The world of wrestling is very big, there are numerous independent promotions all across the world. But the wrestling world is dominated by the big major promotions. WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion on this planet. But there was a time when there was an another wrestling promotion named WCW, which gave WWE a run for their money. It was the era of ‘The Monday Night Wars’, a period when WWF (now WWE) and WCW went head-to-head in a ratings war.
WCW was continuously beating WWF in the ratings. Due to the Monday Night Wars, WWF transformed its family-friendly product to a more adult oriented product, knows as the Attitude Era. WWF’s Attitude Era turned the tide of Monday Night Wars in the favor of WWF. WWF bought its main rival WCW in March, 2001. WWE also purchased the hardcore wrestling promotion ECW in the mid-2003. WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world.
While in the process of beating WCW, WWE created new stars like The Rock, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin whose popularity helped WWE in winning the ratings war. People often accuse WCW of not being able to create new talent which is the main reason behind their downfall. But WCW did create the character of ‘Goldberg’. In the 90’s, Goldberg’s popularity among the fans was almost on the same level as other greats like Stone Cold, The Rock and Hulk Hogan.
Pure intensity, this one word describes the entire Goldberg in-ring career. Goldberg was a physical specimen, he was known for his intimidating attitude towards his competition. His jackhammer and spear finishers would break his opponents in half. On 17 October 2016, Goldberg made his return to Monday Night Raw for the first time in over 12 years. He accepted the challenge of Paul Heyman, agreed to come out of retirement, and face ‘The Beast Incarnate’, one-on-one at Survivor Series 2016.
So let’s take a look at 10 Things That You Should Know About Bill Goldberg!
1.Bill Goldberg played Football before making a career in Wrestling.
Goldberg was taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round, he was selected as the 302nd overall to the Los Angeles Rams, in the 1990 NFL draft. Before this, he played as a defensive tackle for the University of Georgia. Goldberg would play 14 games for Atlanta Falcons from 1992 to 1994. An abdominal tear abruptly ended his career. In the 1995 NFL draft, the Carolina Panthers selected him, but was unable to make the playing team.
2. The 173-0 Streak!
Goldberg’s famous catchphrase “Who’s next?” was in reference to his rapidly growing winning streak. During his career in WCW, Goldberg was famous for his legendary “173-0 undefeated streak” which was ended by Kevin Nash with the help of Scott Hall. Goldberg’s steak is one of the famous streaks in wrestling industry with the Undertaker Wrestlemania Streak. But the number 173-0 is exaggerated from the the number of matches that Goldberg had participated during 1997-1998. The company promoted the inflated streak as a marketing gimmick.
3. Goldberg ended Bret Hart’s career with a botched kick.
Goldberg never had the time to learn the business properly, he had not received a proper wrestling training. Goldberg was a brawler, he was very limited in the ring, technically he couldn’t wrestler. At Starrcade, Bret Hart defended his WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg. During the match, Goldberg hit Hart with a thrust kick to the head, resulting in a severe concussion. In the match, Goldberg failed to receive Hart’s figure-four leg lock, resulting in Hart hitting his head on concrete floor. The concussions Hart received in the match forced him to retire early.
4. Sting convinced Goldberg to make a career in Wrestling.
When Goldberg’s football career ended due to an abdominal injury, he was in rehab where he started powerlifting and mixed martial arts training. He was a member of a gym that was owned by Sting and Lex Luger. Lex and Sting spotted him, were impressed by his physique, they asked him to try professional wrestling. After having some some conversations with Sting, Goldberg went to WCW Power Plant for training, and then a star was born.
5. Goldberg loves collecting Vintage cars and has an incredible collection of cars.
Goldberg has an incredible collection of vintage cars. He owns over 25 vintage cars, 1959 Chevy Biscayne, 1963 Dodge 330, 1969 Chevy Blazer Convertible, and a 1970 Boss 429 Mustang (which is one of the two cars used in the Vietnam War to entertain US soldiers). He has also hostel a TV show called ‘Garage Mahal’ on DIY network from 2009–2011.
6. Goldberg had a real backstage fight with Chris Jericho.
Chris Jericho has had issues with Goldberg dating back to their days in WCW. In the late 90s, when Goldberg wasn’t interested in working a 10-15 minutes with Jericho. Chris Jericho didn’t want to be featured in a squash match against Bill Goldberg, he wanted to do a meaningful feud. In 2003, Goldberg made a rude comment about Jericho, prior to their program in the WWE, this resulted in Jericho engaging in physical altercation with Goldberg. Chris jericho took him to the ground, gained control by locking Goldberg in a front face lock.
7. Goldberg has only been pinned 5 times in his career.
There are only 5 competitors who has beaten Bill Goldberg. They are Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Bret Hart and Triple H. There’s another interesting fact here, all the 5 times that Goldberg got pinned, it was due to outside interference. No competitor has defeated him cleanly. Goldberg has one of the most impressive win-loss records in the pro-wrestling industry, losing only 5 televised matches in his long career.
8. Goldberg is a spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
The ‘Goldberg’character is a badass dude who kicks asses and doesn’t care for his opponents. But the person Bill Goldberg has a soft side. He advocates for animal welfare and raises awareness against illegal animal fighting. He even has three cats named Moe, Larry and Curly and a pet goat named Goatberg.
9. Goldberg is a vegetarian.
Goldberg shows how you doesn’t always have to eat red meat in order to be jacked. Bill Goldberg’s muscular physique is a result of his hours of clanging & banging in gym and a balanced nutritional diet.
10. He has starred in many Hollywood movies.
Bill Goldberg has starred in many movies. His notable films include Half Past Dead 2, Universal Soldier: The Return, Santa’s Slay, The Longest Yard. In Santa’s Slay, he played a killer Santa Claus, who goes around killing people on Christmas.