While A&E may not think Storage Wars fits the legal definition of a game show, there's undeniably a gaming element to the show, if not an intense sense of competition. This is a series about usually the same handful of people bidding against each other for the potentially bountiful contents of a storage unit — their very livelihood depends on a win. In that environment, things are going to get heated, even amongst longtime co-stars.
According to TMZ, in June 2015, Storage Wars taped an episode at a Palm Springs, California, facility. Evidently, auctioneer Dan Dotson missed a bid from Dave Hester, so producers told Hester to let Dotson know he made a mistake. Dotson didn't pay any mind, and Hester wouldn't let the issue drop, at the behest of producers. Eventually, Dotson and Hester got into it verbally, and then Hester punched Dotson. A full-on brawl ensued between the guys, and then Laura Dotson jumped on Hester's back, only for him to throw her to the ground. (She then went on a profanity-laden tirade, calling Hester, among other things, a "son of a b**** m***********.") Production halted, Hester got booted from the set, and he headed to a hospital for a tetanus shot, as Laura Dotson scratched at him so severely she drew blood.
