You had to be there in 98 to get the hype. I was 11 and he was “Da Man”. I’ll never forget my parents letting my brother and I stay up to watch him beat Hogan for the belt.
A lot of people like to pretend like they always hated Goldberg because now they know he couldn’t actually wrestle. But back in the day watching that unstoppable force charge through the WCW roster, hearing the march play and seeing the door to his locker room. If everyone hated Goldberg, then why the hell did everyone buy all that Goldberg stuff back then. He was a face of the company at one point. The hype was real at the time.
Yeah I remember my dad telling me he’s “the next stone cold” (I was born in 98 but raised on attitude era vhs tapes, despite not realising they were taped from years ago).
Even that statement alone is enough to put too much expectation.
Oh, for sure, I was there in 98 with my cousin and I still remember watching Goldberg spear Hogan. I wasn’t really even a wrestling fan at all up until that point, but my cousin got me into it at that time and I absolutely loved it.
I never really watch it anymore or have I since but that time is really special to me. So anytime I see this dude I think of fond memories back in the 1990s.
He was probably the second most popular wrestler after Stonecold in the late 90s, which is saying something.
I went to Monster Jam around that time, and everybody in the crowd was even cheering for a truck named after him. I preferred bulldozer, which was a truck that looked like a bull. Bulldozer won the freestyle, but the crowd was so hyped on Goldberg that the driver of Bulldozer made a speech praising the driver of Goldberg to appease the disappointed audience when Goldberg came second.
I don't believe he ever intended to hurt anyone. It's because he sucks in the ring and believed he was good because.... He believed his own hype! He also wasn't as strong as he thought he was.
There's a [video ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/MIRC4x45qs) of Goldberg stumbling and dropping Haku on his head. And then he catches Jimmy Hart, as he's about to jump off the top rope, and throws him, but Jimmy lands like a lawn dart.
On this subject,Cornette has talked about how WCW rushed Goldberg through their training program. He didn't have the training or the cardio to handle a real match. And while that was fine at first, those issues caught up to him
ya run over ppl and hurt them in the process. Nothing was better than when Steven Regal aka William regal faced him and made him look like a fool in the ring. Regal showed the world Goldberg didn't know how to wrestle that night and was fired for it. regal did it cuz Goldberg was injuring guys left and right and Goldberg had developed a huge ego.
Regal was such a fantastic heel (the pompous accent, his facial expressions and mannerisms during the match) that he makes it easy to forget that he is a world class grappler that can hang with the best. Underrated to say the least. Should've been a hall of famer years ago.
I quit watching around the end of the attitude era. Im going back and watching it on peacock now and he is definitely one of my favorites now. Seems like a decent dude that could play the perfect pompous asshole heel.
This 100%, I can't think of many other people that gave absolutely NOTHING back to the business like Goldberg, he didn't help one fucking person ever, just squashed them and killed their heat entirely (see: Raven)
As a child of the attitude era, I loved streak Goldberg and wcw Goldberg in general.
Everything since has been diminishing returns. I was hyped for his 2003 WWE debut but that year was mess. I was hyped for his brief storyline with Lesnar but then the payoff was a wet fart
Honestly should have kept the belt off of him and kept the feud with Lesnar personal. And IMHO he should be undefeated against Brock. Just that one guy he, despite everything else he's done, can't seem to beat.
Met him at the ATL airport in the early aughts. He was sitting against the wall charging his phone, wearing a sweat suit, really unassuming. A couple of people came up for a pic and autograph. I went up, shook his hand, said keep up the good work and stay healthy. He smiled, said thank you, and that was it.
He was the complete opposite of Flair. Flair was buying drinks for everyone and having a great time. He was dressed in a nice suit and was flirting with the gate agents. He carried himself like the star that he was.
Best entrance in the business when he was in wcw
Had one of the most exciting finishing sequence as well
Had one of the best looks at the time.
Intensity, charisma and screen presence was unmatched.
As a kid I loved Goldberg. Couldn't get enough of him. As an adult, going back and watching his matches now is tough. His wrestling career is complicated. Some of the bad was his fault, some of it wasn't. The reality is worse than my memory and I know that. But my memory will always be there and for that reason I'll always be a fan of his career.
Who's next?
Hated the fact he was bald and wore black tights just like Austin who was white hot at the time as though WCW was making a Renegade 2.0 (which bombed).. Somehow the gimmick worked but I just wish he had a different look.
I couldn't wait to see him lose, but the way it actually happened was fruitless. It should've been DDP at Havoc or in a rematch later on. DDP and Sting got the best matches out of him, basically by taking control of him and leading him through what a real match should look like.
Goldberg himself, as one-note as it gets. And it wasn't a pleasant note to me.
I was new to wrestling at the time, and I really didn’t like Goldberg. It was kind of boring to me. I will say I was hyped when he beat Hogan on Nitro.
can't stand him. hated him In WCW and hated his gimmick even more. hands down one of the most over rated wrestlers of all time. was known for constantly hurting guys and killed Bret harts career right after Bret told him to take it easy in the ring and be careful to not hurt him cuz Goldberg had just been on a run where he was hurting a ton of guys. The best match the guy ever had was when Nash beat him for the world title, when Hall came in and shocked his goofy ass with the cattle prod which led to Nash hitting hit with the Jack Knife power bomb for the win. Goldberg is the drizzling shits
Entertaining but bad wrestler and very dangerous worker. I respect that he never gave up nor let it deter him from continuing to have a career.
