83 Weeks - Bill Goldberg 1999 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Welcome back to the last 83 Weeks of 2021 Eric! What a ride it has been.

The journey has been a wild one for sure, with you being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, a fun time looking back to the very beginning of the nWo…you and Conrad have talked Outsiders…I was lucky enough to be a part of the message to Tony Khan - SHUT UP N WRESTLE…it’ just been a tremendous year for the show!

Well, we’re closing it out in a big way as we close it down by talking about Bill Goldberg in 1999. Now this episode is airing on December 27th which is going to be Bill’s 55th birthday so I hope he enjoys this birthday gift!

1999 begins obviously at the Finger Poke of Doom. You covered it way back when…actually it might have been your second episode which you can check out in the archives…buttttt…let’s dissect it from the Goldberg point of view. The talk has always been that Nash & Hogan manipulated Goldberg into this spot. How true is this?

Goldberg has even said in the WWE DVD The Rise and Fall of WCW that Hogan and Nash were playing their own little games against the wrestling world. What do you think he means by that?

Does Goldberg’s attitude towards the business change after losing the World Title?

Do you think Hall & Nash and the locker room had anything to do with that?

Goldberg is working on the top at some house shows against the Giant and Kevin Nash and then it’s announced that at Souled OutGoldberg will be taking on Scott Hall in a taser hung from the ceiling with a ladder match. That’s…a lot of stipulations here, any recollection on this brain child?

There’s talk in the Observer that Goldberg may need to have his knee scoped. Bill ran hard and fast for the last year. Was there more wear & tear on him than was being let on?

Duane Gill - as Gillberg - debuts on WWF TV on January 11th. From the Observer: “Duane Gill, as Gillberg, doing a Goldberg spoof, lost to Luna in 1:02 when he couldn't hold the jackhammer and she fell on him and then splashed him. He missed his spear and couldn't do his jackhammer. Michael Cole said that it showed Gillberg only has one moved. People were knocking that NBC special about planted signs, but it was clear for this one they planted a lot of Gillberg signs in the crowd and well as piped in phony chants, although they were making fun of that how the audience was chanting but nobody's lips were moving. It was kind of funny and probably equally classless to what WCW did the week before but it's a classless business. The odds are this will become a regular segment and it'll get over to the live audience at every spot, but it'll also wind up making Goldberg a bigger star than ever if they don't smarten up and cut it off quickly.”

Do you ever talk to Bill about this? What did you think of them spoofing him?

Souled Out on 1/17 from Charleston, West Virginia has Hall vs. Goldberg as the main event. The show draws 10,833 with 10,255 paying $210,740. From the Observer: “9. Bill Goldberg beat Scott Hall in 17:41 of a ladder match with a stun gun on the top. They did an angle before the first match where they went into Goldberg's dressing room and he was on the floor writhing in pain from an unseen attack. Goldberg came out wearing a big knee brace and limping badly. Most of the match saw Hall work over Goldberg's knee. Goldberg did a tremendous job selling the knee. Really it was his best performance from a dramatic standpoint to date, limping like a big monster with his head covered in blood (which I'm told was hardway although the timing and dramatic effect of this blood certainly fit perfectly in the match) with the fans knowing not to give up because he was going to make a comeback. Goldberg was about to get the stun gun, but Disco Inferno knocked over the ladder and he caught his throat on the top rope. Hall got the stun gun, but Goldberg blocked him twice and gave him a side kick. The stun gun hit the floor and Goldberg got it. Goldberg zapped Disco. Goldberg threw the stun gun in the air like a ref on a jump ball, and as Hall tried to catch it, Goldberg speared and jackhammered him. Goldberg then zapped him for the win. Bigelow then ran in but Goldberg brawled with him. This gave Hall a chance to get the stick and he zapped both Goldberg and Bigelow and left both laying. Aside from the post-match, this was really well-done. While it set up the three-way on TV, Goldberg's mission, which is WCW's best chance this year for a hot program, is go through the pack one by one until getting to Hogan. While there is a time for someone losing to get his heat back after the match, this wasn't the time nor the place for that to happen because the big money is to use this match to build to a bigger money program, not have this be the program. 3½”

The inclusion of Bam Bam Bigelow here is interesting as he’s put as an equal but Goldberg & Hall do have a hell of a match. What do you remember of this Eric?

The next night on Nitro is Goldberg vs. Bigelow vs. Hall and Goldberg does the jackhammer on Hall before Brian Adams and the rest of the nWo interfered. The Horsemen come out to help with the save but it ends with the focus being on Flair vs. Hogan. Why not have Goldberg pin Bigelow here?

