All language subtitles for Biography WWE Legends S02 E02 (Biography.Wwe.Legends.S02e02.720P.Web.H264-Bae.m4v) (ENGLISH)

Not many people were
privy to the transformation

of Goldberg the human
to Goldberg the character.

When you're a kid, you
fantasize about powers.

Goldberg getting the
spear, that's a power.

When you get older, you care
about overcoming adversity.

You care about the substance of
the character that defines the man.

What he has been through
to get to where he is.

Goldberg in the ring is the ramped
up alter ego of Bill the person.

Twelve years,
ladies and gentlemen!

Never thought I'd
be in this ring again!

The biggest thing that I miss...

is being a superhero for
the kids all around the world.

If a superhero is
defined ultimately...

by the obstacles he
or she overcomes...

in the course
of their journey...

Goldberg's legacy...

should be defined...

by the fact... he overcame
his biggest challenge...

over the person.

And therefore, his original
plan to save the future.

Hey baby!

Just, ah, letting you
know I'm goint to get Gage.

And I'm doing a
donut real quick...

Good footage for you guys.

Thinkin' you might like that.

I

was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A nice Jewish kid in the
middle of nowhere in Tulsa.

My father was an
obstetrician, gynecologist.

My mother was a concert violinist
and a United States Orchid judge.

So how I came out of that
combination is completely beyond me.

I had two older brothers
and an older sister.

They're much older, 14, 16
and 18 years older than I am.

I was the only one at the house,
the only kid at the house growing up.

As a kid, I was kind of a loner.

I kind of grew up on my own.

Myself and my best friend, which was the
Rottweiler that I would have at the time.

Rocky was his name.

I went to Hebrew
school, yes I did.

Temple Israel.

I was ridiculed day after
day after day for being Jewish.

Not a lot of Jewish people will tell
you that because we internalize it.

We don't like to
tell people about it.

But it happened.

And the only way that I
can tell you that my life

changed is if you look at
the movie A Christmas Story.

When he finally jumps
on the bully outside.

Outside in the snow.

And he's yelling obscenities as he's
punching him with both hands in the face.

That was my story.

There are many things
I like about football.

One thing that really
sets it apart from anything

else that you do is the
feeling of competition.

Not only does it pose one team against
another, but on each and every play you

compete one on one
with another person.

My love for football dates back
to the first picture I ever saw of me.

And it had Bill Goldberg,
All-American, 1989, whatever it was.

I played nose guard.

And I tried to inflict as much bodily
harm on every human being as I could.

Being in front of me
as humanly possible.

To be able to do that without being
thrown in jail is an unbelievable outlet.

And I think that's
why I liked it so much.

Being able to play major college football
at the University of Georgia was one of

the biggest honors I've
ever been bestowed.

Watch number 95, Bill Goldberg.

A lot of ball is fumbled.

They call Bill Goldberg the best
defensive lineman in the South.

That's the most comfortable
place that I could ever be.

I'm going to be a football
player until the day that I die.

They say Bill Goldberg has a
screw loose, that he's wild and wooly.

Goldberg with a body slam.

And Bill Goldberg is
pushing and shoving.

Look at this.

Looks like Foreman Cooney.

Big hole in the middle.

Lost the ball.

Georgia has it at the 33.

Bill Goldberg.

Number 95.

The sophomore
from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Oklahoma makes the recovery.

Bill Goldberg was a
violent football player.

Extremely aggressive.

I officiated high school
football for 20 years.

That's how I came
across Bill Goldberg.

My football crew was
officiating a game that his

high school team, the
Edison Eagles, played in.

And of course he was the
talk of the town because he

was the number one player
in the state of Oklahoma.

Jay, let's go.

I got like 15 minutes
for you to make me cry.

He had a nice career.

He had some injury issues.

But he had a decent career.

How's the knee?

You know what, man?

I'll tell you.

This thing, it's the root of it.

You think I've been
working in the yard?

No kidding.

Honey Mountain Lions.

This thing is bigger.

See the size of that now?

Yeah, it's a good...

I mean, you can never do
as good as you want to do.

To give you the mindset of Bill
Goldberg when I was drafted, I was pissed.

Because it took to the
second day in the 11th round.

So I took it personally.

And immediately I was like,
okay, when do we report?

I'm ready to rock.

I played for the Rams to
the last preseason game.

Tore my hamstring.

Got cut.

Worked the rest of
the year to... to rehab.

Get ready.

Got signed by the Rams
again in the offseason.

Got cut again.

Did it make me start
questioning myself?

Yes.

Did it piss me off to the point
where I wanted to work my

ass off to make sure that I
showed them that they were wrong?

Yes.

I went to the Canadian
League to check it out.

I didn't like the pay scale.

Nor did I like... like the fact that they
wanted me to drop like 30 pounds.

That didn't last very long.

And so I signed with the
World Football League.

We won the World Championships and then
went straight from there three weeks later

to the Atlanta Falcons
right into their training camp.

I never really had a backup.

I didn't want to...

I didn't want to
face reality in that...

I didn't want to know what if.

Needless to say,
I love football.

Good evening.

I'm very pleased to
announce that the Carolina

Panthers have been
unanimously selected as the...

For the first time since 1976, the
NFL opened its doors to expansion.

When the expansion teams came to be,
the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina

Panthers, each existing
NFL team put up four people

on their roster that went
to a supplemental draft.

Carolina picked me.

Unbeknownst to them, I had
had surgery like two weeks before.

Repairing my abdomen and
reattaching it to my pelvis.

Let's just say that my physical condition
and the trajectory of the Carolina

Panthers were going
in opposite directions.

It wasn't the right fit.

It wasn't the right
time in my life.

And I actually
asked for my release.

I actually asked for my release.

I actually asked for my release.

I was a little bit on this foot.

So it sits more posterior.

I'll tell you what, man.

When I just... That
hurts really bad.

I've hurt myself so many different
times and had so many different surgeries.

They all kind of run together.

But I know that one
was pretty extensive.

Any kind of rehab
that you're going to do

for a torn abdomen is
going to be strenuous.

