Who did The Rock want to face instead of Goldberg at Backlash 2003?

The Rock vs. Goldberg is one of the dream matches that came to life after WWE bought WCW more than a decade ago. However, their exchange almost did not happen as Dwayne Johnson wanted to face another Hall of Famer.

One of wrestling's biggest news was when WWE bought its rival company, WCW, in 2001 along with some of its superstars. Although Goldberg was considered one of the company's major stars, it was only in March 2003 that he signed with the Stamford-based promotion. He immediately feuded with The Rock and had a match on April 27, 2003, at Backlash, which saw the Hall of Famer pick up the victory. Interestingly, Dwayne Johnson was eyeing Rey Mysterio to be his opponent instead.

WWE's Executive Director Bruce Prichard revealed on the March 2018 episode of the Something to Wrestle With podcast that The Rock was initially excited to wrestle Goldberg. However, the storyline didn't start well and the Hollywood actor began to have reservations about their match. Weeks before Backlash, Dwayne Johnson suggested wrestling Rey Mysterio instead.

“I think it was two weeks, three weeks into this. Rock, who begged us to bring Goldberg in, comes to us and says, ‘Hey, I got an idea. I’ve been watching the little guy with the mask (…) Rey Mysterio, is that his name? Holy s**t, man, we could tear it up! How about we just slide Rey into the match, I do something with Rey? That’ll be a great f*****g match.’" (H/T E Wrestling News)

Prichard stated that although The Final Boss was serious about wrestling the Latino World Order leader, Vince McMahon decided to push through with the original plans for Backlash. As of this writing, he has never wrestled Rey Mysterio.

Who else did The Rock want to face from WCW aside from Goldberg?

Aside from Goldberg, The Brahma Bull had a few more names in mind that he wanted to face that came from World Championship Wrestling. However, he wasn't able to wrestle some of them.

On the final episode of the VICE docuseries Who Killed WCW, a docuseries produced by Dwayne Johnson, the WWE star stated that he made a list of names he wanted to wrestle after WCW was bought in 2001. The names on the list were Goldberg, Sting, Randy Savage, and everybody in the nWo. The Hollywood star was only able to share the ring with the former WCW Champion and nWo in 2002.

It would be interesting to see if The Rock will ever get the chance to share the ring with Rey Mysterio in WWE in the future.

About the author

Hazel is a WWE features writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. Currently a BS Psychology student in her third year, she ensures that multiple accurate and reliable sources back every piece of information in her articles. She phrases even mundane information in her own words, especially when using single sources like books or social media posts, to add a hint of personal touch.

Hazel has had a penchant for writing since high school. Apart from pursuing Humanities and Social Sciences for her senior year, she attended classes about creative and nonfiction writing. In 2019, Hazel started working as a ghostwriter, and three years later, she began working for Sportskeeda. In 2023, she became a published author under 8letters Books Publishing House. Even today, when she is not studying as a pre-med student or writing for Sportskeeda, she enjoys reading and writing novels.

Her favorite wrestlers are Edge and Randy Orton. She recalls watching John Cena vs Big Show vs Edge in WrestleMania 25 in her first wrestling match. Hazel enjoyed the entrances, and what got her hooked was how cool and ruthless Edge was and how John Cena never backed down from his challenges.

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Edited by Hazel Pagador