Bruce Prichard Discusses the Infamous Bloody Koko B. Ware Hotel Lobby Fight That Led To His Firing from WWE in 1989

On the latest edition of Something to Wrestle, Bruce Prichard discussed the infamous fight between Koko B. Ware and WWE executive Jim Troy during WWE’s 1989 European tour. Conrad Thompson noted how the fight has been subject to countless rumors, including that the fight was so bloody that it left the hotel lobby where it took place a mess with blood on the walls, and that Troy used a racial slur that provoked Koko. Ultimately Koko was fired for his role in the fight, only to be re-hired by WWE a few weeks later when Troy resigned. Highlights are below.

Prichard on what happened that started the fight: “Several of the boys had been out, I think they were in Paris or something like that. I don’t even remember what city. France, somewhere, I don’t really know. Everybody had been out, drinking heavily, and Jim was talking about what a tough guy he was in the hockey world, that his fights were real, not like you fake wrestler guys, and made some disparaging comments to Koko B. Ware about his size, and just kind of laughing Koko off, because he’s like, ‘Oh, you little guy, fake wrestlers, what I did was real,’ and Koko had just about enough of it. So Koko’s like, ‘Hey man, you want to find out how real I am, I’ll be happy to show you how real I am.’ Nothing happened at the restaurant but when they got back to the hotel, it exploded and they went all through the lobby of this really nice hotel, fighting, and Koko, finally they got them separated. But Jim Troy was about 6’2″, 6’3″, big guy, and Koko’s 5’9″, maybe, and Koko from everything I heard, I was not there, so this is all hearsay, and rumor and innuendo, but I’d always heard that Koko more than held his own and probably got the better of Jimmy and they were both, both had a lot to drink, Jim definitely more than anybody else there, and when I saw Jimmy, when he came in to the office after that flight, his face was pretty messed up. Koko’s wasn’t. But Koko called Vince right away and apologized, and just said, ‘Hey, I had defend myself, I had to do it.’ And he’s like, ‘You can’t be getting in fights like that on the road, it’s just unprofessional.'”

On if Troy used a racial slur: “I heard the rumor but again, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I do know from the consistent, was the story of just Jimmy bragging about how tough he was and constantly putting the business down, but I could see where that would definitely be a last straw and push someone over the edge.”

On the rumor that hotel was a bad scene after the fight with blood sprayed up the wall: “Yeah, it was a pretty bad scene, it went throughout the lobby, not a good scene in any way, shape or form.”

On how Vince McMahon reacted: “He sent them both home on the spot, as soon as he found out about it, and got them on separate flights just to get them both out now, send them both home, I’ll talk to them when they get here. He told Koko, I was actually in the room when he told Koko, they had Koko at the building, and said get him on the phone, and had someone get a hold of Troy and tell him to get his shit and go home, come home, come see me when he gets here. That was it, and he dealt with it. Told them, said ‘I can’t tolerate that.'”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Something to Wrestle with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.