The 2020 Super ShowDown was the third annual and final Super ShowDown professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE . It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions . The event took place on February 27, 2020, at the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia . It was the fifth event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030 . It was the last event held by WWE in Saudi Arabia until Crown Jewel in October 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic began severely restricting travel only weeks after Super ShowDown, with WWE holding all events behind closed doors until July 2021.
172-700: Ten matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Goldberg defeated "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt to win SmackDown's Universal Championship for a second time, giving Wyatt's Fiend character his first loss. Goldberg also became the first wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame . Other prominent matches saw Brock Lesnar retain Raw's WWE Championship against Ricochet , Bayley defeated Naomi to retain
344-428: A Jackhammer . Goldberg went undefeated over the subsequent half-year, defeating 3-Minute Warning in his first match on Raw on May 5. Goldberg defeated Christian the following week on Raw in a steel cage match . Goldberg next began a feud with Chris Jericho , culminating in a match between the two at Bad Blood on June 15, which Goldberg won. Goldberg entered a rivalry with Triple H , challenging him for
516-515: A Spear on Elias. In the final pre-show match, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against The IIconics ( Billie Kay and Peyton Royce ). In the end, Bliss performed Twisted Bliss on Royce to retain the titles. The actual pay-per-view opened with the submission match in which Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Natalya. During
688-554: A Stratusfaction for a near-fall. In the end, Flair performed a Big Boot on Stratus and forced Stratus to submit to the Figure-Eight Leglock to win the match. After the match, Stratus was given a standing ovation. After that, Kofi Kingston defended the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. Orton delivered multiple side slams to Kingston on the broadcast tables. As Orton went for a superplex , Kingston countered into
860-551: A fatal four-way match to determine Bayley's next opponent, which was won by Carmella , who faced Bayley for the title on the February 14 episode; however, Bayley retained after using the ropes as leverage to pin Carmella. After the match, both Carmella and Naomi attacked Bayley. A match between Carmella and Naomi was then scheduled for the following week that Naomi won, thus earning her a title match against Bayley at Super ShowDown, marking
1032-472: A fatal four-way tag team match to earn a championship match against The New Day at Super ShowDown. On the January 6 episode of Raw , WWE Champion Brock Lesnar declared himself as the first entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match as he felt that no one was worthy of challenging him for the title. A few weeks later on the January 20 episode, Ricochet interrupted a promo by Paul Heyman and declared that he
1204-490: A no holds barred match at Crown Jewel . At Crown Jewel, Goldberg defeated Lashley to end their feud. On the February 4, 2022, episode of SmackDown , Goldberg would make his return to challenge Universal Champion Roman Reigns to a match at Elimination Chamber , a match that had originally been planned for WrestleMania 36 two years prior. At Elimination Chamber, Goldberg lost to Reigns via technical submission. On October 5, 2024, at Bad Blood , Goldberg and Gage were in
1376-468: A one-time World Heavyweight Champion in the latter. After 12 years away from wrestling, he returned to WWE in 2016, winning the WWE Universal Championship for the first time in 2017 and a second time in 2020. He has headlined multiple WCW and WWE pay-per-view events, including WCW's premier annual event Starrcade (in 1998 and 1999 ). He headlined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 and is
1548-460: A six-man tag team match where Orton and The Revival won. Following the match, Orton performed an RKO on all three members of The New Day. On the August 19 episode of Raw , Big E and Woods defeated The Revival via disqualification after interference from Orton. Afterwards, Kingston came to The New Day's aid, only for Orton to attack Kingston, while The Revival and Orton injured Woods' leg. On August 27,
1720-626: A six-pack challenge to earn the right to face Drew Gulak for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show. Three matches were contested on the SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show. In the first match, Drew Gulak defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Oney Lorcan. In the end, Gulak performed a Cyclone Crash to retain the title. Next, Buddy Murphy faced Apollo Crews . In
1892-491: A tornado DDT for a near-fall. Orton eventually performed an RKO in midair on Kingston, however, Kingston rolled out of the ring. Outside the ring, Orton taunted Kingston's family, who were in the front row, and a brawl ensued between Kingston and Orton at ringside. Both were counted out, thus Kingston retained the title, and Kingston continued to beat down Orton. In the penultimate match, Finn Bálor faced off against Bray Wyatt's new persona, "The Fiend". "The Fiend" dominated
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#17328917018762064-473: A "Skull Crushing Finale" on Ziggler. Following their SummerSlam match, Shane McMahon fined Kevin Owens US$ 100,000 for attacking a designated official, Elias, who was again appointed as the special guest enforcer for Owens' match against Samoa Joe where Elias cost Owens the match by making a fast three count. After several more weeks of feuding, Shane ultimately fired Owens. Owens then threatened Shane with