It's going to be monotonous.

And it's going to
be painful as hell.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

You're getting close.

Yeah, you're on it.

Yeah.

Okay.

Uh-huh.

When I got hurt, I thought
my career was over.

I thought that my
lifting was over.

I thought my life was over.

Because that's what I was...
That's the human being that I am.

I'm a physical guy.

I worked my ass
off for 20, 30 years.

25 years on my body.

There has to be
something I can apply it to.

Football had gotten
him a college education.

Football had gotten him a
cup of coffee or two in the NFL.

He made teams.

He was on rosters.

You know, let's cut
to the chase here.

Goldberg needed a job.

The person that told me to give
wrestling a shot was my accountant.

Because he called me one day and told
me to get off my ass and go do something.

If you drew a picture of what
a pro wrestler should look

like, all you got to do is clip
out a photo of Bill Goldberg.

So he looked the part.

And that's a big step
in the right direction.

You got to look the part.

One of the most interesting questions I
get, whether I'm on a plane and someone

recognizes me or
finds out who I am, uh...

or someone that I've known
for a long time, I get the

question, how do you get
into the wrestling business?

The WCW Power Plant will
help you reach your potential.

They'll train your body.

Work on your moves.

And motivate you
to be your best.

The WCW Power Plant.

The number one wrestling
facility in the world.

WCW in the 90s started
something called the Power Plant

that was where they would
train people to become wrestlers.

And usually they
were pretty green.

They had a bunch of trainers.

Former wrestlers, current
wrestlers who would teach them

all the skills they needed to
become an on-screen performer.

Coming out of football and
then learning how to become

a great professional wrestler
is not an easy transition.

Because you're having
to unlearn many aspects

of what made you a
successful football player.

In the NFL, your intent is to go out
and hit them as hard as you possibly can.

And then you show up at the Power
Plant and go, no, no, no, no, no.

That's not quite
what we do here.

We kind of dance, but we
just make it look like it hurts.

Five, six days a week.

Nine to five, just busting your ass
trying to learn how to get off the ropes.

Hit the ropes.

How to do flips.

How to take break falls.

How to not hurt people.

It's a must.

And it's a grind.

Now a little bit more.

Just a maniacal laugh.

Good.

Excellent.

The fact that Bill started
his professional wrestling

career at 30 years old, the
deck is stacked against you.

That is a very, very late stage in life
to enter into professional wrestling.

It takes a long time to get
good at professional wrestling.

Since we first put wrestling on Turner
Network many years ago, it's been exciting

entertainment programming
for all our viewers.

World Championship Wrestling has always
been one of our most popular programs.

And now WCW is about to dominate
the globe in professional wrestling.

Ted Turner decided that he wanted to
go head-to-head and compete with WWE.

Ted Turner says, Skidberry, head-to-head,
Monday night, TNT against WWE.

The Monday Night
War is by far the most

exciting time to ever
be a pro wrestling fan.

We got two big wrestling companies,
WWE, which is the sort of institution,

and WCW, which is the underdog.

It's these two wrestling institutions
that are vying for your eyeballs.

This is the 90s.

You were physically flipping channels
with your remote control back and forth.

Every time one show goes to commercial,
you're immediately on the other show,

so they are... actively competing in real
time to keep you glued to your TV screen.

These two monoliths were just, like,
fighting tooth and nail for your attention.

But it became this sort
of proxy battle, right?

It was like, who wins the ratings
every week became the talking point.

That became a
huge moment in time.

It was a signal that
the tide had turned.

WCW was outperforming
WWE each and every week.

Wasn't even close.

We are the champions.

We are the champions.

We are the champions.

Here we go, the next
bout here on WCW.

A newcomer here in Bill Goldberg, a
man we know absolutely nothing about,

but he is making his debut here.

After three months in the power plant, if
that, Bill had enough fundamentals that

we could take him out
of the power plant and

now put him out in
front of a live crowd.

And typically,
that's what we do.

Typically, when you
would bring new talent out,

sometimes they'd get into
it, sometimes they wouldn't.

Most of the time,
they didn't care.

Bill Goldberg grabbed
everybody's attention.

Nobody knew who he was.

It was just a guy walking
out in his underwear

that captured
everybody's imagination.

How about that backflip?

And a big powerflip!

And that's a lot to lift, over
300 pounds of Hugh Morris.

And he did it with
ease that time.

He's gonna pick him up again.

Scoops the leg and put him down.

I'm a less-is-more guy.

I wanted to be the
Mike Tyson of wrestling.

Black tights, black boots,
knock people out and leave.

Next.

Muscles, he moves!

Combination slam,
one, two, three!

Oh!

Bill Goldberg!

The plan was to
be so simple and so

devastating and so quick
that people were like.

Did you just see that?

No?

Well, damn.

You gotta wait
another week to see it.

Wrestling at its very core
is a interactive experience.

It's less like a boxing match
and more like an election.

You're standing up in
front of a giant crowd

and trying to get that
crowd to go crazy.

You're trying to get
them behind you.

To get that
reaction is the game.

That's the contest.

Bill came out breathing fire, spitting
smoke, and the crowd just went, Whoa!

What is this?

And we were all sitting
backstage going, Whoa!

Look at them react.

Bill was now going to be on
a very accelerated flight path.

Yes!

Count him out!

He wins again!

21-0!

56-0!

60!

He's tight, baby!

What another mark in the wind
column for that man right there!

Goldberg was a down and dirty
and very easy-to-figure-out persona.

Spear.

Jackhammer.

Pin.

Audience reaction.

Who's next?

You're next.

That's it.

Goldberg!

There's a spear!

You saw him last night.

It's Rich Damping.

And he goes down!

It's a 10 on the Richter!

I wanted to be
something completely

different than people
have ever seen before.

And chalk up victory
number 75 in a row!

75 and 0!

We didn't want to put Bill in the
position that ultimately we did.

The fear was if we're going to
keep pushing this guy this fast on this

accelerated flight path in
trajectory, we're going to reach

a point where we're going to
run out of guys for him to eat.

And you're getting to
that point now where we're

looking at Bill and going,
OK, what do we do?