Meltzer noted this: “the big money is still Goldberg vs. Hogan and Goldberg should be winning clean and made into a superhero until they get there. After doing such a great job selling the knee the previous night, Goldberg came out without a knee brace, nor did he sell the knee at all”

Does that lack of continuity hurt viewership or do you think wrestling fans don’t mind that as bad as dirtsheet writers do?

Goldberg is scheduled to be on the sidelines of the Super Bowl because the Falcons were in it. There’s always been talk about how all his mainstream work went by the wayside with WCW and wasn’t promoted correctly. Do you think that’s a fair criticism?

Bigelow vs. Hall have a Ladder Match at the Nitro in Dallas with a taser again hung from the top. Did you get a deal on tasers or something?

Goldberg cleans house after the match and then Scott Norton jumps him. This leads to Goldberg defeating Norton in 5:32. nWo attack again but this time…Herschel Walker, Brett Hull, Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris all hit the ring to stand by Goldberg for a gigantic pop.

Goldberg and Van Damme filmed Universal Soldier II and I’m assuming the rest of these guys were there checking out the show. Celebrities involved in WCW but it seemed like it was done correctly wouldn’t you say?

The main event was the Horsemen of Flair, Benoit & McMichael against the nWo which was Hogan, Nash & Steiner and it’s a gigantic brawl to finish the show of WCW vs. nWo. Goldberg isn’t seen until the nWo guys get to the top of the ramp and Goldberg picks them off one-by-one. It seems like Bill is gaining the crowd back at this point after the loss. Was this something you were focused on doing to make sure Bill was positioned that way?

Goldberg challenges Bam Bam Bigelow for a match at SuperBrawl. Why was Bam Bam paired up with Goldberg?

From the Observer: “Goldberg was offered a guest shot on E.R., but WCW nixed it because the filming would conflict with a Monday Nitro. Some heat over that since they don't book Goldberg a lot of Mondays anyway, and now they won't give him off when he has a chance to be seen to more people than have ever seen him before”

Do you remember turning this down because it would be on a Monday?

“Goldberg appeared on Regis & Kathy Lee on 2/8 and will be on Jay Leno 2/19. He spoke before Congress on 2/2 and got a lot of mainstream pub talking about animal rights and trying to eliminate dog fighting and cockfighting. From all accounts he came off very well”

This is big here Eric. What did you think of this?

From the Observer: “There was some heat back-and-forth regarding the 2/15 Tampa Nitro. WCW basically gave the show as a favor by Harvey Schiller to George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner then didn't even show up for his own show, and instead attended the ESPY awards that night. Steinbrenner's people were mad at WCW and complained afterwards to the office about the quality of the show, and in specific, about Goldberg not being there”

Do you remember people complaining about shows without Goldberg like said in the Observer?

So for those of you that don’t know what Goldberg did on Leno…here’s the audio & video: Bill Goldberg challenges Stone Cold Steve Austin on The Tonight Show [19th February 1999]

And the story about it from the Observer: “In yet another example of one of life and wrestling's most perplexing moments, WCW told Bill Goldberg to go on the Tonight show with Jay Leno on 2/19 and issue a challenge to Steve Austin, and then did failed to follow up on their own idea for this major grandstand angle with their typically weasley acknowledgement of it on the PPV and Nitro that didn't even mention Austin's name.

Twice on Nitro, Tony Schiavone made reference to the challenge heard `round the world issued by Goldberg on the Leno show, which was pushed hard all through Thunder the night before the challenge as the main topic of the show. Since the challenge itself drew almost no mainstream publicity, partially due to it coming off weak on the show for a number of reasons, viewers of WCW events who didn't watch Leno would have had no idea what Schiavone was talking about and probably figured he must have meant Scott Steiner (who they built as Goldberg's foe on the 2/22 Nitro main event). He mentioned the challenge had gone unanswered and made some remarks about how some people can talk the talk but won't walk the walk, but without making clear what he was talking about, his statements largely were that cryptic WCW language that nobody but insiders understand and only annoy most viewers with the announcing crew.”

Let’s start with this…were you worried about referencing Steve Austin on Nitro for legal reasons?

