Goldberg: Remembering His Undefeated Streak in WCW

With Bill Goldberg back in the WWE after a 12-year absence, it is now the perfect time to take a closer look at his impressive undefeated streak in WCW.

Goldberg’s undefeated streak in WCW lasted for almost two years. During that time span, he destroyed everyone in his path. Most of those matches only lasted a minute or two, but winning an “official” 173 straight matches is impressive nonetheless.

The actual length of the undefeated strength is questionable, but it is still an incredible milestone that remains a part of wrestling to this day.

It all started on September 22nd, 1997, the night when Goldberg had his debut match on WCW Monday Nitro against Hugh Morrus.

No one knew who Goldberg was before the match, but they definitely knew who he was after it. He looked like a machine. He picked up and slammed Morrus multiple times like it was nothing and he even kicked out of Morrus’ Moonsault from the top rope.

Then Goldberg ended the match with his signature Jackhammer suplex. The fans loved it. They had never seen someone as powerful and dominant as him.

Over the next six months, the former World Heavyweight Champion decimated wrestler after wrestler. While he did defeat a lot of jobbers, he also took down some notable wrestlers including Chavo Guerrero Jr., Fit Finlay, Perry Saturn and Lord Steven Regal.

Then on April 20th, 1998, Goldberg took on Raven for the WCW United States Championship. It was his first ever title match and he did not disappoint. The crowd loved it.

Right from the start of the match, Goldberg went after Raven. He threw Raven all over the outside of the ring and against the steel barricades. Raven had to use a steel chair to keep Goldberg off of him.

Raven did his best to wear down Goldberg, but it didn’t work as he would not go down. Even after The Flock interfered, he fought each member one by one and took them down. Then with everyone out of the way, he hit Raven with a Spear to win his first title in WCW.

After winning the title, Goldberg continued his dominant streak, beating people like Perry Saturn, La Parka, Konnan and Curt Hennig. It seemed like he would never lose the U.S. title. At the same time, Goldberg seemed ready to enter the main event scene.

About three months after winning the U.S. title, Goldberg had a match against Scott Hall to earn a shot at Hollywood Hogan’s WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He beat Gall to win the match and faced Hogan later in the night for the title.

While it was not the most technical match, Goldberg vs. Hogan was still really entertaining. The crowd was into the match from the start. The atmosphere was electric.

Goldberg overpowered Hogan throughout the match, but the champion used every heel tactic in the book to gain an advantage. He hit Goldberg with a low blow, he hit him with his belt and a steel chair.

Just when it seemed like Hogan would win the match, Goldberg capitalized on a distraction from the outside to hit Hogan with a spear. Then he hit Hogan with a Jackhammer to win the title. The crowd erupted with cheers. It was an incredible moment.

The Master of the Jackhammer would go on to hold the title for the next five months. He also feuded with Curt Hennig, The Giant, and Diamond Dallas Page during that time.

Goldberg’s undefeated streak finally came to an end on December 27th, 1998, in a controversial no-disqualification match with Kevin Nash at Starrcade.

The match was sloppy and short. It ended after Scott Hall interfered, disguised as a security guard. Hall used a taser gun to shock and immobilize Goldberg. Kevin Nash capitalized on the opportunity and hit him with a Jackknife powerbomb to win the title and hand the former football player his first ever loss.

In retrospect, it seemed really stupid to have The Myth lose to Nash in such a ridiculous way. You could add that to the list of reasons why WCW went down the drain. Goldberg went on to find more success in WCW, but it was never the same.

Bill Goldberg’s undefeated streak in WCW is one of the most impressive feats in the history of professional wrestling. There will likely never be another milestone quite like it.