‘Roid Rage Caused a Bloody Fist Fight Between American Gladiators Nitro and Laser over “Baby Got Back”, Netflix Doc Reveals

Netflix’s docuseries Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators answers many questions about the quintessential ’90s action/competition show. Did President Clinton have a favorite Gladiator? Can you follow the Gladiators on OnlyFans? And, of course, did the American Gladiators use steroids? The short answer to all of those questions is “yes.” When it comes to steroid usage, Gladiators Dan “Nitro” Clark and Jim “Laser” Starr have a story that shows the extremes that steroids can push someone to — and because it was summer 1992, this story has a bangin’ soundtrack.

The story starts about halfway through Episode 3 and serves as an intro to the discussion of steroid usage. Picture it: Nitro and Laser are cruising through the desert in a red Jeep on their way to Palm Springs, Sir Mix-a-Lot’s mega-hit “Baby Got Back” is blasting on the radio. Laser, the passenger, is not picking up what the good sir is putting down, so he changes the channel to country. Nitro is not cool with this. Now, we don’t know what song was playing, but I do know this: Summer 1992 was the summer of “Achy Breaky Hart.” Draw your own conclusions.

As Nitro explains, “The general rule is, whoever’s driving, that’s the guy who controls the music.” Naturally Nitro changed the station back to “Baby Got Back.” And then Laser changed it back to country. Then there was some pulling which led to some slapping, and then Laser issued a challenge: “I just looked at him and said, ‘You wanna go?!'” Nitro slammed on the brakes. Hell yeah, Nitro wanted to go.

And that’s how two 240-pound adult men, likely wearing neon spandex and/or Zubaz, came to engage in a no-holds-barred, ‘roided out fist fight on the side of the road. Things escalated wildly when Nitro got Laser in a headlock. “The next thing I feel, these teeth sink right into my cheek,” said Nitro. “My best friend, my fellow Gladiator, he’s biting me in the face.”

Laser’s defense: “It just happened. You know, it was one of those things where you do what you have to do.”

This shocked Nitro back to reality. With a clear(er) head, Nitro bent down to help Laser back up — but then Nitro remembered that there is no biting in fighting. That’s, like, bro code. If not, it’s definitely Gladiator code. Fast as lightning, Nitro turned his open hand into a closed fist and socked Laser right in the face. “And I said, ‘That was for biting me.'”

As for who won the fight, Laser said he did. After a beat, Nitro adds, “I don’t know who won that fight.” So, Laser won. Either way, the two of them immediately made up and found a popular restaurant in Palm Springs to stop at. Laser was worried that they wouldn’t be let in, what with him having a swollen black eye and Nitro bleeding from his face. Nitro’s response: “We’re Gladiators. They’ll let us in.” Thus the party kept going.

Let this be a lesson to everyone: ‘roid rage is real, and the driver always gets to pick the music.

Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators is now streaming on Netflix.