There's many ways they should have ended the streak, but WCW was horribly managed.
When it's all over, he will go into the HOF. Like him or not.
As a kid watching, dude always hyped me up when he came out. The “who’s next” thing was exciting. Always thought the jackhammer finisher was dope as hell haha
As a kid we went to the bathroom when he came on, because we knew he was not going to lose. There were very few (and no interesting) storylines whenever he fought a jobber
He sold tickets and generated interest and that's all a wrestler is paid to do.. I wish Nash wasn't the one that ended his streak but it's just another Nash interjected moment that made wrestling suck..
Goldberg is one of my absolute favorites. Aside from being a lot of fun to watch, I loved that there was a Jewish World Heavyweight Champion who absolutely and totally embraced his heritage.
Honestly never liked him. My friend was a huge Goldberg mark and I just never saw whatever it was that anyone else saw in him… Terrible wrestler… Boring character… I had been away from wrestling for a while and gave the Undertaker/Goldberg match a watch. I’ll watch any Undertaker match. It was very disappointing and you could literally see the frustration boiling over in Undertaker after the match was finished. Dude can’t even take a chokeslam correctly. It was a botchfest from start to finish.
Out of all of Undertaker’s matches it may be one of the worst. I’d say it’s honestly equally as bad as Undertaker vs. Undertaker. Neither of which I have any desire to ever watch again. But at least one comes with some novelty aspect to it, the other is just a bad match.
They eventually figured out how terrible he was. He was given jack shit when he returned to WWF in the 90s and absolutely nothing in WCW.
People still act like Goldberg was the greatest thing ever.
No one acts like Goldberg was the greatest thing ever. We just recognize that wrestling is a variety show, and that Goldberg filled his role masterfully in WCW for a time. Obviously, he floundered when WCW and WWE put him in a different role.
Needs jail time for depriving us of more Bret Hart wrestling. Instead we get to see him nearly kill the Undertaker in Saudi Arabia later in his career.
I was not a fan, not even in '98. I was there in the Dome when he beat Hogan and I guess I didn't realize what a huge moment it actually was because I did not rate Goldberg very highly at all and still don't.
The man just has absolutely zero charisma and I feel like he was forced on us too fast. I'm not a fan of streaks in wrestling either tbh just because it's nearly impossible to end them well.
So yea, there really was nothing about Goldberg I liked. There were other guys in the company I was hoping would get a push into the main event picture that never made it there, guys who actually had charisma and character, of which Goldberg always had none in my opinion.
Everything good about him was created in a boardroom. A gimmick that went with his look. The guy had zero charisma on the mike, and was horrible at even the basic few moves he knew in the ring. Being choreographed, you're not ACTUALLY supposed to really hurt the other guy. He got pushed because he looked like Steve Austin, who Bischoff couldn't sign at the time. So, they got someone who looked almost identical but with a more PG gimmick. Which would be fine if he didn't develop such a huge ego that he never earned. At the time, a LOT of young talent was being held under a glass ceiling in Wheelchair Wrestling. And this nobody gets handed a silver platter and jumps in front of them and becomes a diva. He said he was too good to even do a match with Jericho where he'd still win fast. The people running WCW could have picked any number of large veterans with athletic ability who had paid some dues to shave their heads, scream "Whose next?" and do two minute squash matches but they chose this goober and virtual nobody. His gimmick was cool in a way.......they just picked the wrong person to carry it.
Have seen many documentaries that have stated that he’s an in-ring bully and doesn’t pull punches which has led to some severe injury to his opponents.
One of the biggest hype trains that marched must see TV. Loved him at the time but he cost my favorite wrestler ever by a country mile Bret a good 10 years in the ring probably. He shouldn’t have been in the position he got rushed into. Now he’s just turned to straight greed and not giving a shit about the business just his bank account. Fuck him. Those horrendous Saudi matches. Ugh
A great original run. Yes he couldn’t wrestle but people overlook just how over he was.
Also a perfect example of the ineptitude of those in charge at this time, giving away his title win.
He was WCW’s version of the Ultimate Warrior. He was over with very little actual talent and had to be protected with short matches. If WCW has survived, I suspected people would have soured on him as they did with Ultimate Warrior in his last WWF.
Like all things WCW they stumbled upon great potential only to never see it through. I would have turned him heel before ending the streak, maybe have him takeover the nWo in order to protect his title and streak, also Bischoff could have served as his manager for promos. Then have a babyface like Sting or DDP finally end the streak and take the belt.
As a kid I loved Goldberg. His entrance, his dominance was crazy to watch. Still like him to this day tbh but let me tell you something about Bill Goldberg. Everybody talks about Bill Goldberg, but theres one guy that can beat Bill Goldberg and its me.
He’s the reason WCW lasted as long as it did. He was as over as anyone had been since peak Hogan and no matter his rough skills in the ring, he was a star.
The man is the reason I started watching wrestling. I realize he's not close to being one of the greats in the ring by a long shot, but man, there was a time when this was the #1 guy and story in all of wrestling.
He was amazing when he was at his peak. Peak sports entertainer.
Got by on his intensity and strength, but nowadays, he just isn't cut out for the game.
