I’m a WWE hero who was beaten up by Undertaker and Batista as punishment for missing VOLUNTARY show – I’m still mad
WWE hero Jonathan Coachman was once beaten up by The Undertaker and Batista for something he “didn’t deserve”.
Coachman spent a total of 14 years with the professional wrestling giants across two stints and undertook various different roles as backstage interviewer, commentator and pre-show host.
The reporter, who now works for NBC, joined the company in 1999 until 2008 when he decided to cross over to ESPN but decided to return in 2016 for another five years.
Coach, though, was also trained to wrestle and went on to share the ring with some of the sport’s greatest superstars, such as Triple H, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and many more.
The 50-year-old always loved working for WWE founder and executive chairman Vince McMahon, but there was one incident that took place during his first stint that still upsets him.
Coachman was asked to join another tour to Afghanistan and Iraq to pay tribute to the troops, something he had done before and was supposed to be completely voluntary.
The ex-RAW General Manager never said no because he saw himself as the “ultimate team player” but had to refuse this time around as his wife was pregnant with their first child.
When the day came for the wrestlers to travel to the Middle East the company asked him to hand over his luggage thinking he was “kidding” and a ridiculous misunderstanding ensued.
That led to a last-minute scrambling involving immense paperwork and the Pentagon even though Chris Masters jumped in to take his place.
But that wasn’t the end of it as a week later McMahon ordered Coachman to attack Undertaker at the end of a show so that the WWE Hall of Famer could then beat him up as punishment.
Taker, who wasn’t keen on handing out that beating, hit him with two finishers – but that still wasn’t the end of it.
Batista, who is now starring in Hollywood under his real name Dave Bautista, then came out and hit Coachman with a Spear, Spinebuster and Batista Bomb.
The journalist was so “irate” he refused to act like he was in immense pain, which was the correct etiquette especially after suffering five finishers by two of the biggest stars in the company.
Instead, the part-time wrestler walked to the back so angry he was almost reduced to tears – and he is still furious about it.
Coachman told Chris van Vliet: “There’s one story that still kind of rubs me the wrong way to this day. After 9/11, obviously there was a war, we started to go to Afghanistan, in the Middle East and Iraq. And it was supposed to be a volunteer trip.
“So I went, I actually wrestled Ric Flair in Afghanistan in one particular trip. I never said no, I took pride [that] I’m the ultimate team player. So I get married and my wife is pregnant with our first child and they said, ‘If you’re not feeling comfortable going there’s no pressure whatsoever.’ But do you believe that?
“So they didn’t believe it, I told them from the jump, I never said I was going. I said nope. [So] I show up the day [of] and they take your bags cause it has to go through screening at the Pentagon or whatever. And they’re like, ‘Where’s your bag?’
“And I was like, ‘I told you.’ [They said], ‘We thought you were kidding’. I said, ‘At what point did you ever think I was kidding? Did I ever laugh? Did I ever not look you in the eyes? I said I’m not going.’ They said, ‘You never told us no before.’ She [my wife] didn’t feel comfortable.
“So they had to scramble at the last minute. You gotta get passports, it’s a whole big thing. I think it was actually Chris Masters that took my spot on that particular trip if I remember correctly. But I should have known that it wasn’t just gonna end there.
“So fast forward a week and at that time I was out doing commentary. And the show ends, The Undertaker ends the show and he’s getting ready to walk up the ramp. The referee comes over and says, ‘Go hit Taker from the back.’
“I’m like, ‘Why would I do that? That makes no sense.’ They’re like, ‘Vince is telling.’ Oh, there it is… So he [McMahon] was angry that I told him no. God forbid you say no to anybody, especially Vince.
“And so, like the team player that I am, I go over, I attack The Undertaker, he turns around, apologises to me and says, ‘I’m sorry I don’t want to do it’.
“[He] Throws me in to beat me up. And as he gets done, Batista’s music hits. Down comes Batista [and] he does the same thing. Gives me his three finishes. I was so irate, you know the few times in life where you get so angry you start to cry? Your emotions are just so overwhelming. That was so overwhelming.
“I didn’t sell, I just took like five finishes from two of the biggest stars of all time. I got up and walked to the back in like completely disrespecting them. But I wasn’t thinking about that at the time.
“I was thinking, ‘How can I get beat up when for all these years I was completely loyal?’ That was one of the times where I was so angry because I didn’t deserve it.”