Ex-WWE Star Claims the “Goldberg Myth” Died During Backstage Fight with Chris Jericho

WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg’s first run in WWE was filled with controversy and didn’t start smoothly. One of the most infamous incidents during this stint was his backstage fight with Chris Jericho and now a former WWE star has claimed that the “Goldberg myth” died during that backstage fight.

While speaking on Wrestling Shoot Interviews, former WWE star Maven talked about the infamous backstage fight between Goldberg and Jericho back in 2003. He stated that this fight marked the end of the “Goldberg myth” as an unstoppable tough guy and showed Jericho as someone not to be messed with.

Maven explained that he walked in as people were breaking up the fight. At that moment, Jericho had the upper hand. After they were separated, the fight started again, and Jericho ended up in control once more. Maven said it was clear that Jericho wasn’t dominating by accident—he was just better.

“Goldberg-Jericho. That was the night the Goldberg myth died, and the Jericho myth was born. I was like, ‘God damn, yo, Chris is not to be toyed with.’ Chris Jericho is light-hearted. Remember earlier, when you were asking about the funniest guys backstage? Chris is up there too, Jericho’s a good time—he’s light-hearted, he’s fun. But he’s also a guy you don’t cross. He’s legit, and he’s not scared at all.”

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I just remember seeing them pulling it apart. I saw guys running up, and Chris was in the dominant position. Then they separated them, and it started again, and Chris got in the dominant position again. It wasn’t like it was an accident the first time.“

Maven then made it clear that he believed Goldberg needed to be humbled. For Goldberg, Maven said he was a good guy, but he believed too much in his own hype. He brought up Goldberg’s match with William Regal in WCW as proof. In interviews, Goldberg claimed he could have beaten Regal in a real fight, but Maven didn’t agree.

Maven believed Regal was much more skilled and was even holding back during the match. If Regal had tried, he could’ve easily beaten Goldberg because he was on a completely different level.

“I think everyone needs to be put in their place in life at some point, but I hate when it happens unfairly—like what happened to Stevie. He didn’t deserve the way life put him in his place with his back injury. That kind of thing just isn’t right. Stevie is the nicest human being you will ever meet.

Now, take someone like Bill. Bill’s a nice guy too, a sweetheart of a person, but he lived off his aura and believed his own hype. For example, look at the match he had with William Regal in WCW. If you asked Bill about it, he’d say something like, ‘Oh, if it were a shoot, I would’ve killed him.’ No, he wouldn’t have. William Regal would’ve wiped the mat with him.

Regal is on a completely different level of physicality compared to Bill. Even in that match, Regal was taking it easy on him. If he’d wanted to, he could’ve torn Bill apart. Regal is just in a league of his own. He’d have Bill down and out before Bill even realized what was happening. Regal’s skill set is just upper-echelon, no question about it.”

Even Eric Bischoff believed that a Chris Jericho and Goldberg feud would have been a disaster in WCW. Nevertheless, Jericho and Goldberg are on much better terms now as they moved on from their past animosity, which fans felt was the right thing to do.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.

Do you believe the backstage fight changed the course of both men’s careers? Let us know what you think in the comments.