Hollywood.

Hulk Hogan.

The WCW champion is contractually
obligated to be in the Georgia Dome this

coming Monday night for Nitro to
defend the WCW heavyweight title belt.

Against what I feel is the
number one contender...

Goldberg!

I remember I was in L.A.

And I remember
exactly where I was.

I was on the 90 taking an
exit in the Marina Del Rey.

My phone rang.

It was Hulk Hogan.

He said, brother,
I got to talk to you.

I got an idea.

And Hulk said, I know
what we need to do with Bill.

I said, OK, I'm
all ears, brother.

What do you got?

He goes, he's going to beat me.

I did what you're
doing just right now.

I went, whoa, what?

He said, no, brother.

It's time.

Hulk Hogan's here!

Hulk Hogan is in the building!

You're damn right he is!

Go get him, Hulk, sir!

At that point, Hulk
Hogan is the institution.

He's also seen as being
kind of past his prime.

So people are happy to see
him deposed from that spot.

And for Goldberg to take it was a natural
fit based on the story they were telling.

Hulk Hogan, what in the
world are you thinking?

I look at the sum
of all the parts.

So all of a sudden, I'm
looking at this thing of

Bill Goldberg and I feel this
crazy momentum coming.

If I could get him... as big as Hulk Hogan
was, now I got somebody to work with.

Now I got somebody
to make money with.

And I'm looking around going, hmm,
how can I create another monster?

Every bad guy needs a good guy.

Hogan needed somebody.

And they wanted it to be this nice
Jewish boy from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Goldberg.

Nitro, it's all in the air!

106 consecutive
straight A's for Goldberg.

We've talked about a
home ring advantage.

But think of the
pressure involved.

Among the 40,000 fans on
hand, former teammates at the

University of Georgia as
well as the Atlanta Falcons.

Will Goldberg be able
to measure up to that?

It was the best night of my wrestling
career, my athletic career, my life.

And...

you know, I mean, it was an extremely
emotional night in a lot of respects.

I was...

I was nervous to the nth
degree because I didn't,

you know, I had just
gotten in the business.

Goldberg has passed
every test to date.

106 consecutive
straight A's for Goldberg.

And am I right?

There has never been a
world champion undefeated.

You are right.

I was in pretty decent
shape back then.

I was in pretty good shape.

Hulk Hogan was a mentor.

There's no question.

So I walk into Hogan's
locker room prior to the match.

And it's commonplace to
go over, you know, the dance.

Well, I go in there and I look at
Hogan and he looks at me and he goes,

don't worry, kid,
we'll call it in the ring.

This is the biggest one.

And that heightened sense
of anticipation is now over.

Let the match begin.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

The fans erupt at the bell.

I've never seen that,
never heard that in our sport.

The thing that fans loved about
Goldberg is he was intense.

And I'm here to tell you, it was
intense when you're in the ring with him.

You know, technical wrestling
and all that gaga doesn't mean

a thing if you're not selling
out every building you're in.

It's the biggest
crowd ever to see.

A televised wrestling
event on cable TV.

And you're a part of it.

And it could be the night where
Goldberg walks away with the

gold from arguably the greatest
champion our sport has ever had.

That's Hulk frickin'
Hogan right there.

And he knows what he's doing
more than anybody in the business.

I ain't doing sh**
that he doesn't call.

So he's in control
of everything.

I don't know if I'd do that.

Charles Robinson.

Head to the back of him.

He's gonna let the bench go off.

And Goldberg's got the back.

If you're really good at what
you do, you don't need writers.

You don't need to rehearse.

All you need to know is
who's gonna win or lose.

It's about creating emotion.

Having people
cheer and hate you.

And take them on
that rollercoaster ride.

And it's a complete arc from
beginning to middle to end.

And you're telling
an amazing story.

That everybody understands.

Despite the fact that this
was the story for Goldberg.

Hogan had been here for so long.

That it just seemed
impossible that he would lose.

How so dangerous is
Hogan driving Goldberg.

Face first.

He's gonna steal
the very ground.

And now he's got
the champ behind him.

We needed another attraction.

We needed another Hulk Hogan.

Hogan tried to...

And what better way to be Hulk
Hogan than beating Hulk Hogan.

Right in the middle.

Finish him off!

Finish him off!

This is it!

This is it!

Goldberg will win the
world championship!

I mean that was pretty cool.

To have my friends,
to have my family.

And to have, you know,
fans that I've acquired in

the short period of time of
me being in the business.

In, quote unquote, my
hometown at the time, Atlanta.

And then, oh my God, to
have my teammates there.

I mean, what a
cool deal that was.

It was... It was the coolest
night of my wrestling career.

I remember it like
it was yesterday.

The guys that I revered.

The guys that I looked up to.

The guys that I idolized.

They wanted to be me that night.

There's an old expression
that I like to use.

What works, works.

What doesn't, doesn't.

Look at the footage of
Goldberg spearing Hulk Hogan

in front of 40,000 plus
people in the Georgian home.

And then hitting the jackhammer
and pinning Hulk Hogan for the title.

Did the audience
rebel against it?

Was there a quasi-okay reaction?

No.

There were 40,000 people
going out of their f***ing minds.

Why?

Because Goldberg had hit.

He had become
a major attraction.

And the audience loved him.

I don't see what's so difficult
about that to understand.

Goldberg needed
to rise to the top.

Looks like a star.

Carries himself like a star.

Looks like a badass.

The audience
thinks he's a badass.

You marry those two together,
you have an attraction in this industry.

A lot of things go into
making a decision about who

you're going to put as
the face of your company.

And as the world champion,
you are the face of the company.

Are you going to put somebody
out there that pisses themselves?

Every time they have
to do a live interview?

Or are you going to put somebody as
the face of your company that is telegenic,

charismatic, totally at ease
with non-wrestling media?

And Bill Goldberg had
all of those attributes.

Now, were your
parents wrestlers?

They were the famous Jewish
tag team from the Midwest.

The Jewish tag team
from the Midwest.

When you're the champ,
you're at least a half inch taller.