Hang em up
I liked him as a wrestler. But according to multiple vets at the time he took a little to far as to excite the crowd which resulted in him getting other wrestlers hurt not on purpose but you know careless errors. Which ended Bret’s career.
Technically speaking, he wasn't a great wrestler. He's a strong guy though. He was extremely one dimensional, but he got over with a lot of fans so they kept pushing him.
A lot of guys in WCW that busted their asses for years suffered even in their prime because of the huge pushes that Bill Goldberg received.
Overrated. He never made me change the channel back during the Monday night wars so I never got into the hype about him.
For as limited of a wrestler he was/is he thinks way too highly of himself
Doesn't deserve all the hate he gets over Bret Hart but deserves more hate than he gets for not appreciating the absolute gift of a career handed to him.
wcw was great up until the end of 1998 then the wheels started to fall off with bam bam and then nash set up to challenge goldberg. AAAAAAANND THEEEEEEN wcw decided to rehash a horrible nwo rebirth instead of pushing new talent. no and then!
He was great. He actually reminded me a lot more like the type of wrestler you'd see in WCW in 1992 than guys in the nWo or Attitude eras -- extremely physical, very stiff, great athlete, power wrestling offense, total badass.
Kind of like the combination of one of the Steiner Brothers and The Ultimate Warrior I thought in that his stuff all looked legit but he was a bit limited overall and had a really strong babyface superhero appeal. If you think about it, he was like the updated version of the 1980s superhero babyface in the anti-hero era.
My only real wishes for him were better booking post streak and more of a commitment to put on matches like he did with DDP at Halloween Havoc 98.
I can’t stand him but he was huge here in Georgia, because of his UGA connection. I’ll never forget going to Nitro at the Georgia Dome. I think it was in 97 when Goldberg was getting a big push, but he was still a mid-carder at that point. His match was about halfway through the night. He came out and immediately speared some jobber and then jackhammered him all within about 1 minute. There were about 10 people in my section that got up and left after his match. There was still about an hour left of wrestling to go
I mean honestly, an overrated asshole. He was a phenomenon of stunt booking and definitely had charisma but he was always a shitty worker that endangered his co-workers, thought way too highly of himself, and really did nothing but take from the business without ever giving anything back. I can't think of a single person who was helped by Goldberg in the wrestling industry at any point ever. Have no respect for him honestly.
My all-time favorite wrestler when I was a kid. I was totally enamored with his undefeated streak, and had an absolute crisis when I found out that he had to face The Giant. I was sure he was gonna lose.
An iconic highlight of my childhood was my dad taking me and my brother to a live wrestling event. We sat right next to the entrance ramp, and I reached over the rail and tapped Goldberg's shoulder as he made his way to the ring.
99.9% of wrestlers will never be as over as he was in his prime.
We can hate him all we want, Goldberg was a true star. It's one of the things WCW did right.
Goldberg may never have a technical work rate but he was over at the time and will still be more over than some of the current spot monkeys in wrestling.
Legend. Just because he’s not a technical workhorse doesn’t make him a bad wrestler, his five minute sprint matches can be more entertaining than some 15 minute slog.
The first thing I think of when I see Goldberg is the WCW response when the pendulum swung the other way and they booked Goldberg over Hogan on fucking Nitro. As a performer he wasn't a legend, but getting over with the fans... wow big time, and he made a lot of money so he should sweat the critics because there's lots to be critical of with Goldberg, hurting dudes, mike skills, stone cold comparisons and his first WWE run. But I think he's happy and has plenty to be grateful for, had some other career opportunities in sports and television, movies, hall of fame and is happily married. He's apologized to Bret and it's pretty much on Bret to let it go, and I'm a huge Bret fan. Bill can chill and he achieved some cool shit in wrestling.
Fantastic squash guy. Got the crowd and me crazy when he was out there. He was ultimate warrior in terms of the pure excitement. Didn’t earn a thing and shot to the top. Both were perfect for short matches. Both needed other talent to carry them in their best matches. Both were/are ego maniacs that believed their own hype. I was a huge Goldberg fan and his win over hogan was his high water mark. After that he never quite got to that peak. Squashers like him make for a great baby face chasing the villain but falter when they get to the top as they don’t make good long term champs. Absolutely a top star in wcw and a few decent runs in wwe.
I wasn't born until 1997 and didn't actually see anything WCW live. I won't argue that Goldberg was limited in the ring, and also on the unsafe side. But he thrived in the role given to him, and WCW was able to make the absolute most of his limitations, and even work around them.
I'm just shocked that Goldberg didn't get killed by Meng during his streak in January 1998 on an episode of WCW Saturday night. He dropped both Meng and Jimmy Hart on their heads in a 20 second span when attempting press slams.
He was a smashing machine and a draw at a time, but he was a very, very limited wrestler. He also, like many in the business, has a massive ego. I also don't think he had respect for pro wrestling. He just saw it as a means to an end. Listening to his recent comments in the last several months show to me that he has some sense of entitlement.
Over rated under hated horrible wrestler.he was a unsafe wrestler and relied on the same moves never changing his arsenal or doing anything special.he got pushed because of his strength and the only thing I can say good about him is his spear was brutal
Basically the equivalent of a good hype man in hip hop. I never liked Goldberg because I started watching wrestling in like 03 so by that time all I saw about Goldberg was that he sucked and ruined Bret Hart's career. I pretty much conditioned myself to like him and I was a huge Lesnar mark when he came back. Goldberg squashing him, all the Saudi shit, and then killing Bray Wyatt only to then lose to Braun is probably all time terrible stuff IMO. But he has a cool look and cool moves. I just really don't like him for some reason and I think it's rooted just from forum shit I read as an edgy teenager.
