Goldberg On Who He Wanted To Put Over During His Streak In WCW, Rips Scott Hall
As previously noted, WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg was the second guest on WWE Network's The Broken Skull Sessions with WWE Hall Of Famer 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Among many other things, Goldberg talked about his epic rise to the top of the WCW card.
According to Goldberg, there was no forward planning during his time in WCW. As such, 'Da Man”s record undefeated streak was entirely "organic."
"The streak was organic. My timing was organic. No one had a plan. It was just kind of shot from the hip and fed people at a time when satiating people's desires was the cool thing to do. I think they just gave the people what they wanted because they saw how it kind of? there was a glimmer of it in the beginning and people kind of went into a frenzy because it wasn't normal. By the time they figured out what was going on, it was over. And it was short and powerful. They wanted more." Goldberg added, "there was no planning."
Along these lines, Goldberg discussed how he found out he would be challenging 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on WCW Monday Nitro in July of 1998. Goldberg indicated that he heard about his world title match versus Hogan on Nitro by watching Thunder the Thursday prior.
"I remember Thursday, there was a Thursday night and I'm sitting at home living in Dawsonville [Georgia]," Goldberg remembered. "I was watching Thursday Night Thunder and JJ Dillon comes out [and says], 'we have breaking news – Monday, live, Georgia Dome, Goldberg versus 'Hollywood' Hogan.' What? Who? I had no frickin' idea. I found out when everybody else found out. I was just a piece of the puzzle and they figured out on the fly when to plug whatever in and I just did what they told me."
Apparently, Goldberg wanted to put over a man called Sting in his hometown during the height of the streak.
"We're still in the middle of my streak and I still don't know s— from Shinola, right? And we're in [Sting's] home-frickin'-town, right? And he's putting me over that night and I am begging Arn Anderson to let me put [Sting] over. Whether it's a show or not, I wanted him to be the man that night and it meant everything to me. And at the beginning I didn't know the brevity of the streak, but, frick, as a man, I wanted to do that. I don't want to say, 'I'm a great guy,' but I want people to understand that that's me. That's my thought process. In that night, in that moment, it meant more for me to make him the guy than anything including this streak thing that they were talking about." Goldberg continued, "I wanted him to pin me. It would have ruined everything, but I didn't know. It was [pro] wrestling, but for me, it was the right thing to do. And I loved him and it was the way I could pay him back. But I didn't know much about the business at that point. 'Why can't I do it?' Looking back, it's the most ridiculous thing in the world, but it just shows my character."
As for beating Hogan in the Georgia Dome for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Goldberg recalled being ribbed by Hogan, as 'The Immortal One' got Icy Hot in Goldberg's eyes. Goldberg went on to say that the victory was especially rewarding because the Atlanta Falcons in attendance wanted to be him and he did not want to be anyone else.
"[Hogan] will tell you this – [we] frickin' lock up, pulls in for a headlock, and he [has] got Icy Hot all over his s–t. Hell yeah [it was a rib]! I couldn't see for the whole frickin' match! Did he wear it on his? whatever! It is what it is. It's all good! I was honored and privileged to be in the spot and the coolest part was, we may get to it, but it all went full circle. I tried to play football. I got a certain amount of success. I had that taken away from me. I went into the [pro] wrestling business. I had no desire to do it from birth. I didn't have a love for it. I did as a fan, but I never assumed that I would be one of those guys because I was a football guy. It happened. I started to love it. I love it exponentially. And then, I win the biggest night ever and I've got the [Atlanta] Falcons there with me, right? And this isn't a knock on the business at all, but the coolest part of that night is to have the guys that I always everyday woke up to try to emulate and try to be, and they want to be me." Goldberg admitted, "that was one of the coolest times in my life."
Goldberg, who portrays the recurring character of Coach Nick Mellor on ABC's The Goldbergs, claimed he did not understand pro wrestling enough at the time to be offended by losing the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in short order to Nash and then seeing Hogan regain the title via 'finger poke of doom'.
"Honestly, man, at that point in my life, I just looked at it as a loss. I didn't big picture it by any means because I didn't know enough about the business. I didn't. And the more you analyze stuff, the more it pisses you off, 'oh, it happened this way because of this. The front office is going this way and being run by these guys.' I'd want to lobotomize myself. We do it enough as it is. I didn't know enough to really pass judgment or realize anything. I really didn't. I just didn't." Goldberg added, "the ultimate rib. [The championship loss] needed to happen at some point, but really? Come on, man."
With that said, Goldberg divulged that he was not as upset about losing the title as people think. In Goldberg's view, losing the title was not an indictment on his ability or performance.
"Honestly, not nearly as much as people think because, as I said, it's not based on competition, so it's subjective," Goldberg explained. "I get it, but it's subjective, so I can't be disappointed in myself because I didn't lose anything based upon my numbers or my output. I lost it because of a storyline. Being in the middle of that storyline, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent advice-wise that people would throw at you, it's just the luck of the draw. I couldn't dictate anything because 9 times out of 10, I was the guy who was already under the heat, so I just kept my mouth shut and just tried to follow directions."
Goldberg sprayed blood on the hood of a white limo back on an episode of WCW Thunder back in December 1999. Goldberg attributes the incident to Scott Hall "being a piece of s—."
"Some things I take personally and some guy being a piece of s–t, I take personally. And Scott Hall is a piece of s—, so I wanted to kill him that night. And he was the reason behind everything that happened. I made poor judgment because I was mad. And as opposed to grabbing a sledgehammer, I just used my own sledgehammer to show how violent? oh, that was smart. I hit the big gimmick. It didn't break, but this is live TV and I'm going to hit it again. I hit it and my hand goes through it like a cheese grater and I look down and I'm like, 'oh, this is nice.' Live TV, so I grab my hand, white limousine, I go to the front? great video. Great shock. Boom! Blood everywhere. I went nuts. It's, again, one of those things that I took to another level." Goldberg acknowledged, "I'm just ignorant sometimes."
Subscribe to the WWE Network to check out the show. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit The Broken Skull Sessions with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.