Real Reason Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Goldberg Never Happened In WWE Finally Revealed
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Goldberg was one of the dream matches that wrestling fans never got to see.
Both wrestlers achieved peak success during the Attitude Era, with Austin being the must-see superstar in WWE, whereas Goldberg squashed his opponents in WCW.
After WCW went out of business in 2001, Vince McMahon purchased it and integrated some of its talents into his own company’s roster. Goldberg made the jump in 2003.
However, by that time, Austin was forced to retire at WrestleMania 19 due to prevalent neck issues. Goldberg’s high-intensity moves would have proved to be detrimental to Stone Cold Steve Austin’s physical state.
Nevertheless, fans did get a tease at WrestleMania XX when Goldberg faced Brock Lesnar in a singles match with The Rattlesnake serving as the special guest referee.
The match was critically panned, and the live crowd did not do much to liven the spirit either. With Lesnar expected to leave the company, they booed him while also jeering Goldberg.
Stone Cold Steve Austin ultimately sent the audience home happy by hitting Stunners on both superstars.
Stone Cold Steve Austin Explains Why Match Versus Goldberg Never Happened
Stone Cold Steve Austin recently appeared on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast, where he discussed why his match with Goldberg never came to pass.
Austin explained that Goldberg needed time to settle since coming from WCW and needed to get a few matches under his belt. He also said that they were good friends outside despite the nature of their in-ring interactions.
I don’t know. I think we pitched it when he first came in, but he wasn’t at the level that he needed to be. He had just come into WWF, and he needed to get going or get over first.
He was certainly over from his WCW days. I think a little bit of time had elapsed, but I watched him down there in Atlanta, but we were all on the road at the time, and that was during the Monday Night Wars.
If you set your DVR to record back in the day, you kind of knew what was going on. I watched Dallas Page kind of go down a parallel path as me too as far as this timeline of getting over.
But yeah, you know, Goldberg just needed to put some time in WWF before we could go, and then it just never happened. Bill is a good friend of mine.