10 Wrestler Debuts That Blew Us Away

8. Goldberg - Raw (31 March 2003)

It was only a matter of time. In 2003, the WCW Invasion was long over. The nWo came in and flopped. Ric Flair and Scott Steiner also entered the WWF to vastly different levels of success. One by one, virtually every former WCW star that fans wanted to see had joined their one time rival. The lone holdouts were Goldberg and Sting (who wouldn’t join the company for over a decade later).

In WCW, no one was hotter than Goldberg in the late ‘90s. He was a true phenomenon and the most over wrestler on their roster. He also suffered from terrible booking at the end of his run. But in the WWF, he had a host of intriguing opponents in front of him that would have fans salivating. The Undertaker, Steve Austin and Triple H were all dream matches ready to be played out, but the man who was next was The Great One.

The night after WrestleMania XIX, Goldberg showed up on Raw to put an end to The Rock’s self-centered appreciation night. The fans knew it wasn't going to end well. They kept cheering "Goldberg" until Rocky had to acknowledge them with a clever dismissal: “hey, don’t think you’re cool because you know The Rock’s accountant Ira Goldberg, okay?” He then threatened to retire because he’d already defeated all the greats. Except one.

Goldberg’s music played and the two megastars stared each other down. Rock clearly wasn’t prepared for this encounter and quickly ate a devastating spear. Much like Tazz, this first night was the high-point of Goldberg’s entire initial run. But for one night, all that anticipation of seeing Da Man in a WWE ring was well worth it.