Pro Wrestling Real Life Stories: Episode 2 - Chris Jericho, Goldberg, Booker T and what really happened backstage on RAW

Here's a detailed account of what really happened between Bill Goldberg and Chris Jericho
Here's a detailed account of what really happened between Bill Goldberg and Chris Jericho

We, as fans of professional wrestling, are currently in an era that is pretty open when it comes to the wrestlers or performers (as most sports-entertainment fans love to call them), being relatively outspoken about the predetermined nature of the matches' results. Nevertheless, while the sport may be largely scripted, the physical element continues to undoubtedly persist as an undeniable part of pro-wrestling.

The wrestlers we see execute gravity-defying, oft-risky moves inside the squared-circle on a regular basis nonetheless, are generally incredible athletes. With that in mind, it wouldn't come as a surprise to many that should a 'real fight' or a 'shoot' break out in the ring, backstage or in any given confrontation, most wrestlers are more than capable of holding their own--be it against their fellow performers or against non-wrestlers.

The pro-wrestling business is rife with stories of real-life backstage scuffles between the wrestlers, and perhaps one of the most famous incidents of the sort, is that of a rumored backstage fight between Chris Jericho and Goldberg. Now, while the internet is replete with hearsay about the Jericho-Goldberg shoot fight, we have compiled anecdotes from several notable performers who were associated with WWE at the time of the incident, and who've since addressed the incident--providing details on what really happened...

*Fans can look forward to 2 episodes of "Pro Wrestling Real Life Stories" being released every weekend (Saturday & Sunday) in the upcoming days


#11 The fans

The fight spilled out from the locker room right in front of the fans
The fight spilled out from the locker room right in front of the fans

Well, this may very well be one of the most misunderstood aspects of the Jericho-Goldberg incident. In several out-of-character interviews Chris Jericho has put forth over the past few years, he's given the general public his honest perspective on the story.

Jericho and Goldberg got into a scuffle backstage at a taping of Monday Night RAW back in 2003. Several former WWE personalities including Jericho himself have confirmed that the scuffle took place on Goldberg's "second day at work" which would imply the April 7th, 2003 tapings of RAW.

Anecdotes:

Addressing the infamous fight on his podcast Talk Is Jericho, Chris revealed a sequence during their fight, which saw both him and Goldberg bust through the doors of the locker room, right into the area where a certain section of fans could see them.

Jericho alluded that although they caught the attention of the fans, the other wrestlers as well as the backstage officials pulled them back into the locker room area away from the fans...In other words, most people outside the locker room don't exactly know what truly happened backstage, apart from the brief glimpse a few fans caught of them when they charged through the doors...

#10 How Chris Jericho felt about Bill Goldberg coming to WWE

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Chris Jericho worked for WCW from 1996 to '99, and subsequently jumped ship to the WWE in August of 1999--in a debut which received a ton of hype, courtesy the "Countdown To The New Millennium" clock that showed up on-screen in the days leading up to his debut. Meanwhile, Goldberg debuted in WWE in 2003, which didn't seem to sit all too well with Y2J.

Anecdotes:

Chris Jericho revealed both on his podcast as well as his memoir, how he felt about Bill Goldberg debuting in WWE after Vince McMahon buying out WCW--"Goldberg was coming to the WWE--The announcement Jack-hammered through my stomach the moment I heard it...The problem was, I don't really think Goldberg wanted to come to the WWE; but Rocky lobbied and convinced him until Bill finally relented and did."

"I wasn't too keen on him coming in either, since the last time I'd worked with him in WCW was a complete disaster. But I had no choice and I decided to make the best of it...I could tell that he (Goldberg) was still miffed about how things had gone down with us in WCW. I was willing to let the past stay there, but I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to let this guy throw his weight around in the WWE the way he did in WCW."

#9 Origins

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Speaking to Ric Flair on The Nature Boy's podcast WOOOOO! Nation, Chris Jericho provided fans a great insight into when his real-life heat with Bill Goldberg first reared its ugly head. Jericho also addressed this on an episode of Talk Is Jericho--wherein he explained that back in WCW, Goldberg refused to face him in a proper match.

The general consensus is that Jericho refused to lose a 30-second match to Goldberg on WCW TV, and told WCW President Eric Bischoff that although he has no problem putting Goldberg over, he'd like to do so at a PPV and not a run-of-the-mill television match.