There's a reason why
you have the belt on you.

There's a reason why you
have the title around your waist.

Ready to go?

Don't get that cocaine in
there, they don't pay me.

Alright, we'll go for it.

Okay, Bill?

Shoot.

What is the deal with, I mean,
what is the connection that you have,

that wrestling has with the
young people in America today?

You know, I like to think that
we're superheroes in a sense.

We're like real-life
comic book heroes.

Nice shirt.

Good to see you.

Bought you a picture.

It gave me the opportunity
to be the guy that I

was always planning to
be in professional football.

I couldn't wait to
go out there and be

introduced and grab a
kid and give him my belt.

I mean, I couldn't
wait to do that.

Because I realized how big a moment
that is to the person on the road.

To the receiving end.

I looked up to
professional football players

like these kids do
professional wrestlers.

And I got that instantly.

Ready?

Yep.

Stand by.

Going.

So you want to win this
WCW t-shirt or 12,000 bucks?

Well, you're going
to have to take me on.

You, me, in the ring.

Let's go.

Yeah.

You're next.

I'm going to ring your bell.

Bill showed up at the power
plant, punched in one morning.

And 24 months later, he's one
of the biggest stars in the world.

You, me, in the ring.

Let's go.

You're next.

That's where it became
the most difficult.

Because at that point,
Bill, as the champion, now

has to face some of the
other top stars in WCW.

You're next.

Bill still doesn't have the skill set that
will enable him to go out there and have a

match that will satisfy the
audience's expectations

of a World Heavyweight
Champion at that level.

Meaning, he can't just go out there and
eat Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Roddy Piper,

Ric Flair, eat them
all, and then what?

Oh, look at him with that belt.

Perfect.

It had started
to turn a little bit.

WCW had inflated his
undefeated streak along the way.

He would mysteriously win
10 extra matches between

appearances, and the
numbers got higher and higher.

121 and 0.

131 and zip.

It is a milestone.

Number 150.

I have a vivid memory of WCW
cameras lingering on a sign in the crowd by

accident that said,
this is getting Oldberg.

When we were in the middle of the streak,
it was a really cool thing to be a part of.

What people also have
to understand is that I

didn't walk in there and
go, hey, this is Goldberg.

This is the way
it's going to be.

This is what's going to happen,
and we're going to have a streak.

Who's the man, Bill?

You're the man,
no doubt about it.

Come on.

I showed up every week waiting
for them to tell me what to do.

It takes three, four, five, six,
seven, eight years to realize that.

You really develop the
level of skill set that you

need to be able to survive
in a main event environment.

Bill didn't have it.

Who's next?

That's all I got to say.

Who's next?

So that was when the idea of
Bill coming out and just eating

everybody alive in very short
order became his trademark.

As effective as it was, it
does paint you into a corner.

You know, I mean, there's a
reason why Ross and Rachel

didn't get together on
season one of Friends, right?

Because, like, that
was the story that people

kept coming back for
to find the resolution on.

What Goldberg had been giving
us was sort of like an artificial high.

It was like a sugar rush.

To really get behind somebody,
you've got to have the steak.

You've got to have
the vegetables.

You've got to have
the whole presentation.

You've seen it enough times.

It's not as exciting
as it used to be.

So what are you going to do now?

I'm Goldberg, and I fear no man.

Goldberg, you can't survive
my jackknife powerbomb.

Nash, get ready
for the jackhammer.

You can't survive my
jackknife powerbomb.

I fear you, Nash.

Let's get ready for the
jackknife powerbomb.

We talked about the anticipation
level for this matchup being so high.

We don't have to
anticipate any more.

It's here.

It stands at 173-0.

Wasn't the right time?

Hell wasn't the right time.

It was on my frickin' birthday.

Come on.

Give me a break.

What is this?

What is he doing here?

Wasn't the right time?

Career-wise, I don't know.

But I wasn't the right
guy to ask that question.

I didn't have enough knowledge
of the business around me.

So I went with what
everybody thought.

And Bigelow once
again uninvited.

Nash gets a break.

It's like a stun gun.

It was my frickin' night.

Absolutely.

Because I wanted that one that would shoot
out of the gun and that would stick in you

and then they could light
you up like a Christmas tree.

Because if Goldberg's going
down, I want it to be going down.

And they wouldn't let me use it.

Oh no!

Wait a minute!

Oh, Jack Knight powerbomb!

Could this be it?

One, two, three!

The streak is over!

And we have a
new world champion!

The streak is over!

173-1!

And a new world champion,
Kevin Nash, is crowned!

And basically what I'm going to be doing
is I'm going to be standing five feet away

and I'm going to be trying to
hit this hole with each round.

And every time it
deviates, I try to adjust.

So you want to make the
hole completely disappear.

We have witnessed
professional wrestling history.

Kevin Nash will always go down as the
first man to stop the streak of Goldberg.

After my first loss, I didn't really
know how to feel about the character.

You've got a guy who's never lost
before and now he loses for the first time.

Sure, it presents
a different dynamic.

There's always a beginning and there's
always an end to anything that's good.

The gun that
Goldberg should have.

There are a lot of ways that you can
make a loss add value to a character.

The character they had presented of
Goldberg so far was so one-dimensional,

the only context for Goldberg's
existence was the win streak.

The ideal of the Bill Goldberg
story is to get swept up in it.

As soon as the shine comes off,
you're not swept up in it anymore and you

start asking all these questions and
you start identifying all the blemishes.

The same things that got
him up there are the reasons

that we point at for everything
that happened afterwards.

Bret Hart, Goldberg, on December 19th
at Starcade, the two of you are going to be

facing each other for the
WCW Heavyweight title.

Now we're in a different world.

Now we're in a world where you have
to tell a story and you have to work with

people who are at a very
elevated position in the

company and you can't
go out there and eat them.

The challenge that that presented is
being able to have a long enough match with

enough layers from a
storytelling point of view

that didn't expose
Bill's lack of experience.

Ladies and
gentlemen, there he is!

Bret the Hitman Hart
has arrived to Nitro!

Bret Hart comes
from a wrestling family.

