broke the door down and saw Knobbs lying on the bed, face down, and probably drunk out of his mind. His friend, Jerry Sags, was waiting behind the door, apparently in wait for Shamrock.
The Nasty Boys Teamed Up To Beat Ken Shamrock Unconscious
A small melee broke out between Shamrock and Sags, and it ended with Shamrock hurling his foe through a television. He then proceeded to attack Knobbs but during his assault on Knobbs, Sags came up behind him and knocked him out cold with a telephone to the head.
The telephone had a metal plate attached to the bottom, and it struck Shamrock pretty hard. Once he was on the ground, Sags and Knobbs stomped on him, breaking his sternum, eye socket, and nose, and giving him a concussion. This was per the medical report Shamrock received later on. By his own account, he remembered no more after the telephone to the head.
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The Nasty Boys were looking to throw Shamrock off the balcony, but a number of other wrestlers intervened and stopped the situation from getting even worse. Shamrock was taken to a hospital after the fight, and he had to recover for more than a year as the injuries he got in the brawl were gruesome. Nearly eight years later, Shamrock and the Nasty Boys met face to face, this time in an airport.
Ken Shamrock And The Nasty Boys Had A Second Meeting At An Airport
By that point, Shamrock had gone through the UFC and was an active member of the WWE roster. Meanwhile, the Nasty Boys were fired from WCW not too long before. Once the two sides saw each other, Shamrock went up to him and warned Knobbs that he was going to kill him.
Billy Gunn was right alongside Shamrock, and he pulled his friend away from doing something that would ruin his WWE career. That was not the end of it though. Shamrock followed Knobbs all the way to the gate and his tag-team partner was already there, catching up with a few old friends from WWE. Upon being told of what happened, Sags claimed that Shamrock needed to chill out. The former UFC champion then came out of hiding, flipped Sags around to face him and issued the same threat, that he was going to kill him.
Sags realized that they were standing in public, so he turned away, warning the irate Shamrock that a punch would constitute a federal offense. This led to Shamrock calming down, and the two went their separate ways. Shamrock stated that the anger left his body as he realized that Sags had cowered out of the fight and that was the most satisfying conclusion.
