Bruce Prichard Recalls Backstage Altercation Nearly Becoming A Fight Between Two Former WWE Teams

Bruce Prichard, the Executive Director of Raw and SmackDown, recently covered the illustrious career of the late, great Eddie Guerrero on his Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard podcast.

While recounting the feud between Los Guerreros [Eddie and Chavo Guerrero] and The World's Greatest Tag Team [Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas], Prichard revealed there was a backstage incident between the two teams that could have turned into "a scary fight" if not for cooler heads prevailing.

"During this time, there was an incident in San Diego with The Guerreros and Haas and Benjamin," recalled Prichard. "I went back and I sat there, 'Ah s–t'. They're all pissed off, and I think that Charlie and Shelton were in the locker room, Chavo and Eddie went in, and I think it was Chavo going in and Eddie having his back. Long and short of it, they came in to fight and everyone knew it. Someone had told me and I headed off."

Prichard said members of the locker room intervened to ensure the argument didn't spiral out of control.

"Chavo and Eddie at the pass, and there was a glass door into the locker room there," he said. "They kind of just end around me and got in; it wasn't really a fight. I think everybody got in between them and cooler heads prevailed.

"You talk about a scary fight! Four tough guys – legit four shooters that can definitely go. I'm extremely grateful that cooler heads prevailed and I didn't get my a– kicked in the middle of them kicking each other's a–," added Prichard.

Prichard also gave props to Tajiri, who briefly filled in for Chavo as Eddie's tag team partner. Five days prior to the 2003 Judgment Day event, Chavo tore his biceps, forcing Eddie to look for a new partner to face The World's Greatest Tag Team [aka Team Angle] for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a ladder match.

"I think that his entertainment value [was really high] and that he was able to express his emotions through his facials," Prichard said of Tajiri. "He was absolutely one of the best, and they fit. It was like peas and carrots."

After they lost the titles back to Team Angle, Guerrero turned on Tajiri during an episode of SmackDown, slamming him through the windshield of his lowrider truck. While recalling the incident, Prichard said he was not surprised to hear fans cheering for Eddie.

"Eddie going to the audience and asking them for affirmation. The audience is like, 'No, Eddie, it's okay, man. We love you!' Whatever he did, they loved."

During the podcast, Prichard also revealed who created the popular Lie, Cheat, and Steal vignettes for Los Guerreros.

"I didn't do the shoots," said Prichard. "I think Adam Panucci might have done the shoot. It was the guys at the studio that did it, and we just had this idea of Eddie, what does Eddie do? He lies, cheats, and steals. You think about it, to get ahead in the world sometimes, you have to lie, cheat, and steal.

"You think that's going to be a heel character and you think the people, 'Ah, they lie, cheat, and steal'. Well, I think most people could identify with that and fell in love with them all over again. Because they did it with a smile on their face and a gleam in their eye, they thought what they were doing was right."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit SITW with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Mehdy Labriny contributed to this article.