Professional wrestling is a brutal and unforgiving business, in terms of physical health, as well as mental stability. There is no doubt that many professional wrestlers truly enjoy putting on a show, but at the same time, wrestling is more than just putting on a show through athletic spectacle and technical mat work. The very top of the industry is extremely competitive as out of the hundreds and thousands of wrestlers over the decades, only a handful have been megastars to the degree of The Rock or Steve Austin.
Aside from the physical pain of working grueling matches, backstage politics and competitive spirit can and does lead to conflicts that are not intended for the entertainment of the masses. Indeed, wrestlers have slugged it out backstage over personal and professional issues, as confirmed by testimonies or the wrestlers themselves coming out and admitting it.
Oftentimes, wrestlers punch each other in the face and the situation is stopped from escalating further by the co-workers or management barging in and separating the wrestlers involved in the melee. However, there has been one case where two wrestlers brawled in a hotel hallway, and the fight ended with both athletes being sent to the hospital as they had bled buckets.