Wrestling Legend: Goldberg – Part 1
There has probably been no wrestler more intense and dominating than the legendary “Goldberg”. It was in 1997 when a rookie entered the World Championship Wrestling (WCW). No one took Goldberg seriously because during that year, WCW was dominated by some of the greatest wrestlers of all time. These great wrestlers included the likes of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Big Show, Sting and Bret “The Hit Man” Hart. There was little room for a wrestler to enter the ring and make his way to the top of the ladder.
When Goldberg joined WCW, many thought that he would not last long, as other great wrestlers had firmly established their places in the company. But Goldberg proved everyone wrong and started beating wrestlers one after another. Goldberg’s most matches were short as he ended them without even receiving a punch. The remarkable thing about Goldberg which is remembered by wrestling fans with great enthusiasm was that Goldberg did not lose any match since his debut in September 1997 to December 1998. In fact Goldberg won 173 matches in a row as he defeated every wrestler one after another.
No wrestler in the history of professional wrestling has even dared come near the remarkable record of Goldberg. During his stay at WCW, Goldberg defeated great wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Curt Hennig, Big Show and Bret “The Hit Man” Hart. It was never difficult for Goldberg to capture gold in WCW. During his lengthy unbeaten reign, Goldberg won the United States Championship and the WCW Championship.
Goldberg is remembered as one of the most intense competitors of all time. His wrestling finishers matched his remarkable capability. Goldberg used the Spear and the Jack Hammer to finish his matches. Although many wrestlers have used a Spear as their wrestling finisher but there was something different about Goldberg’s final move. This great wrestler who weighed around 285 pounds used to decimate his opponent by delivering a spear. Many wrestlers failed to stand after they received a spear from Goldberg.
Goldberg’s second wrestling finisher; the Jack Hammer was even more intense and powerful. During the execution of the Jack Hammer, Goldberg would pick his opponent high in the air in a vertical position, waited for some moments and then slammed his body extremely hard on the ring floor. Some of the greatest wrestlers of all time used to go in an unconscious state after receiving this deadly move. Goldberg made history when he picked up the 500 pounder, Big Show and delivered a Jack Hammer during his stay in WCW.
When Goldberg was enjoying his undefeated streak, it seemed that no would be ever able to defeat this great wrestler. However it was Kevin Nash who defeated Goldberg with some great help from outside the ring. Everyone knew that Goldberg could defeat Kevin Nash in less than 5 minutes. But Scott Hall came to the help of Nash and fired a stun gun on Goldberg. It was the end of the lengthy title reign as Nash defeated Goldberg. It was a blatant disregard of the rules of professional wrestling but Nash knew that he could never defeat Goldberg alone.
However the defeat did not break the mighty spirit of Goldberg. He came back to the ring in 1999 and started the journey again. After his return, he defeated many great wrestlers like Bam Bam Bigelow, Sid Vicious, Lex Luger and Scott Steiner. But when everything was going so well for Goldberg, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) started to face a downturn. WCW was eventually bought by the rival wrestling promotion, WWE. When many other wrestlers of WCW decided to jump ship and join WWE, Goldberg preferred to leave for Japan. Goldberg fought for three consecutive years in Japan and received unprecedented success. The power of Goldberg was simply unstoppable in any part of the world.
Please read “Wrestling Legend – Goldberg – Part 2” to know more about the life of this great wrestler.
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