The Story Behind Why Goldberg Was Brought Into WWE In 2003, And Why His First Run With The Company Wasn’t Successful

The return of former WWE and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg has taken the professional wrestling world by storm. It’s a return that most people believed would never happen, simply because the relationship between Goldberg and WWE was never great. On top of that, the ex-WCW megastar is approaching 50-years-old, and he’s been out of the ring for well over a decade. But, thanks to 2K Sports, which is the company that produces the annual WWE 2K video game, we’re going to get to see at least one more match involving Goldberg.

Much like Sting in 2014, WWE chairman Vince McMahon was never really interested in bringing Goldberg into the company. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons, with the biggest one being that he never really enjoyed doing business with the former WCW champ. But, again, like Sting, the fans’ reaction to Goldberg being in the new WWE video game convinced the WWE chairman to put water under the bridge.

Goldberg’s prior WWE run, from 2003 to 2004, didn’t end up being as successful as most people hoped/expected it would be, mostly because Vince McMahon didn’t really understand what made the Goldberg character get over so huge during his days in WCW, as they continuously booked him in questionable ways.

The former undefeated superstar was brought into WWE in the spring of 2003 after, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson expressed his interest in working with him. At the time, Vince McMahon wasn’t interested in bringing him in, but The Rock was able to convince the WWE chairman that signing him would be a good idea.

Originally, Goldberg was going to work a three-match program with The Rock, with the first match taking place at Backlash, the rematch taking place at SummerSlam, and the rubber match taking place at WrestleMania 20. But, they only ended up wrestling once at 2003’s Backlash pay-per-view, where Goldberg defeated the pro wrestler turned Hollywood megastar. He was also viciously booed by the pro-WWE crowd, who still strongly disliked anyone coming in from WCW, which, at that point, had only closed down two years before the match.

After it became clear that the Goldberg vs. Rock three-match program wasn’t going to happen, WWE booked him in a feud with Triple H, who, at the time, was running roughshod as the World Heavyweight Champion. The feud was probably designed to get Goldberg over, but, when it was clearly the right time to put the World Title on him in August of 2003, WWE decided to have him lose to Triple H in the first-ever Elimination Chamber match, and he was brutally beaten down by the Evolution faction — Triple H, Ric Flair, Batista, and Randy Orton — following the loss.

WWE decided to put the World Heavyweight Championship on Goldberg at the following month’s Unforgiven pay-per-view, as he defeated Triple H in a title vs. career match, where if Goldberg lost, he’d be forced to retire. But, his title reign didn’t last long, as Triple H won it back just a couple of weeks later, and then went on to work with his buddy Kevin Nash.

After the Triple H vs. Kevin Nash feud ended, “The Game” was once again put with Goldberg, and he dropped the title to him again at the Survivor Series show. But, once again, his title reign was short lived, as he dropped it back to Triple H just a month later, and Goldberg never ended up getting his hands on WWE gold again.

By the time of the Royal Rumble show, it was quite clear that Goldberg was on his way out. But, before he left, WWE had come up with what they thought was a great idea — a Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania 20. The problem was, just a short time after they booked the match, Lesnar notified WWE that, like Goldberg, he would be leaving the company after WrestleMania 20.

WWE had originally planned for Brock Lesnar to win his match with Goldberg at WrestleMania 20, simply because Vince McMahon was so furious with Goldberg. But, when Lesnar asked for his release, the WWE chairman changed his mind, because Lesnar, who WWE was building to be the new face of their company, infuriated McMahon more than Goldberg ever could.

As many people know, the Goldberg vs. Lesnar match in the spring of 2004 was a complete debacle. The fans in the live crowd didn’t care about it, so they booed both men, and both the competitors in the match didn’t care about it, because they were on their way out of the company, so they essentially did nothing in the match.

When The Rock decided to not do the planned three-match program with Goldberg, it put Vince McMahon in a weird spot, because he ended up getting stuck with a guy that he didn’t want to sign, and the guy who convinced him to sign the guy that he didn’t want was gone. On top of that, McMahon resented Goldberg for not working more dates than he was contractually obligated to, which soured the relationship between the two.

WWE has done a brilliant job with Goldberg since he returned to the company last month, as they’ve presented him as a guy who’s just as dangerous as Brock Lesnar, which is what they needed to do to get fans excited about seeing a sequel that, quite frankly, not a lot of people wanted to see, because their first match was so horrible.

Goldberg claims that his match with Lesnar this coming Sunday will be the last match of his professional wrestling career, but, nobody is really buying that. Of course, if the match ends up being just as bad as their first match, he probably won’t ever return to the ring. But, if it goes well, we could see him pop in every now and then for the next couple of years, in a role similar to Brock Lesnar’s.

[Featured Image by WWE]