Goldberg Reflects On Undefeated Streak & Early Beginnings In WCW: ‘I Was A Professional Football Player Trying To Blend Into A New Business Where I Was Not Really Wanted’

WWE

Starting in September 1997, Goldberg’s WCW debut would see him amass an undefeated streak of an unprecedented 173-0 across fifteen months.

Having trained at the WCW Power Plant, Goldberg would find his way onto television in a short period of time, debuting on the September 22, 1997, episode of Monday Nitro with his first win being against Hugh Morrus.

A run of short, dominant encounters would follow, with Goldberg racking up 173-0 before the streak came to an end.

During an appearance on Going Ringside, Goldberg was asked if he understood the significance of the undefeated streak story, being relatively new to both WCW and wrestling when it began, with the star saying:

“No, I was extremely lucky, and I was like a fish out of water. I was a professional football player trying to blend into a new business where I was not really wanted, I was stealing a guy’s job…

“It was a weird experience for me, it was me against the world. Even with those odds, I was never going to not succeed.”

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The closure of WCW would see Goldberg head to All Japan Pro-Wrestling after the Turner-owned company was sold to the then-WWF in 2001, with the star joining WWE for a year in 2003, returning in 2016 for a lengthier run.

Goldberg’s WWE career would come to an end at the hands of GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event in July last year.

The Goldberg Streak Had To End

Very much in the same way that The Undertaker’s Streak came to an end years later at the hands of Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 in 2014 at 21-1, Goldberg’s streak had to end at some point.

WCW chose for that moment to be at Starrcade on December 27, 1998, with Kevin Nash not only ending Goldberg’s streak but also claiming the World Heavyweight Championship.

Comparing the two moments is a shocking contrast, with Lesnar, arguably at the height of his dominance, securing the victory and leaving the fans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome shocked into silence, something that was very much reflected on social media at the time. The drama had been built up, and it very much seemed like The Undertaker, despite showing the signs of physical wear, would continue to dominate at WrestleMania, only for Lesnar to be the one to emerge as the victor.

Rewind to December 1998, and the streak-ending match at Starrcade was another beast entirely. Whereas WWE would deliver a vertable battle of the titans in Lesnar vs. The Undertaker, WCW opted to have plenty of interference to stack the odds against Goldberg, before Scott Hall would use a cattle prod to level the World Heavyweight Champion, with Nash hitting the Jackknife Powerbomb for the win.

There was no doubt that, in both cases, the respective streaks would end one day, but the Nash-led WCW creative choosing to put their top star down in the way that they did is still quite the choice.

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