Nowadays, most professional wrestling fans hear about ending a streak and we immediately think of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak ending, and This Day in Wrestling History completely understands.
We’re right there in that thinking as it was done on the grandest stage in wrestling.
However, for WCW fans there was another streak that didn’t set to well and has been pointed to as a possible turning point in the Monday Night Wars.
On December 27, 1998, the world was shocked when WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg went into WCW’s Starrcade with a 173-0 streak and left with his first loss and without the title.
At the height of the Monday Night Wars between the WWE and WCW, WCW was banking on their freshly discovered phenomena carrying the company.
The problem was there were various decisions made or were forced to be made that helped change the outcome of both companies.
Debunking a myth
While this has been criticized by many for Kevin Nash booking himself to end Goldberg’s streak, that’s been debunked by Eric Bischoff on his podcast 83 Weeks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onM0DMyNHkQ ).
According to Bischoff:
“We had been talking about it, from what I can recall, for a couple of months. As I have touched on in previous shows… we were just running out of guys for Goldberg to go through. Once we got to point of whatever it was 173-0 or whatever it was (laughs). It was that point where we had to start telling stories. We had to expand the storytelling process with Bill. We knew it had to be done.
“It was probably a couple of months previously that we started discussing it and getting serious about it. In terms of, “Was it always going to be Nash?” No. We were exploring a lot of different opportunities. Because of what was going on and the shear size of Kevin Nash he was the most believable and credible to tell that story”
While this is understandable, the problem many fans have with the match was the setup.
Billed as a No Disqualification, it left the door open to any number of ways for Nash to win, and after a couple of attempts, Scott Hall used a stun gun on Goldberg for Nash to claim the victory.
Honestly, I wanted to see Nash and Goldberg straight up, but this ending made sense given Hall and Nash were heels and it kept Goldberg strong since on one had defeated him alone as yet.
Goldberg’s streak lasted a little over 15 months and reach an estimated 173 wins. While the number is highly debated and disputed, no one can argue the force that Goldberg was.
There was something awesome about him and his entrance that was refreshing and made you want to see him destroy people.
Bill Goldberg has many moments in This Day in Wrestling History, but few carry as much of a sting or bad taste for fans.
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