Bill Goldberg has been officially announced as the first inductee – and headliner – of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018.
The 51-year-old recently returned to the WWE after an absence of 12 years, feuded with Brock Lesnar, won the Universal title, and then lost it to Lesnar in one of the main events of WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.
The Oklahoma native began training for wrestling in 1996 after he was persuaded by Sting and Lex Luger to try out for wrestling after his professional football career did not take off. After undergoing training at the WCW Power Plant, he started appearing on WCW Nitro, quickly eliminating his opponents and staying undefeated for a very long time.
One of his greatest moments in WCW came in July 1998 when he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WCW World title at the Georgia Dome during Nitro in front of 40,000 fans. Goldberg’s undefeated streak came to an end at Starrcade that same year when he lost the title to Kevin Nash. WCW considered his streak of being 173-0 at that time.
After WWE bought WCW, Goldberg held back and got paid for the remainder of his contract until it ran out. In March 2003, Goldberg arrived in WWE and interrupted a Rock concert the day after WrestleMania XIX. No words were spoken but Goldberg delivered his trademark spear to The Rock to announce his arrival in the company.
At WrestleMania XX, Goldberg fought Brock Lesnar, a match which was the last one for both considering they were quitting the business. The match, officiated by Steve Austin, turned into a big mess as the fans turned on both Superstars. In the end, it was Goldberg who had his hand raised after defeating Lesnar at WrestleMania.
In May 2017, Goldberg was announced as the WWE 2K17 cover Superstar. This was his first affiliation with WWE ever since that disastrous night in Madison Square Garden in 2004. In mid-October, Goldberg appeared on Raw for the very first time in 12 years to accept Paul Heyman’s challenge to meet Lesnar at the Survivor Series. That match headlined the Survivor Series and lasted only one minute and twenty six seconds when Goldberg hit the spear and the Jackhammer for the quick win.
Goldberg was part of the Royal Rumble, entering at number 28. He quickly eliminated Brock Lesnar, Rusev, and Luke Harper, but The Undertaker eliminated him. At Fastlane, Goldberg challenged Kevin Owens for the Universal title, winning it quickly as well, before dropping the title to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33.
The night after WrestleMania 33 on Raw, Goldberg appeared after the show to thank the fans for the amazing journey and said that you never know who’s going to be next!
Throughout his career, Goldberg won the WCW title once, the WCW United States title twice, the WCW Tag Team title once, the World Heavyweight title once, and the WWE Universal title once.