2236-567: A "kind of funny" level of embellishment, while professional wrestler The Miz said "The number would just go on and on and on, to where it was like, 'Wait a second. How did he get this many wins in such a short time'?". This exaggeration damaged the streak's credibility among the WCW audience–upon noticing that the figure had been falsified, fans made a withdrawal of homemade signs trumpeting Goldberg's record. At Spring Stampede , Goldberg gained his revenge against Nash by defeating him. Then at Slamboree
2408-582: A 2005 interview with the San Diego Jewish Journal , he said, "It's been a blessing to be a role model for those Jewish kids who never had a Jewish sports hero to look up to, especially those who were too young to remember Koufax or aren't into baseball and don't follow the career of Shawn Green . [...] [Being Jewish] doesn't mean I have to read the Torah every day, but hell, I wrestled in front of millions of people and called myself by my real name. That's
2580-523: A Cell 2019 ] could not put him down makes absolutely no booking sense. That's not to mention the fact that a 53-year-old Goldberg went over a guy in Wyatt who WWE has been building up specifically for 'Mania over the last four-plus months in 2:57." The Tuwaiq Trophy match was criticized for its length and twist ending, with some critics comparing the finish to Shane McMahon 's panned win of the WWE World Cup at
2752-487: A Claymore Kick. On the February 3 episode of Raw , Ricochet won a triple threat match to earn a WWE Championship opportunity against Lesnar at Super ShowDown. At the Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns defeated King Corbin in a falls count anywhere match ; both also unsuccessfully competed in the Royal Rumble match. Reigns and The Usos ( Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso ) then defeated Corbin, Dolph Ziggler , and Robert Roode on
2924-509: A commentator for the mixed martial arts promotion Elite Xtreme Combat before it closed down. He hosted 26 episodes of Garage Mahal on the DIY Network from 2009 to 2011 and has acted in various films and television shows, including Universal Soldier: The Return and NCIS: Los Angeles . William Scott Goldberg was born into a Reform Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma , on December 27, 1966,
3096-519: A double countout thus Kingston retained the title, and Goldberg defeated Dolph Ziggler . SummerSlam is an annual pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced every August by WWE since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania , Royal Rumble , and Survivor Series , referred to as the "Big Four". It has since become considered WWE's second biggest event of
3268-515: A fan, confronting Lesnar and after several insults by Lesnar, entered the ring and countered an F-5 from Lesnar with a Jackhammer , before being detained and escorted out of the arena by security guards. During the main event between Lesnar and Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out on February 15, Goldberg reemerged from the crowd and cost Lesnar the WWE Championship. Lesnar then demanded a match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX on March 14, with Austin serving as special guest referee. Fans knew this would be
3440-534: A feud with each other while both remaining babyfaces. At Halloween Havoc , Goldberg defeated Page to retain the title. They embraced after the match and the program was considered complete. Goldberg states that his match against Page was his favorite match. Much like Fall Brawl, despite still being the world champion, Goldberg again did not have a match at the World War 3 PPV. Goldberg continued rising to fame with this undefeated streak; however, at Starrcade , he lost
3612-605: A five-time world champion in his career between WWE and WCW, with WWE counting his world title win at the 1999 Halloween Havoc . He is also the only wrestler to have won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, and the WWE Universal Championship. Before he became a professional wrestler, Goldberg was a professional American football player. Following his first retirement from wrestling in 2004, he began working as
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#17328917018763784-405: A house show, puzzling booking decisions, and only one or two worthwhile matches worth watching again." Larry Csonka of 411Mania gave the event a 4.5/10 rating, while Daniel Van Boom of CNET stated that "the overwhelming majority of the card was just OK. Not terrible, not good, just there." The negative fan reaction to the event (most notably to Goldberg's win) was noted by various media outlets;
3956-629: A lawsuit for wrongful termination, which in turn resulted in Owens challenging Shane to a ladder match where if Shane won, Owens would drop the lawsuit and leave the WWE for good, but if Owens won, Shane would be gone. Shane accepted and the match was scheduled for SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, where Owens won. Also on SmackDown , The New Day (WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and SmackDown Tag Team Champions Big E and Xavier Woods ) faced Randy Orton and The Revival ( Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder ) in
4128-530: A match at Fall Brawl that Goldberg won. After Goldberg settled his rivalry with Page, he began focusing on Sid Vicious and challenged him to a match to end Sid's winning streak. The two feuded with each other, which culminated in a match at Halloween Havoc for Sid's United States Heavyweight title. Goldberg defeated Sid via referee stoppage and thus won his second United States Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, he answered an open challenge from WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting and defeated him to win
