Details on Shawn Michaels' backstage fight with former WWE Intercontinental Champion
Former WWE Superstar Shane Douglas recently recalled witnessing a real-life fight between Shawn Michaels and his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty, in the locker room.
In the mid-1980s, HBK and Jannetty joined forces in Central States Wrestling to form The Midnight Rockers. The two later joined WWE, where they continued to compete as a tag team until 1992, when Michaels turned heel and delivered a Sweet Chin Music to his partner during a Barber Shop segment. HBK then picked up Jannetty and tossed him through the Barber Shop glass window.
In an interview with Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Shane Douglas claimed that Jennetty used to let Michaels handle business with Vince McMahon. Before the Barber Shop segment, HBK allegedly told him they were both getting pushes as singles competitors following their split as a tag team. However, Jennetty was surprised by McMahon's reaction after the Barber Shop segment.
"Well, Shawn does his thing and walks off. So, of course, to sell it, Marty's being tended to and all that. So, Shawn gets back a lot quicker than Marty does. And when you walk to this dressing room, you get these wooden open lockers. So, I'm sitting at mine and Perfect (Curt Henning) is right across from me. To the right was the bathroom, the toilets, and there was a whiteboard Bret would always draw his infamous comics on the thing and Shawn's bag was right below the whiteboard. So, he comes walking in, goes over to his bag, and several minutes later boom like hard somebody comes slamming through the door. It's Marty. (...) Marty looks at me, looks at Curt, looks at Shawn and goes, 'you motherf...' and starts across the room," he said.
Douglas added:
"He gets four five feet from him and Shawn goes... and just falls down like there's that lamb that like when it gets scared it just falls over. And he goes down and curls up in a ball and Marty gets over to him and like looking and so he puts his hand against the whiteboard and smudges the thing later (...) and he starts putting the boots to him. And I looked at Curt I went, 'should we stop it?' I've never seen this, I don't know, are they ribbing or what's going on? And Curt looking like (confused). And that was the end of it. And the reason that happened was when Marty got back to the gorilla position Vince said to him, 'Marty, we'll be in touch in a couple months if we have something for you.'" [0:55 - 2:37]
WWE Hall of Famer urges other wrestlers to follow in Shawn Michaels' footsteps. Check out his comments here.
Marty Jannetty returned to WWE later in 1992
A few months after the backstage fight, Marty Jannetty returned to WWE to feud with Michaels. The two squared off at the 1993 Royal Rumble for the Intercontinental Championship. However, Jannetty lost the bout. Shortly after the match, the 63-year-old was released.
Jannetty then made other brief returns over the next few years, during which he won the Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Titles. He last competed in WWE in 2009 when he lost to The Miz on Monday Night RAW.
Scott Hall allegedly "beat the dog sh*t" out of Marty Jannetty in a real-life incident. Check out the details here.