10 Things We Learned From Goldberg On Stone Cold's Sessions Podcast
7. Goldberg Wanted To Be Called 'The Hybrid'
Before his very first match in 1997, Goldberg nervously paced around behind the curtain. Agent Jody Hamilton approached Bill and asked what he wanted to be called. The question threw Goldberg off at first, but he had something in mind: Goldberg wanted to be known as 'The Hybrid'.
It wasn't gonna' happen.
He told Austin that Hamilton turned the suggestion down flat and said WCW couldn't do that because of licensing and copyright issues if he ended up selling some merchandise. That was a laugh to Bill. He didn't think he'd ever be in a position to sell a lot of t-shirts, and he had his heart set on 'The Hybrid' to sell his MMA influences.
Finally, after a bit of back-and-forth, WCW went with the rather generic 'Bill Gold'. That was soon extended to Bill Goldberg then shortened down to just a surname. Much to Bill's annoyance, 'The Hybrid' idea he'd come up with was dead.