4300-464: A match at SummerSlam and said he would quit the WWE if he were to lose, and Shane accepted. On the July 23 episode of SmackDown , WWE Champion Kofi Kingston selected Randy Orton as his next title defense at SummerSlam. Kingston referenced their past rivalry in 2009 where Kingston defeated Orton, but claimed that Orton used his influence to keep Kingston out of the main event scene. Orton stated that he
4472-474: A new sinister alternate persona called "The Fiend". After wild card guest Finn Bálor 's match on the July 15 episode of Raw , the lights went out and Wyatt appeared as "The Fiend" and attacked Bálor. The following week on SmackDown , Bálor challenged Wyatt to a match at SummerSlam. Wyatt appeared inside the Fun House and stated that he was a fan of Bálor, however, "The Fiend" was not and that "The Fiend" accepted
4644-564: A one-count. Ziggler performed a second superkick on Goldberg for another one-count. As Ziggler attempted a third, Goldberg performed a Spear followed by a Jackhammer on Ziggler to win the match in under two minutes. Following the match, Ziggler taunted Goldberg, who responded by performing another Spear on Ziggler. After Goldberg went backstage, Ziggler taunted him again, prompting Goldberg to return and perform one final Spear on Ziggler. After that, The O.C.'s AJ Styles (accompanied by his O.C. members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) defended
4816-557: A one-year contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in March 2003. A promo video announcing his arrival aired during WrestleMania XIX . He debuted the next night on the March 31 episode of Raw and started a feud with The Rock by performing a spear on him. Their rivalry intensified when The Rock held a segment entitled The Rock Concert , where he taunted Goldberg along with Gillberg, but Goldberg defeated The Rock in his debut match at Backlash on April 27, following three spears and
4988-446: A rematch at Starrcade . Goldberg won the match, but afterwards he was attacked by Luger's partner Buff Bagwell . Goldberg feuded with both Luger and Bagwell, who called themselves "Totally Buffed". His streak was broken at Sin when Goldberg, teaming with his Power Plant trainer DeWayne Bruce , lost to Totally Buffed in a tag team no disqualification match after a " fan " maced him, enabling Totally Buffed to pin him. The storyline
5160-602: A rematch between Kingston and Orton for the WWE Championship was scheduled for Clash of Champions, while Big E and Woods were also scheduled to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Revival at the event. Also on SmackDown , Daniel Bryan and Rowan forced Buddy Murphy to reveal that he was lying in saying that Rowan was Roman Reigns' attacker. Later on the show, Bryan and Rowan revealed that they conducted their own investigation to find out who attacked Reigns. The following week, they claimed that
5332-456: A satisfying title change". He described the main event as "a good match", saying that "Lesnar had his supporters in the crowd, but it seemed like Rollins won over some of his detractors as the match went on. The injury angle made some of Lesnar's offense seem even more punishing". Powell also gave the Wyatt-Bálor match a positive review and said that "Wyatt's Fiend persona came off very well and
Super ShowDown (2020) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5504-493: A second time and becoming the first wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This also gave The Fiend his first loss since the debut of the character. Aftermath, The Fiend quickly rose to his feet and stared down a celebrating Goldberg, only for the lights to go out. When the lights came back, The Fiend had disappeared. The event received overall negative reactions from fans and critics, with
5676-461: A similar manner to Goldberg, leading to the portmanteau of "Ryberg" to be devised by fans and commentators for Ryback. In October 2012, after Ryback used Goldberg's Jackhammer move during a match against Kofi Kingston , Goldberg tweeted , "NOW comparisons offend me." Spectators at WWE events had been chanting "Goldberg" during Ryback's matches from 2012, which Ryback said "never bothered [him] because fans were very loyal to Goldberg as Goldberg
5848-548: A spear on Triple H and attacked Batista with a sledgehammer. At Survivor Series on November 16, Goldberg retained the title against Triple H despite interference from Evolution . On the November 17 episode of Raw , Goldberg faced Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista in a handicap match, but he was pinned following an RKO , Batista Bomb and Pedigree . After the match, Kane unexpectedly came out to seemingly assist Goldberg after Evolution continued their assault on him following
6020-415: A stare down, Goldberg surprised The Fiend with a Spear for a nearfall. Then, The Fiend performed a Mandible Claw on Goldberg, who managed to power out of it and performed three more Spears on The Fiend for a nearfall. Then, The Fiend performed a second Mandible Claw on Goldberg, who managed to power out of it again and performed a Jackhammer on The Fiend for a pinfall, winning the WWE Universal Championship for
6192-634: A steel chair. He went on to host three seasons of the Speed Channel show Bullrun . In 2005, Goldberg also starred in the Happy Madison produced Adam Sandler movie The Longest Yard , as an inmate, along with fellow wrestlers Kevin Nash, The Great Khali and Stone Cold Steve Austin, as well as actors Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds among others. In the same year he was also the host of The History Channel documentary series Auto-Maniac and later starred in
6364-669: A testament to myself that I'm proud of." Goldberg's rapid rise to popularity in WCW led the WWF to parody him during the Attitude Era with longtime jobber Duane Gill being repackaged as Gillberg . Goldberg was initially unhappy with the parody, but later embraced the character and was happy that Gill was able to have a more substantial run during his career. The two would eventually confront each other on Raw in 2003, in which Goldberg quickly dispatched Gillberg. Trying to replicate WCW's success with Goldberg, WWE began pushing Ryback in 2012 in
