Goldberg reveals which current and future WWE Hall of Famers helped him transition from the NFL to pro wrestling. Goldberg is without a doubt the most dominant wrestler of all time. However, in pro wrestling it takes two to have a wrestling match.
Goldberg had a 173 match winning streak, the number is debated, but around that number. Going that long being undefeated is unheard of now and was unheard of then too. It made him a very popular wrestler and one who was a must-watch. It also sky-rocketed him to the top of the card. However, he wasn’t a guy who had years-and-years in the WWF or some territory.
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Goldberg came from the NFL and went to WCW’s Power Plant which was similar to WWE’s Performance Center. In 1997 he was probably pushed out onto WCW TV before he was ready for that kind of exposure. Luckily for him he had some experienced WCW guys willing to take him under their wing.
Goldberg was recently a guest on Busted Open Radio and revealed some of the names who helped him learn the ropes in WCW. He also revealed that one of the most important lessons he learned was not to trust everyone’s “kindness” in pro wrestling.
“[Hulk] Hogan had a huge influence on me and I remember a number of things that he taught me. I stayed the course. The Steiner Brothers helped me out exponentially. Rick Rude, [Curt] Hennig, everybody. The old school guys, man. Meng, [Barbarian]. Bobby Eaton. I was fortunate enough to have an unbelievable group around me. Guys that really did care. And there were others, but you need adversity to learn and to grow.
“I was too giving a person in the beginning of my wrestling career, because I believed everything that anybody told me that was in the business. Anything. Because I didn’t think that people were as vindictive and it was that type of business. Because again, it’s a frickin’ team and it’s fiction. I mean, come on, man. The more money I make as a top guy, the more money everybody makes. And I can’t be that top guy if it wasn’t for the guys that helped me climb up that ladder. So it’s a simple equation, and unfortunately, emotions and egos and testosterone being thrown into it, you know what happens.”
Via Wrestling Inc.
A Champion During A Transition In Eras
Goldberg came up in wrestling during a very interesting time. He had old school guys like Hogan, Flair, Randy Savage and Dusty Rhodes around him to teach him. However, he also had the next generation of stars around him like Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero and Booker T as well. The incredible amount of talent walking by him in the halls is mind-blowing
Goldberg rose up the ranks in WCW very quickly and eventually became the WCW World Heavyweight champion. United States champion and WCW Tag Team champion with Bret Hart. If you know what happened between them you would be shocked that he won those with Hart.
In 2001 when WWE bought out WCW Goldberg initially went to Japan and wrestled for All Japan for a little while. In 2003 he finally arrived in WWE. However, his time in WWE was lackluster and short lived. In 2004 Goldberg retired from wrestling, at least for a while.
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Goldberg Is Back! Who’s Next?
In 2016 Goldberg returned to WWE. He wrestled some of the big names of the current era including Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman and the disastrous Undertaker match. In 2022 Goldberg ended his run with WWE.
However, since then Goldberg has talked about coming back to pro wrestling for one more match. One of the rumored matches was against MJF, but that never turned into anything. Goldberg was asked if he is still interested in having one more match and if it will be in a WWE ring.
“I’d love to have one more match. You know how it is. Vince and I spoke about it, and he gave me his word, but all that stuff happened. Hey man, I don’t hold grudges. Vince gave me so many opportunities, I’ll be forever grateful, but yeah, I would absolutely love to have that final match, I would. Am I good not having it? Yeah, I’m fine with it, but it’d be neat to have it … It wouldn’t have to be with anyone [from a major company].
“I could do it myself and get accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. I could do the promotion myself overseas, do it in Israel, do it in India, do it in Japan, maybe do one in the [United] States.”
Via Wrestling Inc.
Goldberg’s early career is a master class in how to push a wrestler to the top, hide flaws, and what can happen if you put someone not ready to the top of a company. Can you see any influence from the wrestlers he named? What area or thing do you think he was missing and needed to work on? Would you like to see him have one more match? Let us know on social media who in the world of pro wrestling you would like to see his face.
KEEP READING: Undertaker Looks Back On His Scary 2019 Match With Goldberg And Staying Motivated During Attitude Era
Sources: Wrestling Inc., Busted Open Radio, Wrestling Inc.
