Bruce Prichard has looked back on the infamous “Billionaire Ted” segments from 1996, calling the final payoff at WrestleMania 12 one of the worst ideas he ever encountered.
Speaking on Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard discussed the parody skits aimed at Ted Turner, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, which culminated in a pre-taped match where the characters died in the ring. According to Prichard, few people behind the scenes wanted to be involved in the final segment.
“Quite possibly one of the worst ideas I’d ever heard,” Prichard said. “This is also where all the geniuses of the Billionaire Ted skits bailed out. Sahadi couldn’t be found anywhere near this, didn’t want to touch it. Nobody did. Vince didn’t even want to touch it. He promoted it, but nobody wanted to do it.”
Prichard said he was ultimately tasked with putting the segment together, despite his objections.
“It was, ‘Bruce, we need you to make this thing happen.’ I said, ‘Why don’t we just cancel it? Why don’t we just say they’re all dead and not do this? Please don’t do it.’”
What Did Bruce Prichard Say The Backstage Reaction Was After The Final Billionaire Ted Segment Ended?
Bruce Prichard said that the general feeling backstage after the final Billionaire Ted segment concluded was that of relief.
“I think everybody was ecstatic that it was over,” he said. “It was embarrassing. It was really embarrassing. It was not good. Vince was like, ‘No, no, just go get it over with.’ And I did. I killed all of them, every single last one of them, rolled everything into one and shot it right there in the studio.”