6536-729: A title match at Elimination Chamber. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Super ShowDown event was not held in 2021. COVID restrictions were lifted later that year, and WWE returned to Saudi Arabia with the Crown Jewel event in October. That same month, the company revealed their PPV calendar for 2022, and Super ShowDown was not included. WWE's two Saudi Arabian PPVs for 2022 would be Elimination Chamber in February, and Crown Jewel in November. Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known mononymously as Goldberg ,
6708-475: A triple threat match at Armageddon . The following week on Raw , Goldberg teamed with Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam to face and defeat Kane, Batista and Orton in a six-man tag team match. On the December 8 episode of Raw , Goldberg faced Kane in a lumberjack match which ended in a disqualification when Evolution and Mark Henry entered the ring and assaulted Goldberg. At Armageddon on December 14, Goldberg lost
6880-463: A win over Ember Moon on the following episode of SmackDown . The following week, Flair issued a challenge to Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Clash of Champions, which Bayley accepted. On 205 Live , Oney Lorcan had a rematch against Drew Gulak for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, however, Gulak retained the title. The 2019 SummerSlam would be the final SummerSlam to feature
7052-434: A wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown . On the February 7 episode of SmackDown , WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg was interviewed from his home via satellite. He stated that after watching the Royal Rumble, it made him want to get back in
Super ShowDown (2020) - Misplaced Pages Continue
7224-519: Is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle . He is signed to WWE , where he is set to retire in 2025. He is best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). One of the most popular figures of the professional wrestling boom during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Goldberg rose to fame in WCW with a lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition from 1997 to 1998, became
7396-526: Is due to his lack of in-ring talent, although Bischoff further said that he viewed only Goldberg and The Rock as legitimate box office draws in 2020. WWE wrestler Riddle has been critical of Goldberg's Universal Championship run and accused him of steroid use. However, he later said that he "would love to work with Goldberg," and that he thought it would be "great for business." In response to fans complaining about Goldberg being put over younger talent, Goldberg responded, "They can complain all they want. I
7568-464: The Jackknife Powerbomb and swore at Vince Russo as he left the ring, turning face again. He then began a rivalry with Steiner, culminating in a no disqualification match at Fall Brawl which Goldberg lost due to outside interference. After his loss to Steiner, Goldberg's rivalry with Russo accelerated and in October, having finally had enough, Russo gave Goldberg an ultimatum. If Goldberg
7740-558: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter . New Universal Champion Goldberg appeared on the following night's episode of SmackDown and issued an open challenge that was accepted by Roman Reigns. The match was scheduled for WrestleMania 36 , though due to concerns over Reigns' health because of the COVID-19 pandemic , he was replaced by Braun Strowman in the match. Following his loss to Goldberg, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared on
7912-549: The Crown Jewel event in 2018 , which also took place in Saudi Arabia. Pro Wrestling Dot Net called the match "ridiculous". 411Mania also compared it to the WWE World Cup by stating that "[WWE] killed another Saudi special match with a winner that wasn't even involved."; they gave the match a 1/5 rating, stating "this was bad, long for the sake of being long". Conversely, the two tag team championship matches were praised, with
8084-613: The Firefly Fun House , Goldberg challenged Wyatt's alter-ego "The Fiend" for the Universal Championship. Wyatt then stated that "The Fiend" accepted. The match was then scheduled for Super ShowDown. After WWE announced that John Morrison —who last wrestled in WWE in November 2011—had re-signed with the company, Morrison made his first appearance on the January 3 episode of SmackDown in a brief backstage interview, coming out of The Miz 's locker room. The two formally reunited
8256-631: The Georgia Bulldogs as a defensive tackle . He was taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the 1990 NFL draft , with the 301st overall selection but never appeared in any games for the Rams. He made his NFL debut on December 3, 1992, for the Atlanta Falcons wearing #71 and played with them through 1994. He became close with Deion Sanders during this time. Goldberg also had a stint with
8428-621: The Raw and SmackDown brand divisions . On January 30, 2020, wrestling journalist Mike Johnson reported that Hulk Hogan would make an appearance at the event. Prior to the event, The Undertaker was seen arriving with other WWE personnel at the airport in Riyadh. The event comprised 10 matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes , villains , or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in
8600-548: The Raw Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits at Super ShowDown. On the February 26 episode of The Bump , three further matches were announced for Super ShowDown. Saudi's own and NXT wrestler Mansoor was scheduled to face Dolph Ziggler, Humberto Carrillo was scheduled to face NXT's Angel Garza in a rematch from the February 24 episode of Raw , and The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) were scheduled to face The O.C. ( Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson ) on