“Goldberg himself didn't want to issue the challenge to Austin, feeling it might make him seem like a star beneath the level of Austin publicly, which, although he is, isn't something that WCW should put Goldberg in the position of looking like since he's still the most marketable wrestler in the company. It was the idea of Eric Bischoff and Kevin Nash who ordered him to do it, and as usual, wasn't very well thought out, since the original idea was for Goldberg to challenge anyone in the rival company. Thinking through possible scenarios for that could be disastrous to WCW from a p.r. standpoint. Instead, the decision was made to challenge Austin specifically. Goldberg was told to say he was putting up $100,000 of his own money for a winner-take-all match for charity, and if he won, his winnings would go to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or another animal rights type of organization that Goldberg legitimately devotes a lot of time to. Nash had also told Goldberg he was working on this back door building to some sort of a deal he was hoping to put together where he and Goldberg would do a worked shoot angle with Austin and Ken Shamrock, feeling the interpromotional aspect of it would get the world thinking it was real and it would become the biggest thing in wrestling in years, particularly with Shamrock's name involved, and eventually turn it into a worked fight when it took place, and he'd share in the spotlight of the big interpromotional angle which would give him the rub from the match and the stars involved along with a rep as a shooter to the fans which comes in handy every now and then if there is a serious angle being done. How he would go about pulling this off, since his idea was to get Austin and Shamrock to agree to it without working through McMahon, unless that aspect of the idea was a work to hide something as well, is anyone's guess. The idea was to do it on NBC, which is why Goldberg brought up on the Leno show the idea of having the match on NBC and held near the Tonight show set.”

My goodness Eric as Conrad would say a lot to unpack here…Kevin Nash shooting an angle with Shamrock & Austin. You & Nash telling Goldberg to make the challenge. Was Bill hesitant to do issue this challenge?

“While Goldberg did well on the show with the usual references to his ring name and Jewish heritage, there were numerous problems with the challenge itself. First, he only had a few minutes. Second, he didn't deliver the challenge with much conviction nor cited any good reasons, the latter of which may have been due to time restraints. Leno actually brought Austin's name up first, and in his tone, was acting as if it was typical pro wrestling, and the combination of Austin's name getting almost no audience response and Leno's delivery pretty well doomed whatever this was attempting to accomplish.”

What say you Eric?

Austin responded on Howard Stern: “Nevertheless, when Austin was on Howard Stern on 2/22, the subject was brought up with Austin trying to blow it off by saying that Goldberg was wrestling in the minor leagues and he'd be glad to wrestle him if he came to the WWF but blew it off for now. He also tried to dismiss Goldberg as simply a copy of himself because of their similar blank trunks and shaved head looks. That response was risky as well, as any casual fan would hear that statement, being Goldberg is one of the three biggest stars in the business today, would see it as backing down which is not exactly what his character's popularity was built on.”

Look this is all fun and games and we see AEW and WWE taking shots at each other now on TV but is this the best way to utilize important television time?

At SuperBrawl Goldberg vs. Bigelow is second from the top under Hogan and Flair. From the Observer:

“8. Bill Goldberg pinned Bam Bam Bigelow in 11:39. As of one week ago, this was booked to be a quickie. Bigelow came out to no ring music so he appeared to be even deader than he is. This was the deadest Goldberg match since his infamous TV match with Steven Regal. It went too long, and while Goldberg sold his leg well, the match made him just another wrestler and he can't get over as anything special in the role. The awkwardness in talking about the Tonight Show appearance by the announcers didn't help. All in all, this was a major step backwards for him even though he was protected and won clean. There was a cool spot where Goldberg went for the spear and Bigelow jumped out of the ring to avoid it. When he got back in, he got speared twice and pinned after a jackhammer. Goldberg nearly lost him on the finish. 1/2*”

Too long? Did they just not click? Shouldn’t Goldberg just being running over dudes right now instead of going 50/50 with someone who just recently debuted on WCW after losing to Shane Douglas in ECW?

From Nitro the next night: “Goldberg beat Steiner via DQ in 7:51. Super heat. Goldberg nearly got whiplashed when his head fell between the ropes. Bagwell beat up ref Johnny Boone for the DQ. Rick Steiner ended up doing a run-in attacking Bagwell and Goldberg & Rick chased the two off.”

The next week on Nitro in Worcester, MA a big match is set up. The first time Ric Flair vs. Goldberg is to take place one-on-one. And it has no build. It’s pointed out in the Observer that the building failed to sell out and came up 1,800 short and the attendance was under 10,000 and when was the last time Nitro couldn’t fill a building like that. If you had booked and promoted Flair vs. Goldberg last week for this show do you think it could’ve sold out?

“Flair vs. Goldberg was the same Flair vs. Nikita Koloff match from ten years ago which is all the Flair spots and selling, no-selling by his foe and carrying a limited guy to a good match although Goldberg has ten times the charisma and five times the ability of Nikita in those days. Match had great heat live, but it didn't play as well on television because Hogan and Nash were burying the intensity with their commentary. After Goldberg hit the spear, the NWO Black and White ran in for the no contest. Flair and Goldberg were pounding on the Job Squad (although Stevie Ray wasn't willingly selling for Flair) until Hogan and Nash came in with Steiner and Buff and overpowered the guys until the show went off the air”

Meltzer goes on to say that Flair vs. Goldberg did a 4.64 final quarter saving the show’s average rating to a 4.40 rating. But with Hogan’s babyface turn it’s speculated that Goldberg is no longer the top babyface and there’s a chance he’s unhappy about this. Did Bill ever express anything like this to you?