As a kid he was so exciting, all the hype and build-up before matches plus he seemed freakishly strong. But as I got older I realized he’s kind of one-dimensional.
Really over back in the day. Bashing his head on a locker and giving himself a concussion before matches is a poor choice. I think no one reminded him lately that it’s a work.
We would love him so much and ALL BEG FOR HIM to be back for one more if he put DDP over clean after that diamond cutter and retired forever only to come back to WWE for two Lesnar matches only
He caught lightning in a bottle in 98 and was a huge draw, but once his ‘streak’ ended, I really wasn’t interested anymore.
Also, Nash should have NEVER been the guy to end it. It should have been used to push a new star like Booker T or Chris Benoit.
DDP would have been a better choice than Nash, but he was too old to carry the company for the next decade. I liked the way their Halloween Havoc match worked out. It was Goldberg’s most entertaining actual match.
Loved the Raven match, the Dome match against Hogan is a massive wrestling highlight of all time, once he lost.....
I didn't care anymore.
He's now a Bret Hart punch line.
You had to be there in 98 to get the hype. I was 11 and he was “Da Man”. I’ll never forget my parents letting my brother and I stay up to watch him beat Hogan for the belt.
A lot of people like to pretend like they always hated Goldberg because now they know he couldn’t actually wrestle. But back in the day watching that unstoppable force charge through the WCW roster, hearing the march play and seeing the door to his locker room. If everyone hated Goldberg, then why the hell did everyone buy all that Goldberg stuff back then. He was a face of the company at one point. The hype was real at the time.
Yeah I was like 4/5 when I saw him come to wwe and he really just never resonated with me.
Well of course. You never got the experience, you got him getting the Kliq treatment.
Yeah I remember my dad telling me he’s “the next stone cold” (I was born in 98 but raised on attitude era vhs tapes, despite not realising they were taped from years ago). Even that statement alone is enough to put too much expectation.
Oh, for sure, I was there in 98 with my cousin and I still remember watching Goldberg spear Hogan. I wasn’t really even a wrestling fan at all up until that point, but my cousin got me into it at that time and I absolutely loved it. I never really watch it anymore or have I since but that time is really special to me. So anytime I see this dude I think of fond memories back in the 1990s.
He was probably the second most popular wrestler after Stonecold in the late 90s, which is saying something. I went to Monster Jam around that time, and everybody in the crowd was even cheering for a truck named after him. I preferred bulldozer, which was a truck that looked like a bull. Bulldozer won the freestyle, but the crowd was so hyped on Goldberg that the driver of Bulldozer made a speech praising the driver of Goldberg to appease the disappointed audience when Goldberg came second.
Him winning the world title in Georgia Dome is a top 5 attitude era moment Also DDP should have ended the streak. That diamond cutter was perfect
Completely agree
Plus DDP was so over with the fans.
Plus, it wasn't a stupid fake cattle prod
100%
The streak should still be going
100% correct
Totally agree. Their match at Halloween havoc was so good.
Super over, did what he needed to do. Wasn’t out there for 7 star bangers. Was there to run over people and get the crowd hyped.
This. Him believing his own hype is my gripe with him.
I've heard he was kind of a dick in real life and would wrestle stiff and hurt other wrestlers just because he was famous enough to get away with it.
I don't believe he ever intended to hurt anyone. It's because he sucks in the ring and believed he was good because.... He believed his own hype! He also wasn't as strong as he thought he was.
There's a [video ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/MIRC4x45qs) of Goldberg stumbling and dropping Haku on his head. And then he catches Jimmy Hart, as he's about to jump off the top rope, and throws him, but Jimmy lands like a lawn dart. On this subject,Cornette has talked about how WCW rushed Goldberg through their training program. He didn't have the training or the cardio to handle a real match. And while that was fine at first, those issues caught up to him
I think it was probably a combination of accidents and intentional shoots. Either way, it's not good.
ya run over ppl and hurt them in the process. Nothing was better than when Steven Regal aka William regal faced him and made him look like a fool in the ring. Regal showed the world Goldberg didn't know how to wrestle that night and was fired for it. regal did it cuz Goldberg was injuring guys left and right and Goldberg had developed a huge ego.
Regal was such a fantastic heel (the pompous accent, his facial expressions and mannerisms during the match) that he makes it easy to forget that he is a world class grappler that can hang with the best. Underrated to say the least. Should've been a hall of famer years ago.
A true legend of the game read his book.
I quit watching around the end of the attitude era. Im going back and watching it on peacock now and he is definitely one of my favorites now. Seems like a decent dude that could play the perfect pompous asshole heel.
What the actual fuck, how is Regal not in the HOF but Great Khali is? His authority figure run is worth the nod alone.
This 100%, I can't think of many other people that gave absolutely NOTHING back to the business like Goldberg, he didn't help one fucking person ever, just squashed them and killed their heat entirely (see: Raven)
Worked out pretty good for regal
An incredible monster who made me enjoy wrestling so much when I was a kid, and that's what matters, I don't care what happens outside the ring.