8772-477: The Royal Rumble match on January 29, 2017, where he entered at number 28 and eliminated Lesnar following a brief confrontation and a spear, as well as eliminating Rusev and Luke Harper before being eliminated by The Undertaker . Lesnar then appeared on the following night's episode of Raw and challenged Goldberg to one final match at WrestleMania 33 . Goldberg would go on to accept Lesnar's challenge on
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#17328917018768944-808: The Sacramento Surge of the WLAF in 1992 and Sacramento Gold Miners of the Canadian Football League in 1993. He was cut from the Falcons in 1995 , so he was selected by the new expansion team the Carolina Panthers in the 1995 NFL expansion draft . He never played a game with the team, as he was the first player to have been cut by the Panthers. Goldberg's NFL career ended when he "tore his lower abdomen off his pelvis". He explained that he hoped to return to
9116-657: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship being singled out as the best match of the night by most critics. Several media outlets noted the hostile fan reaction to the event, in particular to Goldberg's win over Wyatt. In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030 , Saudi Arabia 's social and economic reform program. After
9288-534: The SmackDown Women's Championship in the penultimate match, which was the first women's championship match contested in the country, and Roman Reigns defeated King Corbin in a Steel Cage match . In the final live in-ring match of his career, The Undertaker made a surprise return as an unannounced entrant in the gauntlet match and lastly eliminated AJ Styles to win the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy in
9460-775: The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the Long Beach Grand Prix in April 2002. In August 2002, he returned to the ring in Japan. He initially joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), defeating Satoshi Kojima and Taiyō Kea . He went on to defeat Rick Steiner in a match for the W-1 promotion and teamed with Keiji Mutoh to defeat KroniK. His success in Japan led to the WWF – now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment – to begin contract negotiations with him. After leaving Japan, Goldberg signed
9632-589: The WCW World Tag Team Championship . One week later, they lost the title to The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash). At Starrcade , Goldberg challenged Hart for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship; in the course of the match, Goldberg delivered a stiff kick to Hart's head, legitimately giving him a concussion and tearing a muscle in his neck. Hart continued on, suffering what he believed to be at least one other concussion when he hit his head on
9804-476: The World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam on August 24 in the second Elimination Chamber match in WWE. After eliminating Randy Orton , Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, he was pinned by Triple H after Ric Flair threw a sledgehammer inside the chamber and Triple H hit Goldberg with it, meaning Triple H retained the title. Goldberg continued his feud with Triple H and defeated him for
9976-552: The cruiserweight -exclusive 205 Live . At WrestleMania 35 , Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship . Lesnar then disappeared from television for several weeks before inserting himself in the 2019 Money in the Bank ladder match and won, earning a match for a world championship of his choice at any time within the next year. After teasing some cash-ins, Lesnar finally cashed in his Money in
10148-455: The " nice Jewish boy " stereotype which sees Jewish men portrayed as weak and effeminate. In 1999, Jewish News of Northern California stated that he had "turned the notion of Jew as victim on its head". He told the publication, "I wanted to give the Jewish public someone to hold onto, someone as a positive role model that didn't go out and cuss, didn't go out and cheat, someone to look up to." In
10320-420: The "New Streak", although all of his wins came over jobbers or by disqualification over serious wrestlers like Michael Elgin and Roderick Strong . His streak eventually ended later that year. Bret Hart , has been highly critical of Goldberg's work and said, "His wrestling, his work rate, was 0 out of 10." Goldberg's later career run has also been criticized; former WCW executive Eric Bischoff stated it
10492-495: The April 22 episode of Thunder , he made his first successful title defense against Mike Enos . Goldberg then started a feud with Raven and his Flock. At Slamboree , he ended his feud with The Flock, after a successful title defense against Saturn. Goldberg continued to make successful title defenses against Konnan at The Great American Bash and Curt Hennig . By then, he adopted the catchphrase "Who's next?", in reference to his rapidly expanding winning streak. Goldberg
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#173289170187610664-451: The Bank contract at Extreme Rules and won back the Universal Championship right after Rollins had just retained the title. On the following night's Raw , Rollins won a cross-brand 10-man battle royal to earn a rematch against Lesnar at SummerSlam. During Raw Reunion on July 22, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman stated that Lesnar cashed in on Rollins because Rollins had done the same to Lesnar back at WrestleMania 31 in March 2015. On
10836-404: The December 23, 1999 episode of Thunder , during a sequence where he chased the nWo limousine into the parking lot. A spot in the sequence called for Goldberg to pound on the windshield of the limousine with his hands. To ensure his safety, Goldberg had assistance from a piece of metal pipe and his hands were covered in black tape. After this, Goldberg was to break some of the vehicle's windows with