Bret is literally born and bred
to be a professional wrestler.

In that ring...

I don't know that anybody's
ever done it better.

He arguably was one of the best
and is still one of the best professional

wrestlers ever in the
history of the business.

I looked up to him exponentially
when he came down from WWE.

I was honored to have
him teach me anything.

Even talk to me.

I mean, that's Bret Hart.

Bill never learned to wrestle.

That's the problem.

Bill was zero.

Didn't have a clue.

He just seemed to think
that I was a practice dummy.

He didn't understand.

I don't think anyone ever taught him
that wrestling is actually performance art.

Wrestling is all about trust
and it's all about respect.

Nobody said, hey, you can't
really hurt these guys for real.

You need to go back to wrestling
school and learn how to wrestle.

But WCW... And nobody ever
called out Bill for any of that stuff.

Not one time ever.

Wrestling is a dance.

And the more senior
person in that dance...

is the one that ultimately
has to make certain decisions.

Guys who are as good as Bret in the ring,
part of their job every single day is to

make guys like Goldberg
look good in a match.

Good wrestlers
are tasked with this.

Let me say one thing.

I'm going to take any chance I
get to become the world champion.

If I got to go through
Goldberg, and maybe I'll suffer

the consequences tonight,
but I'm going to show one thing.

That I'm going to go in there, and
I'm going to do my best, and I'm going

to give Bill Goldberg a match
that he's not going to forget.

He's going to know
he's in for a fight.

There's an old saying
about guys like Bret Hart.

Is that they can go out
there and have a match with

a broom, and make the
broom look like a superstar.

That was Bret Hart.

That didn't happen that night.

The match was all set,
and everything was in order.

And I remember I said,
Bill, just remember one thing.

Don't hurt me.

I'm going to try to teach you.

I'm going to try to help you
so much with your career.

I'm going to teach you.

And help you become the
wrestler you really can be.

Don't hurt me.

He's going to soften up
those legs for that figure four.

I had done the figure four
spot on the ropes with him.

And I told him how important
it was that when I put the

figure four on the post
that he's got to grab my foot.

If he grabbed my foot just
before I fell back, I could

do a sit-up and slowly
lower myself to the ground.

But if I just jump up and fall
backwards, I got nothing to stop me.

It's dead weight.

Bill's pulling on my foot
just like he's supposed to.

I jump up, and as soon as I
start to fall, he lets go of my foot.

Really fuzzy, like the
whole world's spinning.

I get in the ring after that
with Bill, and he calls for a kick.

It's thrown with no sense
about what it could do to me.

I was concussed and
totally, totally messed up.

I hit the ground.

I get up, and he mows me down like
a car driving me over in a parking lot.

For that man to think
that I intentionally

kicked him in the head,
he has no idea who I am.

What good would it have done if I
would have dropped him with that kick?

Because I would
have been on my own.

I would have had
to run the match.

I don't know what the
hell I'm doing, right?

Bill made contact.

Okay?

It's on Bill.

It's not like Bret Hart stepped into the
ring with Bill Goldberg thinking that Bill

Goldberg was even close
to a level of a Bret Hart.

Because Bret was such
a master from a technical

perspective, he knew what
he was getting into the ring with.

And has to take a certain responsibility
for what happened in the ring as a result.

So I understand the bitterness and
the angst, but there's a certain amount of

responsibility that both
participants in a match like that have.

History has not been very kind to
Goldberg on the Bret Hart match.

I think if that match had happened when
Goldberg was on the rise, I don't think he

would have gotten the reaction
that he would have gotten.

It's really easy to say,
Goldberg, for all of his good

stuff, never learned how
to be a wrestler in the ring.

And because of that, A to B, it's his
fault that Bret Hart's career is over.

When I'm coming off
the ropes, I trust you, Bill

Goldberg, to kick me
properly and not hurt me.

And when you do it wrong, you cost
me four years at three million a year.

My career was over.

That intensity that you
saw walk through the curtain.

The first time that he did
his very first dark match.

Or the night that he beat Hulk
Hogan in the Georgia Dome.

Or any time that you've
seen Bill Goldberg since.

That's real with Bill.

Every professional
wrestler with some level of

success begins to believe
that they're that superhero.

That's part of what
makes you that great, is

the fact that you buy
into your own mythos.

You have to get caught up in it.

It has to be you.

You have to blur that line.

I put my hand through
a limousine window.

I have to become a completely
different human being

to be that guy that
people pay their money for.

I have to go from choir boy to
damn Godzilla within a flip of a switch.

That's not easy.

And it's taxing
on a human being.

The power's in the game.

You've got to be shaking
the red dunks in there.

Yeah, if I'm Bret Hart.

If I'm the NWO.

I'm gonna have second thoughts.

Smashing in the windshield.

I'm worried about Monday.

We're in Houston,
Texas for Nitro.

If Goldberg gets his
hands on that, get mad.

I came within a centimeter
of hitting that main artery.

How'd it feel last night?

Didn't feel real good, but I
felt a lot more comfortable

with this bandage on it
now that you put on there.

Looks like the swelling
went down some.

Yeah.

Looks like you've
got much drainage.

A little bit, I think.

Alright, let's see here.

Hold it up.

Not bad.

You know, this is truly an unfortunate
moment for me right now because not only

am I not able to wrestle in the ring,
but the only bells I'll be ringing lately

and in the near future will be
the bell at the Stock Exchange.

So everybody at the Nassau
Coliseum, take warning.

When I get back, I ain't
gonna be swinging a mallet.

I'm gonna be swinging this.

So everybody take heed.

Internet pioneer American Online announced
today it is buying big, sprawling Time

Warner, creating the world's
largest media conglomerate.

I remember when the Time
Warner AOL merger was

announced, it was, oh,
this is gonna be magnificent.

This is gonna be the greatest thing
that ever happened to this company.

About two months later,
someone told me they had a

lot more experience in
corporate mergers than I did.

You've got mail.

It's not gonna be like that.

It'll feel like that for
about six months or a year.

And then eventually, one culture
is going to eat the other culture.

Many of you may already
know that WCW has new owners.