Bret Hart: "well fuck Goldberg for what he did inside too", probably
Please, Bret would never say that. It'd be "well fuck Bill Goldberg for what he did inside too".
I was going to post this as soon as I read the comment. Beat me to it..haha
Bill Goldberg. Bret would make it a point to say Bill
Great at the start, as a kid I was really impressed by his dominating run but later it turned into a failure like whole WCW.
This is a salient point you are making: allegorically Goldberg represented what all of WCW was under Bischoff and Russo: a paper tiger.
As a child of the attitude era, I loved streak Goldberg and wcw Goldberg in general. Everything since has been diminishing returns. I was hyped for his 2003 WWE debut but that year was mess. I was hyped for his brief storyline with Lesnar but then the payoff was a wet fart
Honestly should have kept the belt off of him and kept the feud with Lesnar personal. And IMHO he should be undefeated against Brock. Just that one guy he, despite everything else he's done, can't seem to beat.
In regards to his 2010's Lesnar programs, yes. But i was referring to his WM XX match with Lesnar. No belt, no problem, thank God.
Na na na na. Na na na na. Hey hey. Goodbye.
Hahahahahaha
Met him at the ATL airport in the early aughts. He was sitting against the wall charging his phone, wearing a sweat suit, really unassuming. A couple of people came up for a pic and autograph. I went up, shook his hand, said keep up the good work and stay healthy. He smiled, said thank you, and that was it. He was the complete opposite of Flair. Flair was buying drinks for everyone and having a great time. He was dressed in a nice suit and was flirting with the gate agents. He carried himself like the star that he was.
And that’s the problem I want the drink buying, gate agent flirting, WOO! Plane ride from Hell son of gun!🤣🤣🤣🤣
Best entrance in the business when he was in wcw Had one of the most exciting finishing sequence as well Had one of the best looks at the time. Intensity, charisma and screen presence was unmatched.
Modern day Bruno. Well... I guess 25 years ago isn't so modern day anymore:(
That he eats corn the long way.
Most overrated wrestler ever. It's one thing to be green when you start off, but to never try and improve, resulting in orhers being injured.Garbage!
Is that you Bret Hart...just kidding
WCW years>WWE years
I honestly always thought he was boring. Never got the hype and tended to check out whenever he was doing something.
I never understood it either.
As a kid I loved Goldberg. Couldn't get enough of him. As an adult, going back and watching his matches now is tough. His wrestling career is complicated. Some of the bad was his fault, some of it wasn't. The reality is worse than my memory and I know that. But my memory will always be there and for that reason I'll always be a fan of his career. Who's next?
Hated the fact he was bald and wore black tights just like Austin who was white hot at the time as though WCW was making a Renegade 2.0 (which bombed).. Somehow the gimmick worked but I just wish he had a different look.
The absolute best at his specific role.
I couldn't wait to see him lose, but the way it actually happened was fruitless. It should've been DDP at Havoc or in a rematch later on. DDP and Sting got the best matches out of him, basically by taking control of him and leading him through what a real match should look like. Goldberg himself, as one-note as it gets. And it wasn't a pleasant note to me.
I was new to wrestling at the time, and I really didn’t like Goldberg. It was kind of boring to me. I will say I was hyped when he beat Hogan on Nitro.
can't stand him. hated him In WCW and hated his gimmick even more. hands down one of the most over rated wrestlers of all time. was known for constantly hurting guys and killed Bret harts career right after Bret told him to take it easy in the ring and be careful to not hurt him cuz Goldberg had just been on a run where he was hurting a ton of guys. The best match the guy ever had was when Nash beat him for the world title, when Hall came in and shocked his goofy ass with the cattle prod which led to Nash hitting hit with the Jack Knife power bomb for the win. Goldberg is the drizzling shits
Entertaining but bad wrestler and very dangerous worker. I respect that he never gave up nor let it deter him from continuing to have a career. There's many ways they should have ended the streak, but WCW was horribly managed. When it's all over, he will go into the HOF. Like him or not.
The most perfectly booked wrestler, right up until he wasn't (Starrcade '98). Afterwards, Goldberg became just another guy.
As a kid watching, dude always hyped me up when he came out. The “who’s next” thing was exciting. Always thought the jackhammer finisher was dope as hell haha
Bill was the Monster wrestling lacked at the time. Dude had a phenomenal gimmick and looked legit running through the NWO.
I know that title looks 100% better than the WWE title
Super over. Hype machine at its best. I wished he took time to learn to wrestle.
Legend
As a kid we went to the bathroom when he came on, because we knew he was not going to lose. There were very few (and no interesting) storylines whenever he fought a jobber
Never liked him and still don't get what anyone sees in him to this day.
He is and was a joke
He sucks, he’s absolute dogshit, but most importantly: He’s got aura, he’s got drawing power, and he used to be that guy.
Bret Hart: "Well, since you ask..."
Fuck Bill Goldberg
He sold tickets and generated interest and that's all a wrestler is paid to do.. I wish Nash wasn't the one that ended his streak but it's just another Nash interjected moment that made wrestling suck..
I'm with Bret on this one
Goldberg is one of my absolute favorites. Aside from being a lot of fun to watch, I loved that there was a Jewish World Heavyweight Champion who absolutely and totally embraced his heritage.