11008-422: The February 2 episode of Raw , Goldberg was given a front row ticket to No Way Out by Stone Cold Steve Austin . SmackDown! general manager Paul Heyman appeared the following week on Raw and along with Mr. McMahon attempted to get Goldberg to leave Lesnar alone, but Goldberg executed a spear on Heyman and accidentally executed a spear on Austin when he was aiming for McMahon. Goldberg attended No Way Out as
11180-468: The February 24 episode of Raw . At the Royal Rumble during the women's Royal Rumble match, Naomi made a surprise return following a six-month hiatus, while later on the show, Bayley successfully retained the SmackDown Women's Championship . On the following SmackDown , Bayley claimed that she had defeated every woman on the roster. Naomi interrupted, taking exception to the claim as Bayley had never defeated her. The following week, Naomi participated in
11352-449: The February 6 episode of Raw and, on the same episode, also earned a match against Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship . At Fastlane , Goldberg would defeat Owens for the Universal Championship. This led to a match against Lesnar at WrestleMania where Goldberg put his title on the line. At WrestleMania, Goldberg lost the title to Lesnar in what was also his first clean singles loss in his entire career. Goldberg appeared
11524-545: The Hall of Fame; the event occurred on April 6. Despite his Hall of Fame induction, Goldberg continued to wrestle for WWE. His next match was against The Undertaker at the Super ShowDown event on June 7, 2019. During the match, Goldberg suffered a concussion a few minutes into the match, which severely affected his performance, botching several moves, including the failed Jackhammer on The Undertaker, until The Undertaker finally won
11696-621: The July 15 episode of Raw , Natalya won a fatal four-way elimination match to determine the number one contender against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam. After Lynch's match on the July 29 episode, Natalya applied the Sharpshooter on Lynch and later suggested a submission match , which was made official the following week. On the July 16 episode of SmackDown , after SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and Ember Moon won their tag team match in which Moon scored
11868-447: The Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, in which wrestlers portrayed heroes , villains , or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw , SmackDown Live , and
12040-620: The Legends of Wrestling show at Citi Field in New York. While he was not scheduled to wrestle at the event, Goldberg came to the aid of Rob Van Dam after his match with Scott Steiner . He performed a spear on Steiner and a Jackhammer on Doc Gallows . On January 23, 2016, Goldberg made a second return for the Legends of Wrestling event in Miami , where he delivered another spear to Steiner after his match with Chavo Guerrero . On May 31, 2016, Goldberg
12212-463: The October 20 episode of Raw , Batista collected the bounty after he interfered in Goldberg's title defense against Shawn Michaels and attacked Goldberg, placing a folding chair around Goldberg's ankle and jumping off the middle rope onto the chair, shattering his ankle. Furious, Goldberg demanded a match against Batista, but Triple H got involved in the match by trying to cripple Goldberg, who executed
12384-570: The Pain , WWE 2K14 , WWE 2K17 (for which he was the pre-order bonus), WWE 2K18 , WWE 2K19 . WWE 2K20 , WWE 2K Battlegrounds , WWE 2K22 and WWE 2K23 . In August 2002, during his professional wrestling tenure in Japan, Goldberg served as color commentator in mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion Pride Fighting Championship . He also participated in MMA training sessions, though without intention to compete himself. Around this time, Goldberg
12556-513: The Raw Tag Team Championship. Also on Raw , Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch said she respected Natalya and put out a warning to the rest of the women's division. Natalya later came out with her arm in a sling and declared that she would face Lynch again. She was interrupted by the returning Sasha Banks , who last appeared at WrestleMania 35. After hugging and consoling Natalya, Banks attacked her, thus turning heel. Lynch came out for
12728-436: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match being singled out as the best match of the night by most. CBS Sports described the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match to have "very good tag action," particularly complimenting the performances of John Morrison and Kofi Kingston. They also described the Raw Tag Team Championship match as an "exciting, entertaining match that [had] easily stolen the show to [that] point." Heavy named
12900-486: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship, The Miz and John Morrison were scheduled to defend the titles in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber . The challengers announced for the match were former champions The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Heavy Machinery ( Otis and Tucker ), Lucha House Party ( Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik ), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The following week, Ziggler and Roode defeated all
13072-481: The SmackDown Tag Team Championships against The Miz and John Morrison. During the match, Kingston attempted a suicide dive on Miz who was outside the ring, only for Miz to avoid Kingston. Miz performed a Skull Crushing Finale on Big E for a nearfall. In the climax, Morrison attacked Kingston with a chair and Miz rolled up Kingston to win the titles. After that, Humberto Carrillo faced Angel Garza. In
