Why The Rock Didn't Want To Fight Goldberg at Backlash 2003? Find Out

A WWE executive has revealed that The Rock actually didn’t want to fight Goldberg but this wrestler at WWE Backlash. Read on to know who he is.

Updated on Jul 18, 2024  |  10:49 PM IST |  97.4K
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The Rock (L) and Goldberg(R). Photos: Getty

The Rock vs Goldberg at WWE Backlash 2003 was a match for the ages. It was the Hollywood heel Rock going against Goldberg, a renowned face at the WCW. However, the fans would be surprised to know that The Rock didn’t want to face Goldberg at Backlash. 

According to WWE executive Bruce Prichard, The Rock wanted to face Rey Mysterio instead of Goldberg at the pay-per-view. This was revealed by WWE executive Bruce Prichard a few months back. 

What did Bruce Pritchard reveal about The Rock?

While speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast recently, Prichard revealed that it was The Rock who had pressed hard for WWE to bring in Goldberg, but as the match got closer, he had some second thoughts about it, and then he pitched to fight Rey Mysterio instead of Goldberg.

“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,” Prichard had said.

When WWE asked him what they do about Goldberg, Rock was clueless but still persisted in his match with Rey Mysterio. However, Vince McMahon rejected Rock’s idea and went on with the original idea of Rock vs Goldberg at Backlash 2003.

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The storyline between Goldberg and The Rock

Their storyline started right after WrestleMania 19 when The Rock defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin for the first time in WrestleMania.

This was also going to be The Rock’s final storyline before he took a short break to fulfill his Hollywood commitments. So, the company brought Bill Goldberg for the fight against The Rock. 

The two put on a great match, with Goldberg emerging victorious in the bout. After this fight, The Rock also addressed the crowd shortly, even though this wasn’t telecasted on television. Since he was going on a sabbatical to pursue his acting career, The Great One thanked the WWE Universe. 

After that night, The Rock only returned as a face on Monday Night RAW, a few days before WrestleMania 20. He returned as a face to side with Mick Foley against The Evolution (Ric Flair, Batista, Randy Orton). However, the duo lost to the three bigwigs and that was also The Rock’s last WrestleMania before he returned in 2011.

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About The Author

A graduate in English Journalism from IIMC, New Delhi, Mohammad Bilal has had a passion for writing since 

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