Bruce Prichard Remembers 'Scary' Backstage Fight Between Jacques Rougeau And Dynamite Kid
As documented on "Dark Side of the Ring," The Dynamite Kid was involved in several drug-addled backstage incidents, most of which ended with him bloodied and bruised. Perhaps the most infamous took place in late-1980s WWE when Dynamite and Davey Boy Smith — The British Bulldogs — were in a rivalry against The Fabulous Rougeaus, Jacques and Raymond. As recounted by several witnesses, Dynamite — upset at a prank pulled by Curt Hennig — blindsided Jacques in the backstage area with a vicious assault, swelling Jacques' face. In retaliation, Jacques later attacked Dynamite with a fistful of coins, making a bloody mess of the Englishman.
On a recent "Something to Wrestle," Bruce Prichard recounted his experience watching the latter incident. "I was on the phone at a payphone bank," Prichard recalled. "As I was speaking and leaning against the wall, it was weird seeing Jacques and Raymond just hanging around and looking into the catering area while waiting near a wall. All of a sudden, Dynamite came out of catering, and Jacques was like, 'Hey Dynamite.' As soon as Dynamite turned, Jacques nailed him right in the mouth. I'm not sure if they were quarters or nickels, but there were coins all over the floor, and it was just so surreal — because it's not something you're expecting to see."
As Prichard further jogged his memory, he recalled horrific scenes of "people shouting" and "a faucet of blood" squirting out of a bent over Dynamite's mouth and nose. "Dynamite's just trying to get his hands up and block, and Jacques was just picking his shots, man," Prichard sighed. "Dynamite had no defense at that point. Jacques beat him up pretty good, but Raymond was there to ensure nobody got involved. Raymond was like, 'This is their fight. Let them fight.'"
'most people felt Dynamite finally got what he deserved'
"I remember walking by [the catering area], and the amount of blood was scary," Prichard continued. "It was like a faucet — I don't know if you've ever seen those things where somebody gets hit in the face and the blood just starts pouring out. That's what it was like. There were also teeth on the ground." Eventually, Pat Patterson stopped the fight, and once everyone was broken up, the WWE roster was summoned to an emergency meeting presided over by Patterson, Vince McMahon, and Hulk Hogan. When asked why Hogan presided over the meeting, Prichard said: "Because he was the top guy. He was making sure that nothing more was going to happen."
In the aftermath of the incident, the Bulldogs and Rougeaus were on opposing sides at the 1988 Survivor Series. Naturally, there were rumors of their rift blowing over into the ring, with the possibility of Dynamite and Jacques "shooting" against one another. Prichard was quick to squash those rumors, suggesting that the teams were simply "working" and carried themselves as professionals. "Look, I'm sure the Dynamite held bad feelings for Jacques Rougeau until the day he passed," Prichard admitted. "I think most people felt Dynamite finally got what he deserved, because of the way he ribbed and treated people."
"Dynamite wasn't a nice guy," Prichard added. He ribbed people unmercifully, in a mean way, and a lot of folks felt he was a bully. I'm not saying Jacques was the most-liked guy in the dressing room, but at the same time, people respected Jacques for standing up to the bully. By the time we got to Survivor Series, that was just people making up gossip and situations that weren't necessarily true." Prichard clarified that though the two men were not "buddy-buddy," they "weren't adversarial backstage" to the point where they couldn't work together. Incidentally, the Bulldogs quit WWE shortly after that pay-per-view event.