The Man and the Streak
When Bill Goldberg made his return to WWE TV on October 17th, 2016, the chants of his name from the crowd rained down on him like in his many years in WCW. Walking down the long hallways to the ring as WWE superstars cheered him on, he was as focused as ever. Goldberg approached his trademark pyro and although older, he emerged from it with the same intensity. Taking the mic, he spoke about missing being a superhero for the kids all around the world as his wife and son looked on. That’s what wrestlers are right? They embody larger than life characters that do incredible feats. It’s a modern-day stage play mixed with a gladiator forum. Hard-working men and women being heroes and villains doing impressive physical feats mixed with psychology in a ring centered around cheers and boos.
Many wrestling fans who were immersed inside the Monday Night War remember ‘the streak.’ It was September 22, 1997, on Monday Nitro. The late great Rowdy Rowdy Piper was interim commissioner. NWO was in full swing and Sting descended from the rafters to be the anti-hero that WCW needed to bring them down. Little did we know, a match would happen between Hugh Morrus and a massive guy with a shaved head, black trunks, gloves, and boots. What do you mean Mike Tenay has no information on him? How did this guy slip through the computer-like brain of Mike Tenay?
The match is a short one. Hugh Morrus hits his No Laughing Matter moonsault and Goldberg kicks out. Two body slams and seeing the Jackhammer for the first time- then we’re off to the races. With a determined stare, Goldberg looks at the camera and says, “that’s one.” Little did we know, we’d be on a journey of a man that felt like he could conquer all challengers before him — truly unbeatable.
In the recently released WWE Untold episode, Goldberg noted his conversation with then WCW President Eric Bischoff and how he wasn’t going to be “one of those $500, throw around the ring, pieces of sh*t. I’m going to make a difference.” That he did. Off of his NFL career that was shortened by injury and learning the tricks of the trade in WCW’s Power Plant, Goldberg was all business — akin to this catchphrase, ‘who’s next?!” The late Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan would dub him ‘the man’ as he ran through WCW superstars with ease on the road to 100–0. Spear, Jackhammer, pin. Wrestlers like Raven, Glacier, Scott Hall, Perry Saturn, etc would all meet the same fate.
Could he ever lose? Well, nobody ever believed that. The championship title match between Goldberg and Hulk Hogan in a sold-out Georgia Dome felt like a coronation of the next big superstar. The streak would even carry past that to a resounding 173–0. WWE’s Untold documentary spoke of a complicated relationship that Goldberg had with the locker room at times. I mean, with the intensity that his character carried, (and a little piece of himself) you could understand how it was hard to make that separation. Maybe he was a little complicated or perceived that he didn’t earn his standing because he wasn’t “of the business.” However, that didn’t make his character less beloved or believable. Goldberg got the knock at the door at his locker room and went out and performed to the best of his ability.
When we think of invincibility, you look to the early days of The Undertaker. A man from the dead who in his earliest day seemed impervious to pain. You can hit him with your best shot, and he would just lurch up like a scene out of a nightmare. Goldberg punished you with a freakish combination of strength and speed. On the November 23rd, 1998 edition of WCW Nitro, he looked across at The Giant, all of 7 feet and 500 pounds. He got him up for the Jackhammer and even held him there for a brief pause. It was something out of a comic book — short of speech bubbles and panels.
Still, today at 53, he retains that aura. In a day and age where the veil has come down, that’s hard to do. I couldn’t imagine another wrestler going 50–0, much less 100–0 now and the crowd really buying into it. However, as his most recent matches with Brock Lesnar and brief WWE titles runs in his second stint show, the crowd still believes in him.
