10 Wrestlers Who Hated Parodies Of Their Work
5. Goldberg
Goldberg wasn't the one thing WCW had going for it in 1998 - the nWo Wolfpac was far more over than the reduced narrative of history suggests - but he was certainly the one thing that the WWF was afraid of.
The WWF was afraid of Nitro's gains by early 1996, and in a very gotten-to and elaborate idea, they buried Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage as part of the risible 'Billionaire Ted' skits. That was a self-own more than a brag; it was very telling that Vince McMahon had by that point spat the dummy like a giant baby. Babies treat milk as food, and Vince was so weird that the f*cker chewed water, so the analogy is even more accurate than you'd think.
They were obviously gotten-to over Goldberg's success, hence why they debuted the Gillberg character in 1998. A fun, one-note parody, for a brief time, Gillberg's mannerisms were very on-the-nose. Goldberg loathed the character.
Speaking to Gamespot in 2018, Goldberg said "I wanted to cut his head off, and then I wanted to cut everyone's head off that came up with the idea. I took it violently in the beginning."
Bill has since seen the funny side, but that overreaction was misplaced. He didn't know a thing about the way WWE operated at that point.