13244-441: The SmackDown Women's Championship against Naomi. The end saw Bayley trap Naomi's leg in her shirt and perform a facebuster on Naomi to retain the title. Due to Saudi Arabian modesty laws, both women wore full body suits and t-shirts, though while Bayley's was an all-black body suit, Naomi's was colourful to match her glow gimmick. In the main event, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defended the WWE Universal Championship against Goldberg. After
13416-552: The SmackDown match the Match of the Night, giving it a 3.5/5 rating and stating that "props goes out to both of these teams for a job well done. [...] What we got here was a fun, well-paced matchup that was capped off by a welcome title change." They also gave the Raw match a 3/5 rating, calling it "a fun and solid affair." Pro Wrestling Dot Net also reacted positively towards the SmackDown tag team title match, stating that it had "good action down
13588-752: The Super ShowDown Kickoff pre-show. During the Super ShowDown Kickoff pre-show, The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) faced The O.C. ( Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson ). In the end, as Ivar attempted a moonsault on Anderson, the latter moved out of the way and tagged in Gallows. The O.C. then performed the Magic Killer on Ivar to win the match. The actual pay-per-view opened with the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match. The match began with R-Truth and Bobby Lashley (accompanied by Lana ) as
13760-541: The United States Championship against Ricochet. In the end, as Ricochet attempted a Phoenix splash on Styles, Styles countered into a Styles Clash to retain the title. Following the match, Gallows and Anderson performed the Magic Killer on Ricochet. In the fourth match, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Ember Moon. In the end, Bayley performed a Bayley-to-Belly on Moon from
13932-463: The Universal Championship for the second time, becoming the first wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. During the following weeks, WWE scheduled a match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36 for the Universal Championship, but after Reigns opted to pull out amid concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic , Goldberg's opponent was changed to Braun Strowman . At WrestleMania, Goldberg lost
14104-469: The Universal Championship to Strowman. After a nine-month hiatus, Goldberg faced Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, but was unsuccessful in winning the championship. Goldberg returned on the July 19 episode of Raw , its first episode in front of a live audience in over a year, to confront WWE Champion Bobby Lashley , teasing a potential match between
14276-479: The WWE Championship match a D rating (the lowest on the card), calling it "a complete waste of time and another nail in the coffin that is Ricochet's WWE booking." They rated the Universal Championship match a D+ and panned the booking, stating: "The length of the match made sense due to Goldberg's age and energy level, but the fact that he was able to beat The Fiend so easily whereas a dozen Stomps from Seth Rollins followed by tons of weapon shots [referring to Hell in
14448-504: The World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven on September 21, after agreeing to put his career on the line. The next night on Raw , Goldberg retained the title against Chris Jericho. The following week on Raw , Triple H issued a $ 100,000 bounty to anybody who could take Goldberg out. Steven Richards , Mark Henry , La Résistance and Tommy Dreamer all attempted to collect the bounty, but they were unsuccessful. On
14620-478: The World Heavyweight Championship when Triple H pinned him after interference from Evolution and a chokeslam from Kane, thus ending his reign at 84 days. Survivor Series 2003 marked the first time Goldberg met the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar by interrupting Lesnar after the latter remarked that he could beat anyone in the world. The feud escalated at the 2004 Royal Rumble on January 25, when Goldberg
14792-405: The attacker was a man who merely resembled Rowan. On the August 27 episode, however, Reigns found additional footage that Rowan was seen tipping over the equipment. This caused Bryan and Rowan to split due to Rowan lying, and a no disqualification match between Reigns and Rowan was scheduled for Clash of Champions. Charlotte Flair followed up with her win over Trish Stratus at SummerSlam with
14964-419: The audience. When Gunther came out and insulted him and Gage, Goldberg tried to attack him, but was held back by security guards. During the podcast at SEC Network, Goldberg announced that he will be returning to WWE for his retirement match set for next year. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin described Goldberg as one of the strongest wrestlers in history. Notably, Mark Henry —who himself is regarded as one of
15136-459: The better champion and challenged Rollins to a champion versus champion non-title match, which ended in a disqualification due to interference from Gallows and Anderson. Ricochet and Braun Strowman ran out to make the save. Also on the show, Paul Heyman said that he was informed by WWE officials that Brock Lesnar would not be granted a rematch for the Universal Championship. The following week, Rollins and Strowman defeated Gallows and Anderson to win
15308-437: The cage door. As Corbin tried to escape, Reigns attacked Corbin with the cage door. Corbin mocked Reigns and attempted to perform his own Superman Punch on Reigns but with the chain wrapped around his fist, however, Reigns intercepted Corbin with one of his own for a nearfall. In the end, Reigns performed a Superman Punch (with the chain wrapped around his fist) on Corbin to win the match. In the penultimate match, Bayley defended
