Goldberg joined WWE in 2003, two years after Vince McMahon purchased WCW. The Rock, who had already made a name for himself in Hollywood, recommended the former American footballer to McMahon. The Great One was so confident in the former WCW star’s ability that he wanted to wrestle alongside him in the ring.
However, as WWE producer Bruce Prichard remembered on a 2018 episode of his Something to Wrestle With podcast, their storyline didn’t start out well. The Rock supposedly began to have reservations about their match at Backlash 2003. The two-time Universal Champion sprinting in the opposite direction during a backstage chase made a parking lot sequence on RAW particularly memorable.
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 sh-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-cking match.’
“What do we do with Goldberg, Rock?’ (…) ‘Erm, I don’t know, but me and Rey could have a hell of a match.’ So, two weeks in, Rock was bailing on him and just like going, ‘Oh man, I’m just terrified of this match.’
Bruce Prichard on Something To Wrestle With
Prichard went on to say that The Rock was serious about battling Rey Mysterio instead, but the Hollywood movie star was denied. Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon “chewed out” Prichard after the disastrous parking lot incident.
H/T to Ringside News
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