The night after WrestleMania 19 Dwayne Johnson stood in the ring on Monday Night Raw and told fans that he had achieved everything he could in a WWE ring. Step forward Goldberg.
The former WCW World Champion walked out on Raw and broke Johnson in half with a huge Spear, leaving him laying in the middle of the ring. This established a rivalry between the pair which led into Goldberg’s first match at Backlash, which the former WCW star won.
Jim Ross On Dwayne Johnson’s Role In Helping WWE Land Goldberg
Speaking on his podcast, Grilling JR, the Hall of Fame announcer discussed signing Goldberg. Interestingly, Ross also revealed that The Rock also played a role in making the deal happen.
“Yeah, Rock had a great influence and impact in that whole negotiation, because he was a top guy. He was The Rock, and anytime you can get, you know, anytime you can get the top guy to vouch for you and want to work with you at the biggest event of the year? How could it not make you feel pretty good?”
Despite getting off to a strong part, Goldberg’s first WWE run failed to live up to the hopes that many fans held when he walked out on Raw for the first time. Although he eventually won the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H, he quickly lost the gold back to The Game before 2003 was over.
A year after it began, Goldberg’s WWE career was over, coming to a rather infamous end at WrestleMania XX where he faced Brock Lesnar.
The Madison Square Garden crowd knew that both men were leaving the company after the event and they let everyone know they were not happy about it. The packed house booed, jeered and chastised the plodding action in the ring, only cheering after the match when special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin delivered a Stunner to both men.
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