Nobody, no one other than
Ted Turner wanted WCW

within the TBS or Turner
Broadcasting platform.

The writing was on
the wall for WCW.

I told you I'd talk to the man,
and that man is Eric Bischoff.

Shut up and listen.

I want to make an announcement now
that next Monday night at Panama City,

very well, could be the last night
of wrestling on the Turner Networks.

When they were
looking to sell it, they

weren't looking to give
away the TV time slot.

And the TV time slot was, like,
most of the value of the company.

Vince McMahon was able to go in
and just say, I don't care about the TV.

I just want to own it.

Imagine that.

Here I am on WCW television.

How can that happen?

Well, there's only one way.

You see, it was just
a matter of time before

I, Vince McMahon,
bought my competition.

That's right.

I own WCW.

In 2001, the decision
is made to sell WCW.

WWE buys all the assets.

Goldberg's contract is so lucrative, he'd
be a fool to go to WWE for lesser money.

So he sits it out.

And he gets paid to do nothing.

Speed up.

Come on.

Sit.

Sit.

Sit, sit, sit, sit.

Not on me.

Good boy.

My contract was guaranteed.

I could sit at home for two and a half
years and still be paid 100% of my money.

Whereas 90% of the people that went up
to WWE... were paid 50 cents on the dollar.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist
to figure out why I stayed home.

As far as the day after that
two and a half years was up...

I had no clue...

what I was gonna do.

What's up, buddy?

Come on over here, man.

I was a pro football player.

I wasn't a wrestling fan.

I didn't grow up aspiring to
be a professional wrestler.

I came to see Goldberg.

I think the way that I expressed
myself as a professional wrestler...

is just an alternative form of the way
that my idols express themselves...

as professional
football players.

What's up?

Hey there.

Can you turn around and
take a picture with me?

Yeah.

Well, come over here real quick.

If I got the ability to wear a helmet
and shoulder pads and do what I did...

I would have done
it in two seconds.

But unfortunately,
that wasn't the situation.

I had to run around the ring in some
BVDs and a pair of leather boots.

I think we both
accomplished the same thing.

While one was doing it with
something that they loved...

I did it to replace
something that I loved.

That's not really him.

And that's definitely not him.

That's not really me.

And prayed that it
filled the void of that

sad love activity that
I couldn't do anymore.

And again, this is not a slight against
the wrestling business or the fans.

It's just true.

I'm a football player.

We start with a
story of mystery.

You've probably seen the promo.

Months of speculation.

Two years in exile.

The man everyone wants to see.

And now he's back.

Goldberg.

But why has he come to
the WWE and why now?

I felt as though I took so much
from the business in the beginning.

And I didn't really understand the
giving back part as much as I should have.

But I did fully
understand it when I left.

Goldberg!

I was appreciative of seeing
kids when I was working.

Walking down the street going,
When are you coming back to wrestling?

When are you coming
back to wrestling?

When are you coming
back to wrestling?

There you go.

Number one, brother.

I always feel like I
owe the fans something.

And you should, as a performer.

It's what it's all about, guys.

The fans, they love it.

They love what we do.

They love what they do.

Part of my responsibility and part of the
reason for me coming back and giving WWE a

try was I wanted to give
them what they wanted.

I put my feelings to the side.

And I'm like, you know what?

You know what?

Let's just give it a shot.

Bill had a tough
transition coming there.

There's only so
many main event slots.

He's trying to take
somebody's job.

So consequently, he wasn't the
most popular guy in the locker room.

I've always felt like I was
on the outside looking in.

And because I think
I looked at it as a

business venture, a lot
of people resented that.

Oh, you don't
have the love for it?

Then why are you here?

You better have more
than that, punk-ass!

You better have more than that!

Strike me down, because I looked at it as
a businessman, and I was at an accelerated

age of my career to where I had
already been a professional at something.

These egos are something
you have to deal with.

They're not seasonal.

It's like the
wrestling business.

It's every day.

I didn't see eye to eye
with a lot of the guys.

I only had a one-year contract.

I had no desire to sign again.

I wanted to get the
wrestling business over with.

So the biggest thing that happened in the
span of Goldberg's career, in terms of the

way that we watch professional
wrestling, was the rise of the internet.

At the very beginning of Goldberg's
career, you know, maybe if you had tried

really hard, you could have found an AOL
chat room that had some reference to who

was coming out of the
power plant or something.

By the time that Goldberg and Brock Lesnar
faced off at WrestleMania 20, if you were

trying at all, you knew every rumor
about what was going on backstage.

There was already public knowledge that
Goldberg was leaving, and already public

knowledge that a very dissatisfied
Brock Lesnar wanted out

of his contract, and wanted
to go pursue other ventures.

Ladies and gentlemen, we
are about ready to set the

stage for the Goldberg-Lesnar
one-on-one matchup.

Special referee Stone
Cold Steve Austin.

This is going to be, no doubt, a
smash-mouth, high-impact matchup.

And these two men, one representing
Raw, one representing SmackDown...

Goldberg versus Brock
Lesnar is a great idea.

On paper.

When the fans know that both
of them are leaving the next

day, that is like what
failing at wrestling looks like.

Everyone knew I was leaving.

They also knew that
Brock was leaving.

And how dare us go on
with our lives and leave...

the fans.

There's nothing fans hate more than feeling
like something's a foregone conclusion.

We know that!

We know that!

We know that!

The audience is going
to hijack the match.

And what was going to be most memorable
about the match was the negative reaction

that both Goldberg and Brock Lesnar
have received from the audience.

And to this day, the audience's
desire to be remembered

that way is exactly how
that match is remembered.

It was hard to watch because, again,
Ian at least had a hand in building the

Bill Goldberg character and being a part
of the team that was there when Bill got

the best seat in the house on
a rocket ship ride to the moon.

The fans rebelled in the
garden that night at WrestleMania

20 because they thought
they were being deserted.

Two of their favorites
were taking a hike.

Mom and Daddy are
getting divorced and we're

not going to be living
with either one of them.

It's the worst
feeling in the world.

