Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 3:03 PM EST

Although earlier reports this week on both PWInsider.com and The Wrestling Observer stated the "fight" between Batista and Booker T this past Monday during a shoot for the SummerSlam commercial was a work, WWE sources are confirming that the fight was very real and not something planned.

In fairness, many found it both interesting and strange that WWE would both send out a text message through their cell phone service and post a statement online that two of their stars got into a legit fight. Because of this, it was assumed the situation was a work and was planned to center around Batista's return to the SmackDown brand soon. It turns out that assumption was wrong and we apologize for reporting otherwise.

What we do know at least right now is that the heat between Booker T and Batista had been building up for quite a while and was largely based on Batista reportedly rubbing people the wrong way backstage by making comments that he "carried the company on his back" and that he has "drawn all the money" since his reign as World Heavyweight Champion. The general feeling is that Batista came right in to WWE and got a top spot very quickly and reportedly didn't show enough respect to others in the locker room that deserved it.

There are also reports stating that some wrestlers on the SmackDown brand were said to have been very happy about the things that Booker T said to Batista that eventually caused the scuffle between the two on the set for the SummerSlam commercial. A lot of wrestlers were spotted hugging and high-fiving Booker for saying the things that a lot of other people wanted to point out or say about Batista. While we can now confirm that the fight between the two was indeed legit, it is possible this situation could be turned into a storyline down the line. We are also hearing that the people over at WWE.com had quite a laugh when websites like ours and others picked up on the story and labeled it as a work.