I spoke to a source in TNA this morning who provided me with a few more details behind the Awesome Kong/Bubba The Love Sponge incident which took place Monday night at the Impact tapings.
According to the source, the fight between the two was legitimate, and I was told that Awesome Kong was in tears for most of the day, and was anxiously awaiting Bubba's arrival to The Impact Zone. She was visibly upset at the tapings, and when Bubba arrived to the building she literally attacked him and began to beat him up. She did sucker punch Bubba, but it didn't end there. She continued to beat up on him and the fight was said to be a complete shoot.
However, according to the source I spoke with, incidents like this can never really be trusted to be entire shoots as Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo have been known for their unofficial motto of "work everyone." Both men like to take actual heat between people and turn them into worked shoots that come off as very real but in the end work both the talent backstage and the internet. After all, Hulk Hogan did call into Bubba's radio show yesterday and proceeded to blame Russo for encouraging Kong to attack Bubba.
To put things into perspective, the source I spoke with related the following story to me which took place in WCW. Back in late 1999-2000, Buff Bagwell and Diamond Dallas Page were involved in a shoot fight backstage at a TV taping. DDP was awaiting the arrival of Bagwell to the building as he was furious over rumors that Bagwell had been having an affair with DDP's wife Kimberly. When Bagwell arrived to catering at the building that night, DDP attacked him and the two got into a legitimate, ugly, backstage fight. It was revealed, many months later, that in reality the entire incident was a complete work, and it was staged so that when Bagwell and DDP later worked an angle on TV, it could be said there was legitimate heat between the two in the past which would strengthen the feud.
This is not to say that the Awesome Kong/Bubba incident is a confirmed work, however, I was told that when dealing with Bischoff and Russo you must adhere to the adage of "believe half of what you see and none of what you are told."