Anecdotes:

Chris Jericho narrated a rather memorable incident during his time in WCW, which saw him have an argument with Eric Bischoff and Goldberg. Jericho explained that his plan was to have an on-screen feud with Goldberg, and put the latter over as a huge star.

However, Goldberg was apparently having none of it, and refused to do a prolonged angle with Jericho. Moreover, Y2J had several disagreements with Bischoff regarding the feud with Goldberg--wherein the WCW President is said to have sided with Goldberg while largely disregarding Jericho...Long story short, Jericho claims that despite him agreeing to put Goldberg over, the latter refused to work with him...

#8 Bruce Prichard -- WWE Producer

Bruce Prichard worked as a producer for WWE
Bruce Prichard worked as a producer for WWE

Bruce Prichard is always one with a great story, and while that may come as no surprise to many--considering his deep involvement in the business--he had a pretty interesting take on this fight. Prichard spoke about what he knew about the scuffle on his podcast Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard--wherein he noted that the general opinion coming out the fight was Jericho 'won' that skirmish.

Anecdotes:

Bruce Prichard who worked for the WWE as a producer back then revealed Vince McMahon's reaction to the Jericho-Goldberg fight--" Vince McMahon was not happy. He was pi**ed off...He didn't want guys fighting in the dressing room, sc**wing up the dressing room."

"Vince wasn't happy about it. He was glad that they went back, and shook hands, and they pretty much squashed it on their own."

#7 Booker T -- The Line that stole the show

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Regarded by many as one of the most legitimately tough guys in pro-wrestling history, Booker T is said to have played a hilarious cameo in Chris Jericho's fight with Goldberg.

Anecdotes:

Chris Jericho revealed how Booker T sat watching the former tussle with Bill Goldberg, and delivered a rather memorable one-liner in the heat of the backstage fight. "What's wrong with you, you f***ing goof?" Jericho screamed at Goldberg.

In response to that, Goldberg growled--"Your mother is a mother****ing goof!" That was when a sort of awkward silence ensued in the locker room which, by now, was full of wrestlers who were trying to break up the fight.

Booker T, with an unlit cigar in his mouth, calmly asked Goldberg--"Did you seriously call his mother a mother****ing goof? That is the worst insult I've ever heard." Needless to say, the wrestlers backstage cracked up at Booker T's one-liner which served as the lone positive things to have happened backstage that night...

#6 Kevin Nash -- Chris Jericho's 'mantis'

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Chris Jericho memorably referred to Kevin Nash as a 'giant mantis', while recalling his incident with Goldberg. It's common knowledge that Jericho and Nash weren't on the best of terms back in WCW--particularly with Nash famously branding Jericho as well as other performers such as Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit as "vanilla midgets".

Anecdotes:

In his memoir, Chris Jericho recalled what happened moments before his fight with Goldberg--"It was Goldfinch's (*not a typo) first RAW and I worked with Triple H vs. Shawn and Booker T. And after the match I was pulled aside and informed that Goldsmith (*again, not a typo) had spent the entire match barking about how I didn't know how to sell properly and how I hand't wanted to do business with him in WCW."

"I marched straight into the dressing room, and I saw Kevin Nash sitting in the corner like a giant praying mantis acting like he owned the place, while Billy boy sat across from him with a self-indulgent smile on his face."

#5 Vince McMahon

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Chris Jericho has, for long, known to have shared a great relationship with WWE boss Vince McMahon. In fact, Y2J's great camaraderie with McMahon was proven yet again when the latter texted him regarding Jericho's backstage fight with Bill Goldberg.

Anecdotes:

Chris Jericho recalled Vince McMahon texting him--"What happened at RAW?" Well, Jericho came clean on the backstage fight, to which McMahon's hilarious text was--"I know. I can't believe you beat up Goldberg. You really need to text me stuff like that!"

McMahon, surprisingly, wasn't too worked up about the backstage fight, and let Jericho as well as Goldberg off the hook--something that the WWE boss isn't usually known to do for talents who 'pull a stunt like that'...

#4 Scott Hall

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"The Bad Guy" Scott Hall has addressed his differences with both Chris Jericho as well as Goldberg in several shoot interviews in the past. The man formerly known as Razor Ramon had relatively indifferent opinions on Y2J and The Myth.

