WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg reveals the wrestler he wanted to lose to during his undefeated streak. During the late ‘90s, there was no bigger star in WCW than Goldberg. A big part of his popularity was his 173-match undefeated streak and his “Who’s next?” catchphrase Questioning who would have to get Jackhammered next.
On the Steve & Captain Evil: The Podcast, Goldberg admitted that he was chosen and groomed to be the one to dethrone Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Hogan was at the top of the roster with his nWo gimmick. He called Hogan unselfish and Goldberg was asked if he ever tried to be unselfish and let someone beat him. Goldberg had this to say:
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“No, I was never in the situation where I made a call! I made a call a couple of times, but that was different. The fact is that they never paid me enough money to also be a producer. You pay me to be a wrestler. I come up, I show up for work, I see my assignment and I try to do it as best as humanly possible. I don’t get into the ‘Hey I should win this time.’”
Peak Goldberg In WCW
When Goldberg was at his peak in WCW and had his streak going he had only been in wrestling for six months. He didn’t have a lot of pull in wrestling so no one would have listened if he had tried to change the finish of a match.
The conversation did spark a memory in Goldberg as to one time he did try to change a finish. He also used the story as an example of how naïve he was to wrestling and how crazy fans can get. He talked about wanting to lose to Bobby Eaton on a house show in Eaton’s home town and on Eaton’s birthday in the middle of “The Streak.”
“House shows were non-televised events. It just so happened to be in his hometown and it just so happened to be his birthday and he taught me a lot in the business. He was extremely unselfish. He gave me every bit of knowledge that he had. I wanted him to beat me on [his] birthday in the middle of the streak and they wouldn’t let me and I had no idea why.”
Beautiful Bobby Eaton Almost Ended The Streak
Goldberg admitted that he thought no one would find out because it was a non-televised house show. Even though it was before social media and cell phones with cameras, he admits it would have gotten out. It thus would have ended the streak and it wouldn’t have even been televised.
Eaton is a very well respected wrestler by his peers and fans. However, his time had passed. His heyday was definitely in the ‘80s. Even though he was held in high regard he is not someone anyone would consider a worthy wrestler to beat “The Streak,” especially in 1998 or so.
“The Streak” was the hottest thing in wrestling at the time, but like all good things it had to come to an end. At Starcade 1998 nWo original Kevin Nash defeated Goldberg with some help from his best friend Scott Hall and a taser.
Goldberg after the streak was still a top contender, but he was diminished. Seeing him lose, even if it was because of outside interference, was no longer unheard of. He had high-profile feuds with Hall of Famers and legends like Bret Hart for his remaining time in WCW.
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Eventually, Goldberg went over for a short stint in WWE. While in WWE he got to see how different WWE was from WCW. Goldberg had this to say when he was asked to describe the difference between the promotions:
“The best way that I can describe is the WCW was run by the inmates. If you know anything about the wrestling business at the time. You got Kevin Nash, you got Scott Hall, you got Hulk Hogan 100 percent, and on the other flipside of the coin you have the 800-pound gorilla whose name is Vince McMahon. As long as you go into Vince and make sure every idea you have sounds as it came from his mouth, you’re good.
I had the time of my life in WCW, it was awesome, we were killing WWE, and it was like a small band of brothers against this big conglomerate. But a lot of those brothers were deceitful and villainous.”
Many wrestlers have said in the past that the people running WCW were Hall, Nash, and especially Hogan. Wrestlers had also expressed not knowing who their boss was and it made getting stuff approved difficult. On the WWE side, there was never a doubt that McMahon was the boss.
Do you think Goldberg should have tried to use some pull to have someone other than Nash to end his streak? Would you have preferred Eaton to do it? Are there any other WCW wrestlers you think would have made a good option? Do you think word would have gotten out if Eaton had beaten Goldberg? Let us know on social media if you think WCW being run by the inmates is the top thing that led to its decline.
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Sources: Wrestling Inc., Steve & Captain Evil: The Podcast, Wrestling Inc.