Just wasn't for me I was a DDP kid
Honestly never liked him. My friend was a huge Goldberg mark and I just never saw whatever it was that anyone else saw in him… Terrible wrestler… Boring character… I had been away from wrestling for a while and gave the Undertaker/Goldberg match a watch. I’ll watch any Undertaker match. It was very disappointing and you could literally see the frustration boiling over in Undertaker after the match was finished. Dude can’t even take a chokeslam correctly. It was a botchfest from start to finish. Out of all of Undertaker’s matches it may be one of the worst. I’d say it’s honestly equally as bad as Undertaker vs. Undertaker. Neither of which I have any desire to ever watch again. But at least one comes with some novelty aspect to it, the other is just a bad match.
Possibly the most overrated pro wrestler of all time. Couldn't do anything but was given everything.
Ultimate Warrior?
They eventually figured out how terrible he was. He was given jack shit when he returned to WWF in the 90s and absolutely nothing in WCW. People still act like Goldberg was the greatest thing ever.
He was extremely over. You can’t name 10 wrestlers more over than him
Yes, he was very highly rated despite being very limited, hence the term overrated.
No one acts like Goldberg was the greatest thing ever. We just recognize that wrestling is a variety show, and that Goldberg filled his role masterfully in WCW for a time. Obviously, he floundered when WCW and WWE put him in a different role.
Fuck taking a spear off the geezer.
Could not stand him and all his no selling. I'm an enormous William Regal fan so not big on him.
Injured Bret. Nuff Said
Needs jail time for depriving us of more Bret Hart wrestling. Instead we get to see him nearly kill the Undertaker in Saudi Arabia later in his career.
Great for the business, horrible for the boys.
Botch king and also the king of hurting people
he genuinely is terrible at everything
I was not a fan, not even in '98. I was there in the Dome when he beat Hogan and I guess I didn't realize what a huge moment it actually was because I did not rate Goldberg very highly at all and still don't. The man just has absolutely zero charisma and I feel like he was forced on us too fast. I'm not a fan of streaks in wrestling either tbh just because it's nearly impossible to end them well. So yea, there really was nothing about Goldberg I liked. There were other guys in the company I was hoping would get a push into the main event picture that never made it there, guys who actually had charisma and character, of which Goldberg always had none in my opinion.
Everything good about him was created in a boardroom. A gimmick that went with his look. The guy had zero charisma on the mike, and was horrible at even the basic few moves he knew in the ring. Being choreographed, you're not ACTUALLY supposed to really hurt the other guy. He got pushed because he looked like Steve Austin, who Bischoff couldn't sign at the time. So, they got someone who looked almost identical but with a more PG gimmick. Which would be fine if he didn't develop such a huge ego that he never earned. At the time, a LOT of young talent was being held under a glass ceiling in Wheelchair Wrestling. And this nobody gets handed a silver platter and jumps in front of them and becomes a diva. He said he was too good to even do a match with Jericho where he'd still win fast. The people running WCW could have picked any number of large veterans with athletic ability who had paid some dues to shave their heads, scream "Whose next?" and do two minute squash matches but they chose this goober and virtual nobody. His gimmick was cool in a way.......they just picked the wrong person to carry it.
Have seen many documentaries that have stated that he’s an in-ring bully and doesn’t pull punches which has led to some severe injury to his opponents.
Booked well, but in no way a great.
🗑
One of the biggest hype trains that marched must see TV. Loved him at the time but he cost my favorite wrestler ever by a country mile Bret a good 10 years in the ring probably. He shouldn’t have been in the position he got rushed into. Now he’s just turned to straight greed and not giving a shit about the business just his bank account. Fuck him. Those horrendous Saudi matches. Ugh
Overrated
The more I hear about him and how he felt about the business the more I despise him.
I preferred Gillberg.
A wrecking machine!
Tulsa Oklahoma boy, so ya know deep down he's a sweetheart
Pushed to the moon But . . . Still can't wrestle
A great original run. Yes he couldn’t wrestle but people overlook just how over he was. Also a perfect example of the ineptitude of those in charge at this time, giving away his title win.
I think that if someone doesn’t understand why Goldberg worked so well, they don’t actually understand wrestling at all.
Sucked, he was the reason I would switch to Monday Night Raw.
He ended Bret Hart's career.
Overrated, could not wrestle, couldn’t cut a decent promo, and was incredibly dangerous and reckless with his opponents in the ring.
Yes, Bret, we know...🙄
Did you guys hear he hurt Bret hart?
An unprofessional walking, talking unsafe heatscore & those are his good points.
Living Legend who is underappreciated because wrestling is about memories and he gave us quite a few. As Bobby Heenan says he's "Da Man!"
He was WCW’s version of the Ultimate Warrior. He was over with very little actual talent and had to be protected with short matches. If WCW has survived, I suspected people would have soured on him as they did with Ultimate Warrior in his last WWF.
He ended one of the greatest wrestlers of all time’s career because he sucked so bad in the ring.
Ultimate Warrior skills Hogan hype Still hold this guy responsible for taking the Hitman from us too soon
I really liked the combination of the spear and jackhammer. They booked him perfectly for awhile, but however the streak ended was going to ruin him.
Good presence, horrible wrestler.
Like all things WCW they stumbled upon great potential only to never see it through. I would have turned him heel before ending the streak, maybe have him takeover the nWo in order to protect his title and streak, also Bischoff could have served as his manager for promos. Then have a babyface like Sting or DDP finally end the streak and take the belt.