Now one of the bigger angles Goldberg does in 1999. The infamous Bret Hart angle in Toronto. You covered this in your Bret Hart episode but we can’t not talk about it today Eric!

Bret Hart 'steel plate' segment - WCW Nitro March 29th 1999

How happy are you with the segment afterwards? Was Bill?

Did you see a future pay-per-view main event with Bret & Bill?

From the Observer: “Kevin Nash was mad about the angle, or at least he was telling everyone who would listen that. Nash had already gone to Hart last week and wanted to use all the heat on the internet about him burying Hart (which he was doing) and turn it into an angle where he could become a heel booker since that's what he's being portrayed at anyway and Hart fans were all over his website blaming him for Hart's lack of a push. Nevertheless, even though Nash told Hart he wanted to turn this into an angle, there must have been some heat at some level since Nash didn't want the Hart-Goldberg angle to take place and was complaining that he was given control to be booker and this angle was sprung on him and he didn't want it and he was told by Bischoff they wouldn't interfere with him as they had with previous bookers, before the Panama Beach Nitro, and he basically let Dusty Rhodes put the show together (something the whole company was paying for the next week). A lot of the other power brokers got in Bischoff and others' ear about the angle potentially ruining Goldberg, particularly being done in Toronto where Hart would get the face reaction. Bischoff wanted Hart to run down Canada and the Canadian government in his interview before Goldberg came out so Goldberg would be the face in the angle, but Hart refused. Nash also wanted the angle to end with Hart quitting, but Nash jumping him and leaving him laying on the way out as the bully booker to start a program between the two of them, which Hart also refused since he thought he and Bischoff had already agreed upon the direction of the angle and he clearly had it in his mind that this was the night he rehabbed his past year plus of floundering. Because so many people feared damage to Goldberg, Bischoff ordered the Goldberg chants piped into the building (the fans were actually booing him heavily) when Goldberg came out to be turned up full blast. The angle, which saw Hart get a phenomenal response similar to what Rock has been getting in WWF the past few weeks, probably second only to Flair that night in Greenville, challenge Goldberg, Hogan, Flair and others. Goldberg came out and speared Hart, but when both guys were on the mat dead. They were both down for way too long before Hart recovered and covered Goldberg and counted 1-2-3. Hart then took off his hockey jersey revealing a metal plate around his stomach that KO'd Goldberg, which actually got a big pop as well. It probably would have been slightly more effective had it been done with a ref counting the pin in a real match, but I guess nobody wanted Hart to actually beat Goldberg. The biggest pop, and this surprised me, was during the interview when Hart talked about Goldberg putting up money to challenge Steve Austin, and how he's the guy who beat Austin every time they wrestled. I figured even in Canada, that would elicit at least some boos but instead it drew the biggest cheers. There were a lot of people hot backstage at Hart for bringing Austin's name up, but it did make sense for him to do it because it positioned him as one of the biggest stars in the business at a time when he hasn't been viewed as that in a while and besides, it got the biggest pop of anything on the show. He then said WCW didn't respect him and said he was quitting the company and walked out of the building. Bischoff and Hart tried to work the people and the wrestlers backstage that the angle was a shoot as they argued backstage with no cameras on in front of the wrestlers, but Bischoff has done that so often that now the wrestlers consider it a pathetic joke and nobody bought it. However, it drew a lot of mainstream media coverage in Canada that the angle was a shoot with stories of Hart quitting WCW. The plan that WCW wanted was for him to do the Goldberg angle but not to quit on television and have him call a press conference with no WCW involvement in calling it and say he's quitting so it would get mainstream press and be perceived as legit instead of an angle, however Hart didn't want to do that because of the long-term ramifications of people feeling used when he comes back and also the idea that would make people think his leaving the WWF was an angle as well. He's trying to play this off publicly as something of the effect of he's not retiring but he's sitting out and is not sure what his next move will be but that he can't see himself in either WWF or WCW. Actually there is some truth in that because nobody does know what the next move will be, other than they have to rehab Goldberg next week which can easily be done with him killing a star (and Meng isn't a star).”

Did Goldberg have an issue with selling so heavy for Bret?