No matter how hard you try,
you've got 20,000 hecklers live.

And no matter what you do, how hard you
work, no matter what sacrifices you make,

they're going to
teach you a lesson.

When that match ended, at WrestleMania 20,
I would have bet everything that I owned

or ever would own that we would never see
Bill Goldberg in the wrestling ring again.

I didn't think after WrestleMania 20 I'd
ever step foot in the wrestling ring again.

What are you going to do?

Bill?

What's up?

You have no clue who I am.

I've been watching you
since... I don't care who you are.

You're a nice looking
kid in a nice suit.

You've got great style.

Why not come over to you?

And did you do any
research for your role?

Um, no.

No research?

No, man.

I played five years in the NFL and I've
seen the longest yard about 10, 15 times.

So, no.

Back in 2004, I was a
stuntwoman in the movie industry

and I get a call to do a
movie in Edmonton, Alberta.

No problem.

Who's in the movie?

They say Goldberg.

I don't know who Goldberg is.

I somehow hear Goldbloom.

So I'm like, oh, it might be kind
of cool to work with Goldbloom.

I'm like, okay,
I'll do the stunt.

So I show up in Edmonton
on the movie set and

I'm in full wardrobe
and he's in full wardrobe.

He's dressed as Santa
Claus of all things.

So he's got a big fat stomach, big
long beard, long gray hair pulled back.

There is a Santa Claus.

I love chubby guys.

I love Santa Claus.

I'm like, oh, he's cute.

I don't think so.

So, I have three
rules in dating.

I won't date a stunt guy, a
professional athlete, or an actor.

You see where I'm
going with this, right?

Yeah.

So, we meet.

I'll leave out all the details.

It was basically
love at first sight.

And he asked me out for dinner.

I shocked myself and said yes.

And we went out for dinner and
three months later we were engaged.

Whatever I had done prior in my life, I
was rewarded by meeting her that night.

It was the start of
the new beginning.

There you go.

Editing booth.

Nice catch.

I knew right once I met her that
if I didn't ask her out and if I didn't

eventually ask her to marry me, I
would regret it the rest of my life.

When I met him, he was already
emotionally detached from wrestling.

Three weeks after we met
is when he officially retired.

So, I had never
seen him wrestle.

He really shut that
part of his life off.

So, everybody's wondering what
have we done for the last 12 years off TV.

You're getting a little
glimpse of it right now.

We're living life,
ladies and gentlemen.

As my goat eats my pants.

So, I'm married to this legend and I hear
stories and I know he's a big deal because

when we go out in public,
everybody goes crazy.

Study hard, boys.

You're very welcome.

My pleasure.

Very nice to meet you guys.

And I'm like, wow, this
guy's amazing, right?

This is incredible.

But I never, ever shared
that world with him.

Okay, don't be all goofy and everything
and try to throw the ball through.

And

what age, has anyone found
out at what age they turn on you?

Anyone who's had children
know that children change your life.

You can say they're
not going to, they just do.

And it's always for the better.

You know, we all have these little
edges to us and when you have a child,

those edges all soften
and the focus changes.

And your world just becomes based on this
little human being and how you're going to

mold and create them and
make them this awesome person.

You put that baby in
those big, muscly, tattooed

arms and you watch a
man turn into a puddle.

I mean, it's magical.

I thought I was prepared
for it, but I wasn't.

Changing diapers and feeding and
being up all, I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about
like all the, everything

emotionally and it's
just, it's a different deal.

I mean, it was a dream
come true to have my own kid.

Swing all the way
through it, bud.

Smash it.

Possibly following my footsteps
in some way, shape or fashion.

You know, I mean,
that's pretty cool.

He started to think, I
want to share all of these

memories and these
experiences with this child.

And in order to do that, I can't
shut out sections of my life.

And so I think he, in his own mind,
he knew that the older Gage got,

the more the
curiosity would build.

He knew who I was when he could understand
what his name was because we'd always go

out and why are all
these people coming up?

And, you know, so you have
to explain it to him and then

you have to show him a
picture and then he gets excited.

And then you're like, oh, I
retired from the wrestling business.

I can't ever do this
again for this kid.

And it's like, you know what?

Just throw all this away.

Let's just go show.

I'm going to show you.

Right?

And so you go to YouTube.

Then he's like, that's not you.

Yeah, it really is.

Ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Paul Heyman.

And I am the
advocate for the beast.

Brock Lesnar.

We were living
our quiet little life.

And then we start to
hear these rumblings.

For 12 years, everyone in the WWE
universe keeps on asking the same question.

What if, even if it's just for one more
night, we could all experience Goldberg?

Are we allowed to say huddle up?

Absolutely.

Huddle up!

Both behind the scenes
and in front of the camera, an

obvious opponent for Brock
Lesnar would be Goldberg.

Huge box office potential here.

Because, as I said on
television, everyone, even

Brock Lesnar, has that
yeah, but on their record.

Brock Lesnar is the
baddest dude on the planet.

Yeah, but there's Goldberg.

Everyone has a responsibility.

Well, what do you think
about coming back?

Like, you're kidding right?

I don't wanna come back.

Goldberg!

You, sir, are hereby
challenged to a fight.

Bill went through this real big
emotional roller coaster about it.

Kind of like, I left it behind.

I don't want it to come back in.

I need it to come back in cause I want
Gage to see, I want you to see, being me.

So, then we talked about it, rationalized
it, you know, the rest is history.

No one on the planet can understand
what I went through getting back into the

business after having such a
long hiatus of being Goldberg.

Being believable in that you
can eat just about any human

being alive is really difficult
to do at 45 to 50 years old.

When Bill has to transform into Goldberg,
it's a very serious thing for him.

Yes, he's fit and he's in incredible
condition and he's got this amazing

physique that he works
very, very hard for.

He's dedicated to that.

But the cerebral process
is very, very difficult.

He's not a part
of that character.

What he puts himself through on a stress
level to prepare for these matches is no

one could even
begin to understand.

I wanted to walk away from the business
because everything it took to be that guy

week after week after
week was stressful on me.

It just takes a lot of energy.

