On the latest episode of Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard shared insights about the infamous backstage altercation between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle, shedding light on the dynamics that led to the confrontation. Prichard discussed not only the fight itself but also the relationships and tensions that existed within the locker room at the time. He emphasized the competitive nature of wrestling and how it can sometimes boil over into personal disputes. You can find some highlights from the episode below, offering a deeper understanding of the wrestling culture and its unique challenges.
Bruce Prichard on the backstage fight between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero:
It ain’t ballet. Some things happen in the ring that are accidents. Things are said backstage where, when you’re pissed off. Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle, where Eddie Guerrero tried to double leg [take down] Kurt Angle. It’s like, ‘Eddie, you tried to double leg an Olympic gold medalist.’ And he just [hangs his head], ‘I know. I’m stupid!’ [Laughs] But it was just frustration on Eddie’s part. He was just frustrated. And that frustration came out, because it’s a physical business, in physicality.”
Bruce Prichard on ideas he didn’t think would work that Vince McMahon was adamant about:
Probably a lot. Wow… I think going back and thinking about timing. Hakushi [Jinsei Shinzaki] and Bret Hart, I felt Hakushi could have been a player. But Hakushi needed to be built first. Instead, Hakushi was brought in and put with Bret, beat, next. In seeing him originally, it was like, ‘Man, this guy could possibly be in a main event level match at WrestleMania.’ You could see him as an opponent for the Undertaker. You could see him as an opponent for the Championship against Bret. There were quite a few possibilities for the future for him.
“You know, you look at some of the — I wasn’t there when Hulk and Ric Flair had their time in WWE, and did live events that failed. I think that no matter what people thought in their different sides, there were different sides. And you needed to build that in one place and build it. Same thing, it just needed to be built. And sometimes, either things were rushed or cut off before their time. Wasn’t a fan at all of Beefcake and Hogan as the team to face Savage and Zeus. It just came out of nowhere because Beefcake was Hulk’s buddy.”
