"A big fight broke out" - Former WWE referee on Batista and Chris Benoit brawling with fighters
Former WWE referee Mike Chioda has reflected on the time that WWE Superstars including Batista and Chris Benoit brawled with kickboxers during an overseas tour.
In 2005, WWE stayed at the same hotel as a group of kickboxers in Manchester, England. Within minutes of WWE’s bus arriving at the hotel in the early hours of the morning, the kickboxers allegedly confronted members of the WWE roster.
Speaking to James Romero of Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Chioda said Batista and Benoit were among the WWE Superstars involved in the brawl.
“Somebody said something to somebody and they cleared away, and the next thing you know a big fight broke out,” Chioda said. “Everybody was running off the bus, we were all fighting, dudes just throwing around, and it was a good old time there. It was Batista in that brawl, Benoit was in that brawl. Everybody, everybody was just all over the place because it was a good amount of guys. It was about 20-something guys [kickboxers] and there was about 20-something of us.”
WWE Superstars have been known to get into trouble on overseas tours in the past. In May 2002, a rowdy flight from London to New York – known as “The Plane Ride From Hell” – led to Curt Hennig's release.
WWE Superstars did not receive fines following the incident
Mike Chioda said WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, stepped in and attempted to stop WWE Superstars from fighting the kickboxers.
The veteran referee also clarified that nobody on the WWE roster received fines for their part in the altercation.
“I remember Johnny Laurinaitis running, ‘Guys, guys, guys, stop, stop,’” Chioda added. “But yeah, all hell broke loose after that for a little while and everything calmed down. No, no [no one got fined], we were just protecting our buddies. Whoever got into the fight in the beginning when he walked into the lobby, we’re tired and grizzled and they were drunk and fired up, and it fired us right up. That’s it.”
WWE executive Bruce Prichard spoke about the brawl on his Something to Wrestle With podcast in 2020. He said police officers were already on the scene by the time the fight broke out. As far as he knows, nobody got arrested.
Please credit Wrestling Shoot Interviews and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.