How Good Was Goldberg Actually?

History is written by the victors, and as the eventual winners of the Monday Night War, WWE has been able to cast its version of events all over WCW's reign on top. Just look at how many stories are out there about how WCW fell apart and why that happened, versus tales of how WCW became dominant and overthrew the status quo of wrestling for 83 weeks straight. 

This WWE-tinted version of wrestling history dilutes the modern-day perception of certain WCW wrestlers and their impact in the late '90s, and Bill Goldberg is certainly one of the victims of that.

Sure, WWE has worked with Goldberg a whole bunch since Vince McMahon shut WCW's doors for good, but would they dare to tell you that Goldberg was a much more popular superstar than The Undertaker during the Monday Night Wars? They have turned the presentation of The Streak into an exaggerated punchline due to inflated numbers, but does that tell the whole story?

There's more to Bill's career than ending Bret Hart's time in the ring and aging badly. What does that mean for his overall legacy? Join us as we investigate how good Goldberg actually was.

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The presentation of Goldberg for the first 15 months of his WCW career was pretty much perfect. 

This is vital when you have to hide the negatives (of which there were many) and accentuate the positives. For a company that couldn’t make some of the best performers of their generation main event-level talent (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, etc), WCW took Goldberg, via great presentation, to a level of popularity that few in wrestling history have ever achieved. 

Fans are perpetually gaslit to believe that WCW’s years on top were just a blip for WWE before they figured out their problems and took over, but it was the presentation and rise of Bill Goldberg’s undefeated streak that contradicts that narrative more than anything else. Goldberg had limitations in so much of his game that WCW had to get all of the little things right around his persona, and they did so spectacularly.

Goldberg's walk from the dressing room to the ring was unique, giving him an aura of danger akin to Cyrus the Virus in Con Air as he was flanked by rows of security guards. His pyro was unique and iconic, being shrouded in a curtain of flames and blowing smoke out of his mouth like Daenerys' most dangerous dragon. The explosions that accompanied Goldberg punching and kicking the air were also something fans had never seen before that made people lose their minds.

It would have been so easy to give Goldberg Metallica-lite entrance music, too. Instead, Godberg's 'Invasion' theme by Christian Poulet and Jean-Yves Rigo feels like the kind of epic Alan Silvestri conjured up for The Avengers and the heroes of the MCU. It's cold and methodical, builds intensity, and perfectly fits the crowd's deafening "Goooooldberg! Gooooooldberg!" chants.

Goldberg's whole presentation is underplayed because WWE didn't invent it. Make no mistake about it: Goldberg's iconic entrance is as good as any pro wrestling has ever seen and was a massive part of what made him Da Man.

When it comes to his look, there’s no escaping that Goldberg’s appearance is almost identical to Steve Austin’s. The uniform of both WWF and WCW’s lead babyface having a shaven head, goatee, black trunks, and black boots is there for all to see. The difference being that, while Austin was a loose-lipped, beer-swilling wild man with a ring technician’s psychology and ability, Goldberg was an intense killing machine who relied on his physically imposing look, brute force, and an ice-cold stare.

Goldberg's promo shots were immaculate, too. His snarls into the camera were more essential to his popularity than so much of what traditionally gets a superstar over. It may not be the most sophisticated presentation ever put together for a wrestler, but this is one occasion that WCW got everything right on the money.

9.5/10