tulsaworld
After transitioning from pro football to pro wrestling, Bill Goldberg was a phenomenon who prevailed in 173 consecutive matches.
Known simply as Goldberg or Goldberg! he would capture the World Championship Wrestling championship, the World Wrestling Entertainment world championship and the WWEs Universal championship.
From fans in every arena in which the Tulsa native would perform, there was a continuous Goldberg! Goldberg! chant.
In 2016 12 years after leaving the WWE and vowing that there wouldnt be a return Goldberg did return and defeated Brock Lesnar in less than three minutes.
If Goldberg wins another title on July 12 when he challenges WWE world champion Gunther in the NBC-televised, prime-time Saturday Nights Main Event Goldberg will have done so at the age of 58.
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Presumably, Goldberg scored a beautiful payday to battle Gunther (a 37-year-old Austrian whose actual name is Walter Hahn).
It is billed as Goldbergs final match and takes place at Atlantas State Farm Arena.
While I understand why the WWE would want a bigger-than-Raw or bigger-than-Smackdown platform for a match like Goldberg-Gunther, there was a wasted opportunity for a deafening crowd pop on June 2 in Tulsa.
When WWE staged its weekly Raw production at the BOK Center, however, there was no Goldberg appearance.
In 2017, Goldberg lost the WWEs Universal championship to Lesnar.
A year later, Goldberg was in Tulsa for his induction into the Tulsa Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame.
For the Georgia Bulldogs, Goldberg was a two-time All-SEC defensive tackle.
In the NFL, he played for the Los Angeles Rams in 1990-91 and the Atlanta Falcons in 1992-94.
Before all of that, he was a 1985 graduate of Tulsas Edison High School, where he was a dominant football athlete and a pretty good baseball player.
What would a popular athlete have driven in 1985? A Pontiac Trans Am, maybe? Goldberg drove a Trans Am.
Its surreal, Goldberg told the Tulsa World in 2018, as he was given a tour of Edison High School.
I couldnt be more pleased and appreciative to call Tulsa the place where I grew up, and to call Tulsa Edison the high school I went to.
It exemplifies why Goldberg turned out to be a pretty good guy.
Before I bled red and black (Georgias colors), I bled green and white (Edisons colors).
My brothers went here.
My sister went here.
Theres a lot of lineage with the Goldberg name as an Eagle.
During his Edison visit, Goldberg answered questions from Eagle athletes.
One kid asked, Can you beat Rey Mysterio or John Cena? Goldbergs response: I had guys like Rey Mysterio and John Cena for breakfast.
Ending his appearance with a message to the Edison athletes, Goldberg said, First and foremost, youre luckier than hell that youre growing up in the Midwest.
Thats the best tool that you can be given for success in life.
(In Oklahoma), the values are the same as they were 20, 30, 50 years ago.
Those are the things at the core of a great human being.
You treat people the way you want to be treated.
You say please.
You say thank you.
Yes, sir.
Yes, maam.
You open the door for people.
If you have that base in your life, youre going to win.
Youre going to be happy and set a great example for the people who follow.
Goldberg and his family reside in the San Diego area.
A few years ago, the San Diego Union reported that Goldbergs 6,800-square-foot garage was outfitted with a gym, a kitchen, a king-sized bed and a 52-inch television.
During a 2017 phone interview with the Tulsa World, Goldberg described the training-and-diet torture required for his return to pro wrestling and a gain at that time of 40 pounds.
After 12 years, to go out and wrestle in front of millions of people? Only two months after a double knee operation? I had been training, but I wasnt in ring shape, Goldberg stated.
Now, I train six days a week and at least two times a day, if not three.
My training is different now that Im 50 years old.
Im no longer 290 pounds.
My body cant handle getting back to that weight again.
Im at 276 right now.
Its by no means easy, and especially at this age.
Your joints and tendons arent liking the fact that youre trying to lift 500 pounds again.
During Goldbergs famous win streak, his 170th victory was recorded at the Tulsa Convention Center.
His opponent: The Giant (Paul Wight, who ultimately would become better known as The Big Show).
Goldberg beat The Giant 22 times during the streak.
By the way, the 7-foot Wight/Giant/Big Show played basketball at Northern Oklahoma Junior College in Tonkawa, and at Wichita State in 1991-92.
Goldberg might have achieved a 174-match win streak if there hadnt been bad-guy interference in Washington, D.C.
After Goldberg was zapped by Scott Halls cattle prod, Kevin Nash capitalized with a power slam and a pin that ended the Goldberg streak.
That date Dec.
27, 1998 was Goldbergs 32nd birthday.
Today, the 58-year-old Goldberg is 40 years removed from his Edison graduation.
On July 12 in Atlanta, he transforms back into his Goldberg! persona for the 383rd time in his wrestling career and the 13th time since his WWE return in 2016.