When Goldberg finally signed with WWE fans were hoping they would finally get to see the WCW star clash with Steve Austin but it never happened, here’s why.
As Goldberg rose to the top of WCW in the late 1990’s, Stone Cold Steve Austin was standing atop the WWE mountain becoming one of the biggest stars in wrestling history in the process. So naturally this led fans to wonder what would happen if the two ever met in the ring.
After WCW finally closed it’s doors in early 2001 and was taken over by WWE, that dream match seemed one step closer. However, it would be a further two years until Goldberg finally made his grand WWE entrance, flattening The Rock with a Spear the night after WrestleMania 19.
Over the next 12 months Goldberg tangled with Rock, Triple H and Brock Lesnar before leaving the company in acrimonious circumstances upon the expiry of his contract. Although the star has since returned numerous times on a part-time basis, Austin for the most part was long-since retired.
During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Goldberg has now addressed this lost dream match, commenting on why he believes it never took place. The former World Champion admits it’s a match he wishes that would have happened, but it was deemed a non-starter due to Austin’s well documented neck injuries.
“There’s no question that I wish it would have happened. I mean, that was the match to have. Why it never happened? I think 90% of the reasoning behind that was his neck issues. And my thing is moves, right? Whether it’d be the spear, whether it be the Jackhammer, I don’t think those are moves that he would have wanted to do, nor what his boss would have wanted him to do.
I think it was the safety issue more so than anything, but it was and it was never really discussed. We were never really in a room together and it wasn’t a subject matter. And I always wish that it was, I never really brought it up. Because again, that’s not my place. I like to think that I show up and I do what people tell me to do and I tried to do it to the best of my ability. So I wasn’t ever politicking for it, but there’s no question that it’s a dream match that never happened.”
It should also be noted that Austin retired from in-ring competition the night before Goldberg made his WWE debut following defeat to The Rock. It would be 19 years before Stone Cold stepped into the ring again against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38.
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