Why 1997 Was The Greatest Year In Wrestling History
8. The Streak Begins
Bill Goldberg has his fair share of detractors, but there's no arguing the impact that Da Man had on the wrestling industry for a couple of years.
In a WCW that was often lambasted for not creating its own stars, Goldberg was one of the few exceptions to this. And not just a star, but the former Atlanta Falcon become a true megastar of the industry. He may not have been the best wrestler in the world, he may not have been the best talker in the world, yet few people in WCW's history ever connected with the audience as well as Bill.
Of course, WCW did all that they could to hide Goldberg's weaknesses, and Ted Turner's promotion was smart enough to go all-in on the intense powerhouse as soon as they realised they'd stumbled across lightning in a bottle.
Adding further historical significance to 1997, this was the year when an unknown, generic, bald-headed wrestler first turned up on WCW TV. As watching eyes presumed this no-name was merely there to do the J.O.B. to Hugh Morrus, the script was flipped and Bill Goldberg got off to a winning start.
The rise of this future Hall of Famer was a swift one, with him picking up the United States Title and World Heavyweight Championship before his iconic streak came to a halt at 173-0 - and all of this began on a September '97 episode of Nitro.