Following his official debut on WCW Monday Nitro on September 22, 1997, Goldberg was 161-0 on all company programs before losing to Kevin Nash at Starrcade in 1998. Goldberg had other choices, despite his phenomenal success in the company, and was initially interested in a deal with WWE.
During an appearance on The Roman Atwood Podcast, Goldberg recently explained how he spoke with WWE officials before meeting with WCW officials. Despite being handed a training contract, the future WWE Hall of Famer sensed something was off:
“I lived in Atlanta where WCW was and it was based, and all those guys I knew. [Goldberg noted to Jim Ross that he didn’t have an agent] ‘Oh no, Mr. McMahon hates agents.’ So I immediately thought, ‘Okay, I gotta get one, right now.’ So I go in there and I meet with [Vince] and Jim Ross, and they offer me a training deal, and I flew back to Atlanta and I called the owner or the President of WCW [Eric Bischoff].”
Goldberg went on to explain how he got to be a part of World Championship Wrestling and eventually became one of their primary faces, citing a previous friendship with Eric Bischoff as the reason:
“Our paths had crossed, I’m not gonna tell you how, but we had seen each other a number of times in a number [of] places. I called him and said, ‘Listen, here’s the deal. I want to do this wrestling gig. I’m not gonna be one of those $500 throw-around-the-ring punks, I’m gonna make a difference in this business.’ And that’s just the confidence that I had.”
You can listen to the complete interview below:
