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WWE's Wrestlers Court, an unofficial backstage tradition that has shaped the careers and lives of many professional wrestlers. Let us explore the origins, notable cases, and the often controversial impact of Wrestlers Court. From light-hearted pranks to serious disputes, discover how this unique aspect of WWE's backstage culture has influenced the locker room dynamics and relationships among superstars. Join us as we uncover the stories behind the curtain and hear from those who experienced Wrestlers Court firsthand
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#undertaker #tripleh #matthardy #jeffhardy #edge #wrestlerscourt #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game
WWE's Wrestlers Court, an unofficial backstage tradition that has shaped the careers and lives of many professional wrestlers. Let us explore the origins, notable cases, and the often controversial impact of Wrestlers Court. From light-hearted pranks to serious disputes, discover how this unique aspect of WWE's backstage culture has influenced the locker room dynamics and relationships among superstars. Join us as we uncover the stories behind the curtain and hear from those who experienced Wrestlers Court firsthand
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#undertaker #tripleh #matthardy #jeffhardy #edge #wrestlerscourt #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00Your Honor, I'll make it short, I mean...
00:04Wrestlers court.
00:05You may have heard those words before, but have you ever wondered exactly what they're
00:09all about?
00:10Especially if you're a newer fan, what is this thing?
00:13It was a loose concept that ruled over the WWE locker room and locker room of many other
00:19wrestling promotions for a good part of wrestling's past.
00:23It lends itself to the machismo-driven, on-the-road lifestyle of pro wrestlers.
00:28And it isn't exactly a tradition that we can recall being held up recently.
00:33It perfectly sums up, though, the lifestyle of wrestlers during the 1990s and into the
00:382000s.
00:39So what exactly is the Wrestlers Court?
00:42Stand back, there's a new wrestling quiz coming through.
00:45Check out Brain Buster, the daily quiz that tests your WWE knowledge with winning strengths,
00:52stats, and more.
00:53It's time to see if you're up for the challenge.
00:56In short, it was an unofficial legal system within the ranks of wrestlers, where a few
01:02judges, or locker room leaders and veterans were notified about issues pertaining to other
01:08superstars.
01:09Basically, it was a way for wrestlers to police themselves.
01:12Yeah, it's gonna get weird, we'll get into it.
01:16This is Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin.
01:18Would you want to see the Wrestlers Court become its own TV show streaming for WWE?
01:23Let us know.
01:24Watch this whole video and get in the comments and let us know what you think.
01:28If there was ever any kind of issue backstage, rather than management having to deal with
01:32it, a select few superstars, exclusively veterans, could play the role of judge, jury, and executioner,
01:39while the other side would have a defendant who most likely would declare some level of
01:44guilt.
01:45It was a system put in place that was essentially created to put any issues to rest, especially
01:49pertaining to superstars who had a lot of heat backstage for different reasons.
01:54Also, there was just things that came up on the road, and this was a way for the wrestlers
01:58to entertain themselves between the shows.
02:01You may have heard the one about The Undertaker, the locker room leader and the man who essentially
02:05ruled over Wrestlers Court for a majority of his in-ring career.
02:09But if The Undertaker wasn't present, various other veterans would take their place in the
02:13stories that had been handed out, JBL or Triple H. On the defensive side, you could have another
02:19veteran representing or acting as a character witness.
02:23What many people don't know is that The Undertaker was actually the first person to be put on
02:28trial in Wrestlers Court.
02:31If you're looking up Wrestling Court stories already and not paying attention to this video
02:34thinking they're only from WWE, they actually have their roots back in the territorial wrestling
02:39days, outside of the WWE, with the likes of Dirty Dutch Mantell.
02:43Yeah, you can check him out on our other Sportskeeda Wrestling channel, WrestleBinge, with SmackTalk
02:48every week after Smackdown.
02:50Mantell, ever the ring veteran who'd been around the world many times over in the wrestling
02:54circuits, decided there needed to be a system in every locker room to handle the heat independently
03:01of management before it reached a boiling point and became a bigger issue.
03:06When it actually started off, the idea was fairly light-hearted, it was humorous.
03:10Mantell took The Undertaker, a young Undertaker, to court over him denying allegations of a
03:17backstage romance with a few of the girls, or as the way Mantell put it on his Wrestling
03:23Shoot interview on YouTube, romancing the rats.
03:27We're quoting him there, don't get mad at me.
03:29But The Undertaker loved the concept so much that he brought it over to WWE when he joined
03:34the big-time promotion, perhaps when he had a little bit more pull backstage, and became
03:38a judge in most cases that presided over these disagreements.
03:42But even Mantell was surprised at how much the wrestler's court took a life of its
03:47own in WWE.
03:49It began to be used in more serious matters, not just the light-hearted stuff.
03:53But the punishments are what really stood out.
03:56We didn't even mention that the punishment side of things was varied.
04:00The punishments for wrestlers who were almost always found guilty would range from paying
04:05a bar tab worth thousands of dollars, or paying the expenses on the road, and in some cases
04:11outright paying for another wrestler's hotel room for a few days.