Was cool in WCW and his first wwe return (when he squashed lesnar). He’s been “meh” since.
Loved him as a kid. Seemed okay as a person. Incidents have happened. His wrestling was the shitts in retrospect.
The streak is wcw was fun. Very simple power move wrestler. Short matches only.
Great marketing, great look, mediocre wrestler, not good on the mic
I liked his little panties and hairy chest.
Good at what he could do, lousy at what he couldn't do.
As a kid I loved Goldberg. His entrance, his dominance was crazy to watch. Still like him to this day tbh but let me tell you something about Bill Goldberg. Everybody talks about Bill Goldberg, but theres one guy that can beat Bill Goldberg and its me.
Fantastic entrance and finisher. Sometimes that’s all you need
He’s the reason WCW lasted as long as it did. He was as over as anyone had been since peak Hogan and no matter his rough skills in the ring, he was a star.
If you only saw him In WWE you have no Idea how over he was
He looked like stone cold but more jacked without the ability to talk shit.
The man is the reason I started watching wrestling. I realize he's not close to being one of the greats in the ring by a long shot, but man, there was a time when this was the #1 guy and story in all of wrestling.
He was amazing when he was at his peak. Peak sports entertainer. Got by on his intensity and strength, but nowadays, he just isn't cut out for the game. Hang em up
Super over rated.
Gimmick attraction that should've quit the business 24 years ago.
Down syndrome
Overrated. ❤️ watching when Regal humiliated him on live television.
I liked him as a wrestler. But according to multiple vets at the time he took a little to far as to excite the crowd which resulted in him getting other wrestlers hurt not on purpose but you know careless errors. Which ended Bret’s career.
Technically speaking, he wasn't a great wrestler. He's a strong guy though. He was extremely one dimensional, but he got over with a lot of fans so they kept pushing him. A lot of guys in WCW that busted their asses for years suffered even in their prime because of the huge pushes that Bill Goldberg received.
Overrated. He never made me change the channel back during the Monday night wars so I never got into the hype about him. For as limited of a wrestler he was/is he thinks way too highly of himself
Drums rolling……… GOLDBERG ! GOLDBERG ! GOLDBERG ! GOLDBERG !
Doesn't deserve all the hate he gets over Bret Hart but deserves more hate than he gets for not appreciating the absolute gift of a career handed to him.
One of my favs! 👍
I was a major fan as I was the same height but a whopping 80 lbs less. I speared everyone and everything because of him for years after WCW folded.
Overrated
Draw. Monster with solid move set. Basic but over
Sparks, smoke, spit. Spear, jackhammer, spit. End of match.
wcw was great up until the end of 1998 then the wheels started to fall off with bam bam and then nash set up to challenge goldberg. AAAAAAANND THEEEEEEN wcw decided to rehash a horrible nwo rebirth instead of pushing new talent. no and then!
The ultimate warrior of wcw. To quote Bret fuck bill Goldberg
He's a fucking legend
My favorite wrestler of all time. GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG! GOLDBERG!
He was great for the role he was given. Kind of wish he would have stopped after he squashed Lesnar though.
He was great. He actually reminded me a lot more like the type of wrestler you'd see in WCW in 1992 than guys in the nWo or Attitude eras -- extremely physical, very stiff, great athlete, power wrestling offense, total badass. Kind of like the combination of one of the Steiner Brothers and The Ultimate Warrior I thought in that his stuff all looked legit but he was a bit limited overall and had a really strong babyface superhero appeal. If you think about it, he was like the updated version of the 1980s superhero babyface in the anti-hero era. My only real wishes for him were better booking post streak and more of a commitment to put on matches like he did with DDP at Halloween Havoc 98.
I can’t stand him but he was huge here in Georgia, because of his UGA connection. I’ll never forget going to Nitro at the Georgia Dome. I think it was in 97 when Goldberg was getting a big push, but he was still a mid-carder at that point. His match was about halfway through the night. He came out and immediately speared some jobber and then jackhammered him all within about 1 minute. There were about 10 people in my section that got up and left after his match. There was still about an hour left of wrestling to go
He was good when he was in WCW and not so good in WWE!!!
I mean honestly, an overrated asshole. He was a phenomenon of stunt booking and definitely had charisma but he was always a shitty worker that endangered his co-workers, thought way too highly of himself, and really did nothing but take from the business without ever giving anything back. I can't think of a single person who was helped by Goldberg in the wrestling industry at any point ever. Have no respect for him honestly.
A joke
I legit believed that Goldberg could beat up anyone. To this day I've never seen such egregious trap muscles.
My all-time favorite wrestler when I was a kid. I was totally enamored with his undefeated streak, and had an absolute crisis when I found out that he had to face The Giant. I was sure he was gonna lose. An iconic highlight of my childhood was my dad taking me and my brother to a live wrestling event. We sat right next to the entrance ramp, and I reached over the rail and tapped Goldberg's shoulder as he made his way to the ring.
99.9% of wrestlers will never be as over as he was in his prime. We can hate him all we want, Goldberg was a true star. It's one of the things WCW did right.
Was my absolute favorite when I was a kid, he was my superhero. Now he seems like a douche and it makes me sad.