Sporadic bursts of fanaticism.

From zero to 100,
back to zero again.

I'm like, honey, you've got to
like take it down a notch, right?

But he can't.

It's just tough.

It's stressful.

He only knows how to do it one
way and that's 110% every single time.

When I was in the best shape of my life,
I was not in very good shape in my eyes.

So imagine what putting yourself
through trying to get in shape again.

Performing in front
of all these people.

These people who haven't
seen you in a long time and the

only time they saw you is
this fire-breathing dragon.

Trying to make it to
the point where you

impress your kid after
you've hyped yourself up.

And then most importantly,
being able to live with

yourself when you look in
the mirror and go, really?

You're going to do this?

You're going to
look like a fool.

And that weighs a lot.

It weighs heavy on you.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen, the
Goldbergs just arrived in Denver.

Honey, your first trip in the world of
professional wrestling, what do you think?

Two thumbs up so far.

Gage?

Yay!

Okay.

Oh, Goldberg came back so that
his son could see him in the ring.

Goldberg came back so that his
son could experience Goldberg.

Goldberg.

It's not the same to
see it on YouTube.

It's not the experience.

It's, oh yeah, there's my
dad when he was younger.

And look at everybody
chanting his name.

But when you're in an arena full of people
and they passionately, intensely chant,

Goldberg, Goldberg.

And you're sitting
there going, holy.

Ladies and gentlemen,
it's been a long time.

And he didn't.

Twelve years,
ladies and gentlemen.

You never say never, eh?

I never thought I'd
be in this ring again.

So thank you for
the humble return.

What makes it so special
is that my wife and my son

are here to see me live
for the first time ever.

Now, as I've said,
it's been twelve years.

There's a lot of things
I miss in this business.

Thehan get I miss, other
than kicking ass, is being

a super hero for the
kids all around the world.

Brock Lesnar
challenged me to a fight.

But he didn't have the
balls to do it himself.

Fuck him, man.

Fuck him, guid.

He made Paul Heyman his
fat little stooge do it for him.

So Brock Lesnar, not only does
that mean that you're next, most

importantly it means
Brock Lesnar, you're last.

You're thinking okay this is
gonna be a pretty cool experience.

We're going back to wrestling.

I've been married
to him for 12 years.

I've never seen this happen.

I've never been in a room
where everybody's doing

the chant and it's my
husband they're chanting for.

It's my my son's father
they're chanting for.

It'll be fine.

I'll be fine.

You know, no big deal.

A surreal moment.

Goldberg heading to the ring
for the first time in 12 years.

You can't breathe.

Like you just can't
emotionally encompass the

feeling of standing
there and hearing this.

Two titans about to clash.

When I came back I was
actually trying to have a

good time whereas before
I hadn't even considered it.

To see him really live in action, like I
knew he was amazing, but this is like.

I don't think anybody
expected this sort of

dominance right out of
the gate from Goldberg.

He's getting slaved.

Goldberg again.

He's got Lesnar
sitting in the ring.

Goldberg's looking
for a jackhammer.

Goldberg looking
for the jackhammer.

Jackhammer for Lesnar.

Here's the cover.

Oh my god!

Goldberg be fresh!

Giving a mental upset.

After 12 years, Goldberg
returns to the ring.

It absolutely
destroys The Beast.

At the end of the match, I look
over and Gage is tearing his shirt off.

He tears his shirt off.

And I'm like, oh, okay,
we're just gonna roll with it.

And so he completely
tears his shirt off and

then Bill comes and
grabs him and takes him.

You see Goldberg bringing his
son Gage into the ring to celebrate.

Man, what a moment for
Goldberg and his family.

There's Goldberg's muse,
his inspiration, his son.

You can just see Gage
couldn't be prouder.

This is his dad.

Bill couldn't be prouder.

This is his son.

And he's back.

That's my boy.

Incredible.

I tried to tell you about
my wrestling experience.

Other than that goofy name.

It won't be on there anymore.

It's heavy.

That's what a real one is.

Did you have fun?

It was so awesome.

Four months since your
daddy has had a title.

I wear belts all the time.

That's different.

That's right.

All I know is y'all were
the reason why I did it.

How the hell did this happen?

Well, reminiscent of my matches,
ladies and gentlemen, do not worry,

this will be short.

I owe thanks to so many people.

I truly don't believe that
there was ever a character

that depended upon so many
moving parts for its success.

He breathes smoke and sh** fire.

I mean, I don't know
another way to say it.

You know, intensity is
going to be Bill's legacy.

Goldberg's legacy was the feeling that
you got when the music started playing.

Like, that was
Goldberg's legacy.

It was that feeling of
anticipation and excitement.

Like, that is Bill Goldberg.

His intensity, his power, and the
emotion that he brought to an arena...

it'll be hard to take
that away from him.

I don't think Goldberg
fits any cookie-cutter vision

of what a hero in
wrestling is supposed to be.

I think Goldberg's a
very unique character.

I think he's a very
unique persona.

I think he's a very unique man.

Wanda...

Me erasing my
wrestling demons...

and finding my peace in the business...
was your only goal for my comeback.

I can safely say, as I steal a
quote from you... it's all good, baby.

Yes, I know it's hard on him.

Yes, I know he ages every
single time he does a match.

But will I say, don't do it?

Never.

I married Goldberg.

I worked my ass off.

Because I wanted it again.

It meant something to me.

It wasn't just a job.

I love you people.

I love being that guy for you.

He could make you
believe that he's Goldberg...

and that there's not a human on the face
of the planet... that can stand up to him.

Goldberg might be like the
last superhero in pro wrestling.

Wrestling brings
us all together.

Never really thought it would.

I always wanted to
follow a football dream.

My inability to pursue
the dream of myself...

opened the door
to my opportunity...

to being a superhero for others.

My dream was... of being a
member of the NFL Hall of Fame...

could not have gotten me nearly as
far... in being the superhero for kids...

as being inducted into the WWE.

And I realize...

more so than ever before...
this is where I belong.

This has been one
hell of a journey...

which leads me to
my one final question.

Who's next?

Thank you very much.