Anecdotes:

Scott Hall, in an YouShoot interview, joked about how he helped Goldberg save money on a hotel room by letting the latter stay on his room. Hall then revealed--"He became a big mark for himself, and that became cured as soon as you come work for Vince. When Vince comes to know you're a mark, you're done."

Hall then went on to trash Chris Jericho's claims that the former and Kevin Nash held down Jericho in WCW. Intriguingly, Hall noted that he didn't really care about Jericho or anyone else at the time...All in all, The Bad Guy--despite noting that he has nothing personal against Jericho or Goldberg--indicated that they are both marks for their respective characters i.e. they take wins and losses in wrestling too seriously...

#3 The Hurricane -- Gregory Shane Helms

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The Hurricane aka Gregory Shane Helms was one of the primary guys backstage who jumped right in the line of fire--holding back Chris Jericho and Goldberg. Helms also confirmed that Booker T did steal the show, so to speak, with his terrific one-liner.

Anecdotes:

Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Helms recalled how crazy the incident was from his perspective. In fact, Helms joked with Jericho that he was already thinking about starting up the car so the two of them could get away from the scene as fast as possible.

Helms explained that it was him and Christian who were holding back Jericho, while others held back Goldberg. Helms also stated that he held Jericho by the waist, and not the hands, since Goldberg broke free from the people holding him back and pounced on Jericho...

#2 Copying moves from Funaki's magazine

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Per the accounts noted in our discussion thus far, everyone who witnessed the fight and came forward to speak about it has confirmed that Chris Jericho did in fact use a front-headlock to subdue Goldberg.

Anecdotes:

Speaking to Ric Flair on WOOOOO! Nation, Chris Jericho explained that during his days a bouncer in Calgary his go-to move to control unruly drunk patrons was the front-headlock. Jericho explained that the forenamed move was the only real technique that he actually knew, and before his fight with Goldberg Jericho saw Funaki reading a magazine where BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) legend "Gracie" (Jericho doesn't remember which one of the Gracie family members it was about) was showing off a front-headlock choke i.e. guillotine choke.

Jericho confirmed that the man in the magazine was shown to be holding his opponent i the front-headlock while having his legs wrapped around the opponent's body. Jericho added that he copied the move against Goldberg...

#1 The fight

Goldberg's real-life scuffle with Chris Jericho is one of the most misunderstood backstage fights in pro-wrestling history
Goldberg's real-life scuffle with Chris Jericho is one of the most misunderstood backstage fights in pro-wrestling history

As noted earlier, Chris Jericho confronted Goldberg in the locker room--demanding that Goldberg stop burying him by badmouthing him backstage. Although Goldberg was initially said to be calm, within a few minutes of the confrontation, The Myth lost his temper.

Goldberg then accused Jericho of burying him on the internet, and stated that Mike Tenay had informed him that Chris Jericho is in fact 'burying' Bill Goldberg over the internet.

Anecdotes:

Chris Jericho revealed in his memoir that Goldberg grabbed him by the throat, however, Y2J then swatted his hand away and used both hands to give Goldberg a hard shove on the chest.

Goldberg then came charging at Jericho like the defensive lineman that he used to be, and Jericho caught hold of him in the front-headlock. Jericho confessed that Goldberg felt pretty strong, but didn't know how to get out of the hold...Y2J funnily added that he then dropped Goldberg to the ground with the lock still intact, and then pushed Goldberg's head towards his chest to try and choke him out.

Regardless, Goldberg didn't pass out, and the wrestlers then separated them, only for Goldberg to charge at him and fall into the front-headlock again. It was then, that both Jericho and Goldberg bust through the locker room doors in front of the fans--only to be hastily pulled back to the locker room by the other wrestlers.

Jericho confirmed that he later went up to Goldberg and they shook hands over the fight--burying the hatchet then and there rather than choosing to turn this into a long-running real-life rivalry.

Opinion:

From Chris Jericho's accounts which stated that he's forgiven Goldberg and probably been forgiven by the latter, all is well between these two legends today. In fact, the two of them even worked an angle which saw Jericho and Kevin Owens feud with Goldberg during his return to WWE that lasted from 2016 to 2017--with the latter winning the WWE Universal title.

From the shoot interview accounts we've noted throughout, we could perhaps conclude that despite being a much smaller individual than the mighty Goldberg, Chris Jericho more than held his own against the former NFL player.

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