Vince McMahon didn’t just want Goldust and Roddy Piper beating the hell out of each other in a parking lot at WrestleMania XII. He apparently wanted the whole thing dripping with O.J. Simpson imagery — right down to buying a white Bronco that matched the one from the infamous 1994 police chase.
Dustin Rhodes spilled the wild story during his conversation with Inside The Ropes, while breaking down how the Backlot Brawl came together after WWE’s original Goldust vs. Razor Ramon plans went up in smoke. As Ringside News previously covered, Razor was originally supposed to face Goldust before Roddy Piper was shoved into the WrestleMania picture, leaving WWE scrambling to build something completely different.
Once Piper was in, things got nuts fast. Dustin said the crew headed to the Universal Studios backlot, where extras were placed around the set and he immediately started looking for anything he and Piper could use. There wasn’t much room for screwups either, because Rhodes said the fight was basically a one-shot deal.
“So at this point it’s like I’m looking around to see what I can utilize in this one-take shoot. We cannot redo this. This is a one-take thing.”
Then came Vince’s contribution to the madness. According to Dustin, McMahon actually went out and bought a brand-new white Bronco that matched O.J. Simpson’s vehicle. Goldust got something a little more on-brand — an old Cadillac painted gold.
“Well, Vince went out and he bought a brand new white Bronco just like OJ Simpson had, right? The same year, same color, all that stuff. And then he got me an old piece of Cadillac and spray painted it gold.”
Dustin wasn’t about to blindly hop into the gold Cadillac and hope for the best. He asked Vince if he could take the thing for a test run so he could make sure he could actually whip it around the corner without turning the WrestleMania shoot into a demolition derby.
“So, I asked Vince, I said, ‘Can I take the car and just spin out a couple times and test it out and make sure I can come around this corner, you know, decent?’ And he, ‘Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.’ So, we’re playing around and finally it’s time to shoot.”
The plan was simple on paper and completely insane in execution. Piper was supposed to beat Goldust senseless, Dustin would get in one low blow, jump into the Cadillac and tear out of there while clipping Piper’s Bronco on the way.
“But I am not to get any offense in at all. This is all Rody kicking my ass. And the only piece of offense that I get is a nutshot. And then I get in the car and I drive off.”
Rhodes said the escape was supposed to end with him clipping Piper’s Bronco before Piper jumped in and gave chase.
“And in me driving off, I clip Rod’s Bronco. That’s what I’m supposed to do. And then cut around the corner and out of the—he gets in his Bronco, he drives off.”
Of course, barely anything went according to plan. Piper smashed a car window for real, Dustin got a concussion, Piper broke his hand punching Dustin in the head, and Rhodes has previously explained that he thought he had killed Piper when the car actually hit him. Ringside News covered Dustin’s terrifying story about believing he had run down Roddy Piper during the Backlot Brawl.
And Vince still wasn’t done with the O.J. angle. The Backlot Brawl was taped before WrestleMania, but WWE wanted fans watching the live show to think Piper and Goldust were tearing across California toward the arena. So the broadcast kept cutting back to a supposed highway chase between the two men. Dustin said WWE would show the prerecorded fight, go back to another match, then cut away again and act like Piper was gaining on Goldust.
“When it’s our time to go, they show the thing that we did two weeks earlier at the back lot. Then they show the chase scene. Then a match happens, you know, and they go back. ‘Oh my God. I guess they’re coming to Anaheim, you know, in LA. Looks like they’re coming this way.’”
There was just one huge catch. That wasn’t Goldust and Piper racing down the highway. It was actual O.J. Simpson chase footage.
“Rod’s chasing Gold Dust down the highway. But it’s OJ that they’re piped in there, right? It’s the OJ scene.”
Meanwhile, Dustin and Piper were nowhere near that freeway. They were sitting in the parking lot backstage waiting for their cue to finally storm into the arena and make the whole thing look like one continuous chase.
“So, we’re waiting in the back of the parking lot. And the thing is, he’s supposed to give me a three-second head start, and I’m supposed to bust through the barricade and go down the ramp, which curls down to the left.”
Even that nearly went sideways when Piper got too close to Dustin’s car and Rhodes had to scramble out the opposite side to avoid getting crushed. At this point, the Backlot Brawl had everything except somebody calling an insurance adjuster.
Dustin later named the WrestleMania XII Backlot Brawl as one of his favorite matches, and it’s not hard to see why. WWE took a match that wasn’t even supposed to happen, bought an O.J.-style Bronco, painted a Cadillac gold, used actual chase footage on the broadcast and somehow turned the whole mess into one of Goldust’s most memorable WrestleMania moments.
Vince McMahon didn’t just borrow from the O.J. Simpson chase for a cheap visual gag — WWE committed to the bit from the parking lot all the way to the highway footage. The fact that Goldust and Piper survived the shoot with only a concussion, a broken hand and a whole lot of chaos almost feels like a miracle.
What do you think about WWE going this far with the O.J. Simpson references for Goldust and Roddy Piper’s WrestleMania XII Backlot Brawl? Did you know the highway footage was actually from the Simpson chase? Leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
