Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Distraction; Time Pressure
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Passenger Misconduct
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Company Policy; Human Factors
Gate return.  Pushed off the gate; started the engines when we got a call from the back that we needed to return to the gate because of an irate passenger.  As we were coordinating the gate return received a second call that we needed to return.  Shortly after that received a third call that we needed to return and at this point [contacted] Operations.  As we coordinated with Operations; Ramp and Ground for the return Flight Attendant X and the other flight attendants did an amazing job getting the situation under control.  By the time we got back to the gate Flight Attendant X said the situation was under control.  I checked with the flight attendants to make sure they were okay with the situation and they said they were.  Apparently we had 2 passengers sitting next to each other who got into an argument.  When Flight Attendant X went back to see what was happening one of the passengers started verbally abusing her.  She did an amazing job getting them calmed down; but while that was happening another passenger refused to wear his mask; and another Flight Attendant was dealing with that.  I can't say enough about how well Flight Attendant X and the others handled the situation.  In fact; as passengers were deplaning in ZZZ1 I overheard a number of passengers express what a good job they had done.  Many folks seem to have a short fuse; all the ugliness happening around the country; wearing masks...lots of grumpy people confined in a small aluminum tube.
Air carrier pilot reported flight attendants excellently handled a passenger misconduct event during pushback.