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Ever wondered what WWE Superstars do in case of backstage disputes? No, they don't always start brawling as WWE has (or used to have) this amazing concept called the "Wrestlers' Court". This is one of those massive "behind the curtain" secrets that many fans don't know much about.
The Wrestlers' Court was a concept started by Dutch Mantel, whom you might know as Zeb Colter in WWE. It was a way for two (or more) Superstars to settle any backstage issues or differences between them without escalating things.
There used to be a judge, usually The Undertaker due to his status as the locker room leader. Though, other senior wrestlers such as Triple H would act as the substitute if the Phenom was not available. Former WWE Champion JBL generally used to be the prosecution and there was also a defense played by various people.
Numerous incidents and stories have been subjected to WWE's "Wrestlers' Court" and in this article, we'll be taking a look at five such stories. Be sure to comment below and let me know your take on WWE's Wrestlers' Court.
#5 The Miz gets banned from the WWE locker room for six months
Starting with the most must-see Superstar in WWE, The Miz. While he is a respected WWE veteran now, his journey as a rookie was full of struggles.
During his initial days in WWE, he got himself into trouble while eating fried chicken. Apparently, he spilled some crumbs on Chris Benoit's bags, which made the latter furious. This matter was taken up by the Wrestlers' Court and The Miz got banned from the WWE locker room as punishment. During an interview, The Miz had this to say about the incident in question:
“I got kicked out for eating a piece of chicken over a guy’s bag in the locker room, and I got kicked out for six months. I had to find a place to shower, to use the restroom, to change. I’ve had it pretty rough in the WWE just because I’m an outsider, and WWE is kind of like a close-knit family or like a fraternity. Once you’re an outsider trying to lurk in, they will haze you and haze you and try to see if you’re up for the task or if you’re just going to quit. I’m not a quitter. I’m more of a person that says bring it on.”
Reportedly, it was The Undertaker who invited The Miz back into the locker room. Poor Miz!
#4 The Hardy Boyz steal WWE veteran Kane's first-class seat
The incident with the Hardy Boyz and Kane is one of the most famous ones in the history of WWE Wrestlers' Court. It was in the year 1999 when Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy had won the Tag Team titles from APA and were traveling to the next house show. Michael Hayes, who was their manager at that time, suggested the two to sit on the first-class seats.
Unfortunately, those seats turned out to be of Kane, and while the Big Red Machine of WWE didn't mind that, the boys backstage weren't happy with the Hardy Boyz taking a WWE veteran's seats. Thus, the two were sentenced to the Wrestlers' Court.
Matt Hardy mentioned how it was to face the Wrestlers' Court in their book - The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire.
“We got to the next house show and Bradshaw told us, ‘You guys have been sentenced to Wrestler’s Court. Your trial is set for next week at Raw.’ Wrestler’s Court is exactly what it sounds like. All the wrestlers gather in the locker room, and they hold a mock trial. Taker is the judge and Bradshaw is the prosecuting attorney. It’s pretty scary, because once you get up there on the stand, everybody’s against you.''
The Hardy Boyz only had to buy Kane dinner as their punishment, but the real culprit, Michael Hayes ended up carrying Kane's bags for a week.
#3 WWE's Hardcore Holly left abandoned by Mick Foley and Al Snow
This is a WWE story of that one time when Mick Foley and Al Snow left Bob Holly stranded at an airport. Foley and Snow spoke to Bob Holly about sharing a car on a road trip to Houston to lower the cost for everyone. But they also had a plan to stop at a local carnival on the way.
Holly agreed, dropped off his rental car at the airport, and started waiting for Mick and Al to pick him up. But there was some misunderstanding among the WWE Superstars as Mick Foley and Al Snow thought he would meet them at the carnival, and directly went there. Bob Holly was thus stranded at the airport for over an hour, got back his rental, and drove to Houston himself.
Both Foley and Snow were sentenced to WWE's Wrestlers' Court but Al Snow, being new to the company, was terrified to face the Court and hence convinced Foley to settle the dispute with Bob and had him pay $500 to him.
Bob Holly revealed the incident in his book, The Hardcore Truth: The Bob Holly Story.