04:14You might be thinking, wait, but doesn't that put veteran wrestlers in a position of power
04:19to simply exploit less experienced superstars and get what they wanted out of them?
04:23It could be argued, yeah, and it could happen to be more than one occasion of that happening,
04:28but most wrestlers, including The Undertaker, simply label it as a bit of fun.
04:32Not everyone agrees with that sentiment, but we'll get to that later.
04:36Now that you kinda know how the wrestler's court operates, who presided over it, and
04:40what punishments were handed out, it's time to get into some of the stories and victims
04:45of wrestler's court.
04:47Many significant names in WWE have had to undergo trial in wrestler's court, including
04:53Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boys, Mick Foley, Goldberg, The Miz, Melina, Muhammad Hassan,
04:59JTG, Teddy Long, Bob Holly, and more.
05:04Let's get into some of the stories that really give you some context as to what kind of justice
05:10or some version of that qualifies backstage in WWE.
05:15Back when Edge and Christian were still young upstarts in the ranks of WWE trying to make
05:19a name for themselves, they were working directly with Brian Gewirtz, a acclaimed writer in
05:24WWE.
05:25They decided to get a little bit friendly with Brian, and it was more friendly than
05:29maybe the locker room was going to accept.
05:32How did they do this, you ask?
05:34Well, let's explain.
05:35They gifted him science fiction action figures that he was collecting, and after rumors emerged
05:40that Edge and Christian had dinner with Gewirtz's parents, they were promptly taken to court.
05:46The accusation was that they were trying to butter up a writer to get a better spot on
05:51TV.
05:52To their credit, both Edge and Christian handled it extremely well.
05:55According to one of their big on-screen rivals, Bully Ray, aka Bubba Ray Dunley, they brought
06:01into court a book with a cover, saying,
06:04How to kiss ass, politic, and influence people.
06:07Not only did they admit to buttering up Gewirtz to get a better spot, but they even brought
06:12The Undertaker a bottle of Jack Daniels, which seemed to be more than enough to get The Taker
06:17to throw the entire case into the trash.
06:19Goldberg had to face some serious humiliation thanks to the wrestler's court.
06:24Some of you may know the story where Goldberg and Chris Jericho got into a backstage altercation,
06:29with all the accounts stating a much smaller Jericho somehow came out victorious.
06:34This was, allegedly, Goldberg who took an issue to the wrestler's court, but he was
06:39probably stunned when the verdict went against him.
06:42The judge presiding over the case was Triple H, who told Goldberg that not only was he
06:47in the wrong over their altercation, but he made Goldberg admit to everyone present that
06:53Chris Jericho was the better wrestler.
06:56Oh, that had to hurt.
06:58In what might be the most ridiculous case in wrestler's court stories we could find,
07:03we go to SummerSlam 2004.
07:06There was a dodgeball match held between the women of WWE and a few hopeful diva search
07:11contestants.
07:13It was the young hopefuls that won the dodgeball match, and this became an issue among the
07:19boys because it made the roster quote, look bad, and they took the women of WWE to court.
07:26The one who had to defend the women was none other than Ivy, herself who explained to the
07:31judge, Triple H, that the match was scripted and meant to put over the younger divas.
07:36Although he wasn't buying it, any punishment was thrown out the window when Ivy bribed
07:40him with a few gift vouchers for the red roof in-hotel.
07:48One of the worst cases of wrestler's court that has become public is with Melina.
07:54Back in the Ruthless Aggression days, she didn't have the best reputation backstage
07:58with some people.
08:00She allegedly burned bridges with other women on the roster like Mickie James, Lita, Trish
08:04Stratus, Candice Michelle, and others, and although there was never any specific reason
08:09mentioned as to why she was called into court, it's believed that it was done to knock
08:14her down a few pegs.
08:16The entire locker room was called into a hotel ballroom to witness the
08:24trial of Melina.
08:26The Brian Kendrick and Paul London placed a bet on how long it would take for Melina
08:30to break down in tears, and the answer to that was less than 10 minutes.
08:36She allegedly suffered verbal abuse during that trial in what seems to be one of the
08:41worst cases of wrestler's court that is out there in public.
08:46Another case happened around this time was that of Muhammad Hassad, who already had some
08:50pre-existing heat and a visit to the court because he no-sold a move from the legendary
08:56Sgt.
08:57Slaughter.
08:58While this was frowned upon amongst wrestlers, he argued that he was specifically instructed
09:02to no-sell the move by someone higher up the ladder, and that got him a pass, but what
09:07turned out to be a huge lesson for him was his incident with Eddie Guerrero.
09:13For those who were too young to remember, in the Ruthless Aggression era, Muhammad Hassad
09:18used the famous Camel Clutch Hold, as did Eddie Guerrero.
09:22Hassad probably forgot to do his research when he confronted Guerrero and asked him
09:27why he used the move.
09:29For those wondering, the Camel Clutch Maneuver was invented by Eddie's father, Gorey Guerrero.
09:36That understandably got under Eddie's skin a bit, and it wound up being an issue in wrestler's
09:42court.
