In 1997, the WWF were finally starting to find their feet again. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin had emerged as a breakthrough star, but it'd take a long time for the company to fully establish him as a headliner. By contrast, WCW had Bill Goldberg selling tickets less than 6 months after his debut. The promotion portrayed Goldberg as an unstoppable freight train of a wrestler, and it worked a charm. Taking an unproven rookie from relative obscurity to the top of the wrestling world remains one of WCW's greatest ever achievements. Earlier, the WWF had tried to push more established wrestlers such as Mabel (King Of the Ring 1995 winner) and even the incoming Ahmed Johnson. Neither would have the success of Goldberg, who shocked everyone by being as successful as he was. Vince McMahon's group of staff must have looked on in envy at how big a star WCW were making Goldberg. The wrestler was tailor-made for McMahon. An impressive physique, menacing look and raw magnetism all went in to making Bill a phenomenon in wrestling. The WWF could have done with someone like that in 1997, when business was only starting to pick up again.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
