Bill Goldberg is one of the most dominant wrestlers in history, a former football player whose accomplishments at his peak still get him put in WWE main event matches today. His biggest claim to fame, of course, is his undefeated streak, which has only recently been surpassed. That said, many of his wins were squash matches over jobbers like Hugh Morrus and Barry Horowitz.
So which matches of his were actually, y’ know, good? We’re going to look at five of his best matches from WCW, where he made his name, and five from WWE, where he had a somewhat disappointing run with some pretty good stuff in it.
10 WCW: Goldberg vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan (Monday Nitro, July 6, 1998)
The fact that Goldberg’s undefeated streak was deemed important enough to make it through a match with Hollywood Hogan unscathed is really something, considering everything we believe to be true about WCW.
His title match with Hogan is not the most exciting, but for Goldberg, it’s got a pretty good story: an up-and-coming juggernaut versus something he’s not used to being in his way, namely an important person who’s willing to blatantly cheat.
9 WWE: Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho (Bad Blood, June 15, 2003)
Chris Jericho tried to hit Goldberg with a car as his special way of saying, “Let’s have a match,” and Goldberg got so mad about it that he briefly forgot he was the good guy in the feud.
Goldberg and Jericho make for great opponents because Jericho is smart and technically a superior wrestler, but Goldberg is a colossus capable of devastating power moves, so there’s a good back-and-forth between the two before we reach the inevitable.
8 WCW: Goldberg vs. Sting (Monday Nitro, September 14, 1998)
Watch this match and realize WCW was really killing it in 1998. The packed crowd is nuts for this WCW World Heavyweight Title match and not just because it’s Sting -- despite Hogan and Bischoff’s best efforts, the face of WCW -- versus Goldberg -- WCW’s only legitimate homegrown phenomenon.
Goldberg is of course big and strong, and Sting is the only star on the roster without an ego and a willingness to make his opponents look good, so the result (while it lasts) is electric.
7 WWE: White Boy Open Challenge (Raw, June 23, 2003)
For several weeks Rodney Mack did this thing called the White Boy Open Challenge, where he’d trounce random but progressively recognizable caucasian wrestlers. Of course eventually, someone important would show up and obliterate Mack.
Cue Goldberg’s music, but instead of waiting the whole 12 minutes for Goldberg to walk to the ring, Rodney Mack just ran down and dove for Goldberg through the pyro! Absolute legend. Match of the year.
6 WCW: Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page (Halloween Havoc, October 25, 1998)
DDP ruled in WCW -- imagine if Enzo Amore was 900% less problematic, 250% taller, and actually learned how to wrestle. He looked like a cartoon dirtbag, but he had a certain everyman quality to him when pitted against Goldberg, who was a Xenomorph in the body of a Terminator.
It’s all in DDP’s flailing, desperate sells, like the way he takes the Spear -- they’re not like Shawn Michaels SummerSlam 2005 sarcasm, but a concerted effort to tell the story of a guy who can’t win versus the guy who will win.
5 WWE: Elimination Chamber Match (SummerSlam August 24, 2003)
You put Goldberg in a multi-man match with staggered entrances like the Elimination Chamber and it damn well better be a countdown to Goldberg popping out of his chamber and Spearing every living thing in sight.
Wisely, they made sure to save Goldy for last; he immediately started throwing around Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho like the smaller men with more hair they are. Then he punches through a plexiglass pod to get at Triple H. It’s awesome, and Goldberg doesn’t even win the match.
4 WCW: Goldberg vs. Scott Hall (Souled Out – January 16, 1999)
This is the “Stun Gun Ladder Match,” where a stun baton hangs from the ceiling with the goal of climbing the ladder, grabbing the baton, and shocking your opponent for the win.
Besides being a gimmick grudge match with Scott Hall, who helped pioneer the Ladder Match’s modern popularity, the bout notably presents Goldberg in a refreshing way post-streak -- bleeding out of his head, victimized by Hall’s incessant limb targeting and willingness to jump off of things.
3 WWE: Goldberg vs. Triple H (Unforgiven, September 21, 2003)
This match is not great, but Goldberg and early 2000s Triple H make for great opponents. They are both guys who believe they are the greatest and most important living professional wrestler, except Goldberg is on Trip’s home turf, and is therefore in more danger of being buried than if he were facing the Undertaker.
Never thought we’d ever see Goldberg as an underdog of sorts, but here we are. Believe it or not, Goldberg actually wins.
2 WCW: Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner (Fall Brawl, September 17, 2000)
Before he was an entrepreneur and modern-day Pythagoras, Scott Steiner was a professional wrestler. You’d think a No DQ grudge match between Steiner and Goldberg would be some kind of ridiculous train wreck -- and it does feature a run-in from Vince Russo, telling you exactly what awful era of WCW this is -- but this thing is actually awesome.
Just muscle-bound freaks effortlessly lifting one another before slamming them into the mat as hard as they can.
1 WWE: Goldberg vs. Mark Henry (Raw, October 6, 2003)
It’s a shame Goldberg only ever had one singles match with Mark Henry.
Their tragically brief encounter on this 2003 Raw had Goldberg doing what he does best: hitting large men as hard as possible and lifting them like they weigh nothing -- quite a feat for Goldberg to do to Henry. This ends up ending in a DQ, but that’s okay because it was good while it lasted.