09:43The verdict was that he had to pay the locker room's $4,000 bar tab for his violation.
09:49Even The Miz's infamous incident where he ate some chicken in the locker room and the
09:54crumbs fell on Chris Benoit's gym bag was taken to wrestler's court, and as you may
10:00know, the verdict was that The Miz was not allowed to change in the locker room for months.
10:08It's not a far-fetched thing to say that a few crumbs of chicken getting on someone's
10:12bag is probably an excessive reason to boot someone out of the locker room, but maybe
10:16there were other issues.
10:18Normally, this would have been the death sentence for someone like Miz's career breaking into
10:23the WWE ranks, but to date, he remains one of the only men in WWE history not only to
10:28survive being kicked out of a locker room, but turned everything around and became a
10:33freaking Grand Slam champion who is widely respected.
10:37If that doesn't tell you how awesome The Miz is outside of his on-screen character,
10:41then nothing really will.
10:43There are a few other instances that have become public, a few involving the Hardy Boyz
10:48sitting in a first-class plane seat reserved for Kane, JTG having some issue, Hardcore
10:55Bob Holly getting abandoned at an airport by Mick Foley due to a miscommunication, Victoria
11:01reportedly taking a seat that should have been given to a more senior member of the
11:05WWE locker room, yeah, there's a lot of these stories that you can find.
11:10This humble voice that you hear right now was actually once witnessed to a wrestlers
11:14court in person in a locker room in a world-famous venue that I do not need to reveal with people
11:21I do not need to name.
11:23Being witness to it involved shutting up and letting the silliness play out.
11:27The case involved some younger wrestlers making a car of traveling talent late, reportedly,
11:34for the show, and this led, once the other talent heard about this in the locker room,
11:38having court called on that green talent for their transgressions.
11:43I vaguely recall the case in some way being settled in some form with bribery in the form
11:49of not booze, but energy drinks.
11:51There seems to be some type of changing sentiment as to the entire culture of wrestlers court.
11:58It became a topic of discussion a few years ago when CM Punk put out a tweet slamming
12:02the entire idea.
12:04He described it as, quote, small d energy, and went on to call it, quote, an average
12:09white man embarrassment to the wrestling business of all time.
12:13This was met with quite a polarizing response.
12:16Booker T, a hall of famer and a veteran in his own right, responded to it by stating
12:21that the wrestling business needs something like wrestlers court because of the pecking
12:26order and that undeniably exists within the system of talent.
12:30Dutch Mantel, the creator of wrestling court, was a little more light hearted in his response
12:35to Punk and said that it's possible that Punk was taken to court a few times and that
12:39he didn't have the backstage pull he wanted.
12:42But whether you agree with CM Punk or Booker T or other veterans, we can present to you
12:46one clear piece of evidence.
12:49The wrestlers court doesn't exist in today's WWE locker room by all accounts that we're
12:54aware of, and it seems to be healthier than it's ever been before.
12:58There's been a huge shift in locker room culture within WWE and Seth Rollins has described
13:02wrestlers court as antiquated or an old fashioned thing that's past its purpose and confirmed
13:09that it doesn't happen anymore.
13:11You can thank superstars like maybe Rollins for that.
13:14There's a new generation of locker room leaders and you never really hear anything about issues
13:19backstage anyway, or maybe we simply just don't hear about them.
13:23This isn't to say that issues don't exist or egos don't clash.
13:26They just have, maybe, a more mature way of dealing with it?
13:30You may have the rare situation when Roman Reigns or someone like him is forced to kick
13:34Enzo Amore out of a tour bus in Europe, but that seems to be more of an exception than
13:39the rule.
13:40It's quite polarizing when you look at the stories of wrestlers court.
13:44On one hand, you have lighthearted situations like the Edge and Christian one, buying a
13:48bottle of Jack Daniels for The Undertaker, while there's other incidents with McFully
13:52and Al Snow where they have to pay for Bob Holly's expenses on the road for a few days.
13:57Then you have situations like The Miz and Melina, where the punishments are, in the
14:01eyes of some, maybe humiliating or simply just bullying.
14:04Melina once described an incident of wrestlers court that wasn't her own but involved an
14:09unidentified tag team.
14:11She mentioned that it took place in the late hours of the night or early morning when people
14:15just wanted to sleep, and it involved the judge and the prosecution pitting multiple
14:20stars against each other and leading to an actual physical altercation of some kind that
14:24ended up with doctors getting involved.
14:27However you feel about this system, the results can speak for themselves in a different way
14:38depending on how you look at it.
14:39The results make one thing clear overall.
14:42The wrestlers court, whether it had any actual benefits or not, is absolutely a divisive
14:47pastime and a governing tactic within the ranks of wrestling talent of the past.
14:53Whether it works in today's wrestling, well, that's just a case to bring up in maybe a
14:58different court of judgment.
15:00Do you think wrestlers court should still be a thing?
15:02Let us know in the comments below.
15:04Would you want to see it become a TV show of some kind?
15:07I'd love to hear your take on that as well.
15:09Hit the like button and check out Sportskeeda Wrestling here on YouTube for even more content
15:14just like this!