Goldberg Wanted To Rip The Face Off Ex-WWE Star

Former World Champion Goldberg has given a stark take on a WWE star he was closely associated with, making his disdain for them very clear.

During the late 1990’s Goldberg rose to prominence extremely quickly, picking up a string of victories whilst keeping his undefeated record in tact. Remaining popular with the crowd, he would maintain his streak all the way through to defeating Hollywood Hogan to become WCW World Champion in July 1998.

With the Monday Night War between WWE and WCW in full force, the quick rise of a star like Goldberg made him a target for the opposition, which led to them finding a key role for Duane Gill.

Having only been used as enhancement talent by WWE in the early 1990’s, Duane Gill surprised plenty of people when he defeated Christian to win the Light Heavyweight Champion in 1998. However, a few weeks later Gill made the change to become Gillberg, parodying his WCW counterpart with sparklers instead of pyro for his entrance.

In a discussion with Chris Jericho on his Talk Is Jericho podcast, Goldberg opened up on how he wanted to rip Gillberg’s face off at first, however he has now had time to reflect and is pleased with the opportunity the character created.

You know how I felt about it, I wanted to rip his face off. But that just made me understand what the wrestling business is all about. I mean the way I look back on it now, I’m ecstatic that they were able to give this guy a job. That’s how I’ve broken my life down. It’s the good that can come of actions that have happened in the past. And the way I looked at it in the beginning, like I said, I was p*ssed off about it.

In the interview, Goldberg also discussed how his first meeting with Vince McMahon was far from a warm and fuzzy affair.

With thanks to Inside The Ropes for the transcription.