"Al didn't want any part of it so he tried to get Mick to apologize. Al hadn't really caused the problem; he was guilty by association. Apparently he'd kept saying to Mick, 'We've got to find Bob,' but Mick wasn't worried about it. Hawk told Mick, 'You need to pay Bob back the money for the rental car, his hotel, his food, and his gas.' In the end, Al convinced Mick that he didn't want to be in Wrestler's Court so he gave me $500. Mick is so tight that you couldn't drive a pin up his a**, so it must have killed him to pay me that money. And when he did, 'I still don't think I did anything wrong.' That was quite something."
This was a rather hilarious incident involving WWE Superstars, but Hardcore Holly thinks otherwise!
#2 Goldberg's issues with Chris Jericho after joining WWE
Goldberg and Chris Jericho didn't get along in WCW, and once the former signed with WWE and ended up on the same brand (RAW) that Y2J was on, the issues between them took an ugly turn.
Apparently, Chris Jericho refused to get squashed by Goldberg in WCW, and that didn't sit well with the latter. On an episode of RAW after Goldberg joined WWE, while Jericho was working a match, Goldberg trash-talked about him in the back. Once Y2J got back, the two got into a heated argument with Goldberg grabbing Jericho's throat but it was Jericho who took him down with a front face lock. Chris Jericho mentioned this incident in his autobiography:
"It was Goldfinch’s first Raw, and I worked with HHH vs. Shawn and Booker T. After the match I was pulled aside and informed that Goldsmith had spent the entire match barking to Nash about how I didn’t know how to sell properly and how I hadn’t wanted to do business with him in WCW."
"I marched straight into the dressing room and saw 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."
"Once Goldster made his move, I reacted the only way I knew how. I swatted his hand off my throat and gave him a two-handed push to the chest. He rushed forward with his head down and tried to tackle me, like the ex– NFL lineman that he was. I stepped to the side like the world’s worst matador and grabbed him in a front facelock. It was the only shoot hold I knew. I think I surprised the shit out of him with my lethal hold and was able to power him down to the ground, applying pressure because I knew if I pushed his throat into his chest long enough, he might pass out. I really hoped that he would go to sleep because I was sure that he was going to fire up and kick the shit out of me. I mean, come on, have you ever seen this guy? He is massive!"
Interestingly, it was Goldberg who took Chris Jericho to the WWE Wrestlers' Court but instead of punishing Jericho, judge Triple H ruled against Goldberg, who was made to apologize to Jericho, and also admit in front of everyone in the WWE locker room that Jericho was a better wrestler than him!
#1 Edge and Christian buy off WWE Wrestlers' Court's judge, The Undertaker
In a rather hilarious story, Edge and Christian were sentenced to WWE Wrestlers' Court after Bob Holly caught them gifting the WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz a limited edition action-figure of The Flash. Many wrestlers, including Bob Holly, saw it as a bribe from them to receive a push.
The Undertaker found the three guilty and made Gewirtz write an essay on why he respects the business. Gewirtz shared the details of his punishment on an episode of Talk is Jericho.
“We were found guilty, even though I wasn’t giving Edge and Christian airtime for the gifts. Obviously Taker’s the man, so he had me write an essay on why I respect the business, which I legitimately wrote and handed in. He read it, and it was a surreal experience.”
As for Edge and Christian, the two had something unique in mind. They, in a way, bought-off The Undertaker (who was the judge), by giving him some interesting gifts. Christian revealed the story on his and Edge's WWE Network podcast, E&C's Pod of Awesomeness.
“We bought this $150 Harley Davidson coffee table book. Then we went and found these Champion roundtable interviews with boxing champions. It was a whole series and bought him the whole series of those. We went and we left it in the judge’s locker room. When we left, we found the judge and said, ‘Settlement is in your locker room.’ He said, ‘Alright, I’ll assess it and I’ll let you know what you sentencing is.'"
Christian continued:
“A couple hours later he walked past us, didn’t even look at us, he just stopped and said, ‘Boys, I don’t even think there’s gonna be a blemish on your record.’ And keeps walking.”
Of course, the two would go on to win back the love of the WWE locker room through their hard work.