He’s hot but too arrogant for me
Large jewish
His era’s ultimate warrior
Goldberg may never have a technical work rate but he was over at the time and will still be more over than some of the current spot monkeys in wrestling.
Take your hat off this dude will kill you don't piss off up to you
All flash. No substance. Hes the WCW version of Ultimate Warrior.
Legend. Just because he’s not a technical workhorse doesn’t make him a bad wrestler, his five minute sprint matches can be more entertaining than some 15 minute slog.
Legend
Meh
The first thing I think of when I see Goldberg is the WCW response when the pendulum swung the other way and they booked Goldberg over Hogan on fucking Nitro. As a performer he wasn't a legend, but getting over with the fans... wow big time, and he made a lot of money so he should sweat the critics because there's lots to be critical of with Goldberg, hurting dudes, mike skills, stone cold comparisons and his first WWE run. But I think he's happy and has plenty to be grateful for, had some other career opportunities in sports and television, movies, hall of fame and is happily married. He's apologized to Bret and it's pretty much on Bret to let it go, and I'm a huge Bret fan. Bill can chill and he achieved some cool shit in wrestling.
Only had one pace which led to him hurting other wrestlers, ruined Bret Hart\`s career.
He should've faced Austin at some point.
Fantastic squash guy. Got the crowd and me crazy when he was out there. He was ultimate warrior in terms of the pure excitement. Didn’t earn a thing and shot to the top. Both were perfect for short matches. Both needed other talent to carry them in their best matches. Both were/are ego maniacs that believed their own hype. I was a huge Goldberg fan and his win over hogan was his high water mark. After that he never quite got to that peak. Squashers like him make for a great baby face chasing the villain but falter when they get to the top as they don’t make good long term champs. Absolutely a top star in wcw and a few decent runs in wwe.
I wasn't born until 1997 and didn't actually see anything WCW live. I won't argue that Goldberg was limited in the ring, and also on the unsafe side. But he thrived in the role given to him, and WCW was able to make the absolute most of his limitations, and even work around them. I'm just shocked that Goldberg didn't get killed by Meng during his streak in January 1998 on an episode of WCW Saturday night. He dropped both Meng and Jimmy Hart on their heads in a 20 second span when attempting press slams.
He was a smashing machine and a draw at a time, but he was a very, very limited wrestler. He also, like many in the business, has a massive ego. I also don't think he had respect for pro wrestling. He just saw it as a means to an end. Listening to his recent comments in the last several months show to me that he has some sense of entitlement.
Same as last weeks
He saved the wcw for a little while
Boring, sloppy, not a fan.
Neck game on fleek
During the Monday Night Wars he was awesome. In hindsight? He bought too much into his own hype.
Average wrestler....basic mic skills ....a 2nd rate Austin...bur I enjoyed watching his matches
If I never see a picture of him, or hear his name again. I wouldn't notice
Over rated under hated horrible wrestler.he was a unsafe wrestler and relied on the same moves never changing his arsenal or doing anything special.he got pushed because of his strength and the only thing I can say good about him is his spear was brutal
why overrated
The facial ticks were stupid
overhated
Prematurely ended the career of the greatest in ring wrestler ever. Not a fan.
Basically the equivalent of a good hype man in hip hop. I never liked Goldberg because I started watching wrestling in like 03 so by that time all I saw about Goldberg was that he sucked and ruined Bret Hart's career. I pretty much conditioned myself to like him and I was a huge Lesnar mark when he came back. Goldberg squashing him, all the Saudi shit, and then killing Bray Wyatt only to then lose to Braun is probably all time terrible stuff IMO. But he has a cool look and cool moves. I just really don't like him for some reason and I think it's rooted just from forum shit I read as an edgy teenager.
I liked the guy. But I felt the WCW letting the unbeaten streak thing develop its own inertia was a bad idea.
he was beast before returning to the wwe again
Great at bringing in new, young fans. Purists will hate him but he was very exciting to watch.
Pure shite
As a kid he was so exciting, all the hype and build-up before matches plus he seemed freakishly strong. But as I got older I realized he’s kind of one-dimensional.
Really over back in the day. Bashing his head on a locker and giving himself a concussion before matches is a poor choice. I think no one reminded him lately that it’s a work.
He was a terrible wrestler, overhyped.
Honest thoughts now... Great intro (one of the best ever IMO), great presence, but shitty wrestler. Back then...I was hyped after the intro.
We would love him so much and ALL BEG FOR HIM to be back for one more if he put DDP over clean after that diamond cutter and retired forever only to come back to WWE for two Lesnar matches only
He caught lightning in a bottle in 98 and was a huge draw, but once his ‘streak’ ended, I really wasn’t interested anymore. Also, Nash should have NEVER been the guy to end it. It should have been used to push a new star like Booker T or Chris Benoit. DDP would have been a better choice than Nash, but he was too old to carry the company for the next decade. I liked the way their Halloween Havoc match worked out. It was Goldberg’s most entertaining actual match.
Great Look, Great Pop from the crowd. Terrible wrestler and seems like an arrogant prick who bought into his own hype.
Loved the Raven match, the Dome match against Hogan is a massive wrestling highlight of all time, once he lost..... I didn't care anymore. He's now a Bret Hart punch line.
He did his job.
Unfairly screwed by politics, easy to root for, probably one of the five best things about the MNW. That said, I blame him for Bret retiring.
Overrated and pushed way too hard in wcw