''He’s not moving''- Locker room celebrated when Hulk Hogan's iconic rival beat up former World Champion in a backstage fight for being bully
The world of professional wrestling has seen many backstage fights between top stars over the years, one of them involving an iconic rival of Hulk Hogan. Hogan had a lengthy rivalry with Paul Orndorff in 1986 which was also awarded the feud of the year by the Wrestling Observer. Orndorff was just as tough on-screen as he was off-screen, as he once beat up Vader despite being smaller than him.
Standing at an imposing six feet, five inches tall and weighing over 400 pounds, Vader was known for his intimidating presence, incredible athleticism, and hard-hitting style in the ring. Throughout his illustrious career, Vader won many Championships, including the IWGP and WCW World Championships.
Speaking on Monday Mailbag, former WWE and WCW referee Nick Patrick spoke about the backstage fight between Orndorff and Vader in WCW. He revealed that he was the one to break up the fight after Mr. Wonderful had knocked out Vader. He revealed that everyone who had been bullied by Vader was cheering for Hulk Hogan's WrestleMania One opponent.
"I saw that start to finish, both rounds, it was a little two-rounder," Patrick chuckled. "I was the one who – once Paul stopped kicking [Vader], I kinda grabbed him like, 'Paul he's not moving, let's get out of here,' and I ran with Paul."
Paul Orndorff main-evented WrestleMania against Hulk Hogan
The two men also faced each other in a tag team match in the first-ever WrestleMania. While Hulk Hogan had teamed up with Mr. T, Orndorff teamed with Roddy Piper. Mr. Wonderful was one of the most respected veterans backstage, and Vader's attempts at riling him up led to him getting beaten up.
Vader had himself stated in interviews that he was surprised by the power of the WWE Hall of Famer, who got the better of him in the backstage fight despite being much smaller than him in size. Jake Roberts also stated that the locker room was happy when Vader was taught a lesson.