Tank Abbott is signed according to the Observer and the speculation is that he will be groomed to be a big time opponent of Goldberg’s. Was that your plan with Tank?

At Spring Stampede…and here’s a crazy thought process…Goldberg and Kevin Nash have their long awaited rematch. Their main event match at Starrcade leads to this rematch which is 2nd from the top under the DDP vs. Hogan vs. Flair vs. Sting 4-way for the WCW Title with Randy Savage as ref. When Nash beats Goldberg for the Title at Starrcade did you really see the rematch being in this spot?

From the Observer: “8. Bill Goldberg pinned Kevin Nash in 7:44. Nash had the early advantage including using a low blow and a side slam. Goldberg powered Nash over with a front chancery into a suplex. Goldberg went for a spear but Nash leap frogged him and Goldberg destroyed ref Mickey Jay. Actually Nash looked good for a spot. Nash used a chair shot on Goldberg. Goldberg made the big recovery using the claw to the groin, followed by a spear and jackhammer. *”

Kevin Nash doing a leapfrog actually happened. Goldberg gets the win in a strong fashion here even with the ref bump but it doesn’t have the same feel to it. Was the star of Goldberg waning here to the fans?

I ask that question because Goldberg is featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly on April 16th. Was the hope that his ability to break into the mainstream would garner more attention and more fans? What he was like as a representative for the company?

It’s been said Vince McMahon sent a letter to EW regarding having Goldberg on the cover compared to Steve Austin. Is this how petty Vince was back then?

“Goldberg was on QVC and when asked about what he's doing in the future, he said that he really doesn't know because they don't tell him anything and when asked about why Nash saved him and why it's never referred to, he said they often change things by Thursday from Monday”

I just thought that was funny. Was that happening a lot back then?

Did Bill not fight for his spot or character the way the other top guys in WCW were doing?

Was that the biggest flaw in Bill?

Slamboree in St. Louis has Sting and Goldberg 2nd from the top underneath DDP and Kevin Nash and man does this match have some controversy.

“Add Goldberg to the list of very unhappy campers, and boy have there been a lot of those of late. Goldberg, who has several years left on his contract which I believe is at $800,000 per, attempted to renegotiate it upwards since he's the company's biggest current media star but is far below the likes of Hogan, Hart, Nash, Hall, Savage, Sting and Page (all at $1.5 million per and up) and feels he should be at their level and Bischoff hasn't been accommodating”

What was the contract negotiations like with Bill at this point especially knowing the injury and him going out? Did he deserve the money do you think or were you trying to limit budget here?

How unhappy was Bill?

The story is that Bill got the $1.5 million he was looking for a year.

Goldberg is in the ring for the Road Wild go-home show at Nitro in Boise, ID which features Hulk Hogan’s return to the red & yellow. Goldberg is just standing there watching it happen. Is Goldberg just a bit player at this point?

At Road Wild Goldberg beats Steiner in just over 5 minutes. The next night on Nitro he kills Barry Windham in 32 seconds and gets the big pop. Did someone finally sit there and realize and say…”This is all we have to do to get Bill over?”

You’re winding down your time in WCW at this point…did you have long term plans though in what you were thinking to do with Goldberg?

Any thought to putting the title back on him or had that ship sailed?

The last Nitro you’re a part of in 1999 takes place in Miami, Florida. Here’s the write-up from the Observer regarding the main event: “In a cage match, Hogan & Sting & Goldberg beat Sid & Page & Steiner in 4:24. Late in the week they had decided to make this a War Games match, since they traditionally do War Games on the September PPV but weren't going to this year. Unfortunately, they had already sold tickets for a normal, as opposed to a two-ring set-up, and these kind of changes can't be made last minute. Some day this company will get someone in charge who can plan things out in advance and they may turn it around. Goldberg came out to his old music and got a huge reaction. First Bigelow & Kanyon jumped Goldberg so Hogan was getting triple-teamed. Then they threw an injured Goldberg into the cage, but he recovered instantly. The heels took advantage until Sting finally came out. Luger tried to stop him. Hogan legdropped Page for the pin. Luger yelled at Sting after the match and punched him. Sting started punching back as the show went off the air. How any of this builds any heat for a Hogan vs. Sting match on PPV in six days is beyond me.”

That’s a heavy knock on you there Eric. Was it all just last minute hot shot booking that sometimes would work and sometimes wouldn’t?

Do you remember any conversations with Bill shortly before you’re reassigned?

When you’re reassigned do you reach out to Bill or does he reach out to you?

Do you think taking the title off Bill at Starrcade 98 set forward a chain of events that led to you leaving WCW?

What’s the one thing you would change about Bill’s 1999 looking back?