WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff recently rewatched WCW Monday Nitro from 9/28/98 for his “83 Weeks” podcast. Bischoff talked about the reasons why Goldberg and Chris Jericho did not get along in WCW:
“Jericho doesn’t take sh*t from anybody. I think at his core, I don’t think Chris wants to fight anybody or is a fighter by choice, but it doesn’t mean he’s not good at it. I think Bill disrespected Chris. I know he did and Chris wasn’t gonna tolerate that. I think the reason Bill disrespected Chris, and this is going to come out so fu**ing wrong, it’s going to come out right the way I mean it, but it’s going to be heard differently by different people, probably certainly by Bill himself. Just add another guy to the list I used to work with that’s pissed off at me. But I gotta call it like I feel it. I think Bill was intimidated by Chris, not in a physical count, not in a real fight, necessarily, but I think Chris was so good and has so much depth, not only as a performer, what he could do tactically in the ring, I mean, he was really, really gifted at an early age, but I think Bill was intimidated by that and Bill’s way of dealing with being intimidated is to go into Bill Goldberg mode and shut it all down. That’s what happened.”
“It’s just lack of respect and insecurity on Bill’s part. When I say insecurity, I mean as a performer, because let’s face it, Bill was still really new at this point. It’s not like Bill had been in the business for five or six or eight years at this point like Chris had. Bill was still learning every single minute. From the minute he walked into the building to the minute he went home, he was in a learning mode. He compensated for that because he was Bill, he was intimidating, he could be, but at his core, I think at this stage of his career, he was insecure with what, he was aware of what he didn’t know, and what he wasn’t capable of, and didn’t want to compromise that because it might expose him. I sound like a shrink, but that’s my honest feeling.”
“Chris was a great guy is a great guy to this day, and so is Bill, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t insecurities at this point in Bill’s career, and again, not because Bill had any doubt in his physical ability or his ability as a man, but because he knew he was limited in the ring and Chris wanted to have a match with him and a program with him which would have required that Bill adapt his style and work differently in order to work with a guy like Chris and make it work and make it make sense, and I don’t think Bill was ready for that, consciously or maybe it was subconsciously. That’s what I think happened.”
It should be noted that Jericho and Goldberg had a backstage incident in WWE but they eventually became friends and Goldberg has appeared on Jericho’s podcast.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit AdFreeShows.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