15480-436: The card, Flair stated she would be part of SummerSlam to prove that she was the "greatest female superstar of all-time". The following week, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus was a guest on Jerry Lawler 's "King's Court". They were interrupted by Flair, who challenged Stratus to a match at SummerSlam. After disparaging comments from Flair, Stratus accepted the challenge. On the August 6 episode of 205 Live , Oney Lorcan won
15652-416: The challenge as a Steel Cage match , which was scheduled for Super ShowDown. On the February 10 episode of Raw , a gauntlet match for the first-ever Tuwaiq Trophy was scheduled for Super ShowDown. AJ Styles , United States Champion Andrade , Bobby Lashley , Erick Rowan , R-Truth , and Rusev were announced for the match. Rusev, however, was removed from the match and replaced by Rey Mysterio on
15824-468: The challenge. At Extreme Rules, AJ Styles defeated Ricochet to win the United States Championship thanks to help from his O.C. teammates, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson . On the July 29 episode of Raw , Ricochet won a gauntlet match , to earn a rematch for the title at SummerSlam. On the July 23 episode of SmackDown , WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels ' appearance on "Miz TV"
15996-450: The championship. On the next night's episode of Nitro , commissioner J. J. Dillon ruled that the match had not been sanctioned by WCW and that, therefore, Goldberg's victory was void. Sting, however, was not given the title back due to his attack on a referee during the event and Dillon announced a 32-man tournament for the now vacant title which included Goldberg. Later that night, Goldberg wrestled against and lost to Bret Hart on
16168-547: The concussion and his match with Undertaker fell apart in Saudi Arabia , not to mention that the Canadian fans weren't still holding a grudge over booting Bret Hart in the head". The following night on Raw , new Universal Champion Seth Rollins thanked the fans for their support before being interrupted by The O.C. (United States Champion AJ Styles and Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson). Styles claimed to be
16340-463: The end, Garza rolled up Carrillo to win the match. In the fourth match, Seth Rollins and Murphy defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). In the end, Murphy performed a Ripcord Knee on Dawkins, who fell onto the bottom ring rope, allowing Rollins to perform The Stomp on Dawkins. Murphy then pinned Dawkins to retain the titles. Next, Mansoor faced Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Robert Roode). Before
16512-481: The end, Murphy was attacked by Rowan —who Murphy had accused of attacking Roman Reigns on recent episodes of Raw and SmackDown —thus Murphy won via disqualification. Following the match, Rowan continued to attack Murphy at ringside and performed a powerbomb on Murphy onto the ring apron. Following that, Elias performed a song insulting Toronto which prompted Toronto native and WWE Hall of Famer Edge to interrupt Elias. After trading some insults, Edge performed
16684-524: The evening to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion , in turn vacating his United States Heavyweight Championship. At Road Wild , Goldberg won a battle royal , consisting of nWo members. Despite still being the world champion, Goldberg did not have a match at Fall Brawl 1998 and didn't even appear on the show. After Diamond Dallas Page became the number one contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Goldberg and Page began
16856-626: The event to confront Lesnar. This led to Paul Heyman challenging Goldberg to face Lesnar on the October 10 episode of Raw , with Heyman stating that Goldberg was the one blemish on Lesnar's WWE career, as Goldberg had defeated Lesnar at WrestleMania XX in 2004. The following week on the October 17 episode of Raw , Goldberg returned to WWE for the first time in over 12 years, and accepting Heyman's challenge. The match took place at Survivor Series , where Goldberg defeated Lesnar in 1 minute and 26 seconds giving Lesnar his first pinfall loss since April 2013 . Months later, Goldberg would participate in
17028-639: The fifth season of The Goldbergs as Coach Nick Mellor, the brother of recurring character Coach Rick Mellor. The show is based on childhood memories of Adam F. Goldberg but the two Goldbergs are of no relation. In 2018, Goldberg started hosting a knife-based reality show called Forged in Fire: Knife or Death on the History Channel. He appeared in Season 10 Episode 7 ( "One of Us" ) of NCIS: Los Angeles as Special Agent Lance Hamilton. He also starred in
17200-560: The film American Satan (2017) as the tour manager/bodyguard for a heavy metal band called The Relentless. On July 17, 2022, Goldberg was the subject of the Biography: WWE Legends . Goldberg is a playable character in numerous video games, including WCW Nitro , WCW/nWo Revenge , WCW/nWo Thunder , WCW Mayhem , WCW Backstage Assault , WWE WrestleMania XIX , WWE Raw 2 , WWE SuperCard , WWE Champions , Fire Pro Wrestling , WWE SmackDown! Here Comes
17372-430: The final WWE match for both Goldberg and Lesnar and thus gave largely negative reactions throughout the performance. Goldberg won the match, causing Lesnar to show Austin and the crowd a middle finger, but he instead received a Stone Cold Stunner in return and as Goldberg celebrated his victory with Austin, he also received a Stone Cold Stunner . Goldberg made his return to professional wrestling on June 7, 2015, at
17544-736: The first Super Show-Down was held in Australia , Super ShowDown became one of the recurring pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network events for the Saudi Arabian partnership in 2019. A third Super ShowDown, and subsequently the fifth event in the Saudi Arabian partnership, was officially announced during the 2020 Royal Rumble . It was scheduled to be held at the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh on February 27, 2020, and feature wrestlers from
17716-417: The first two participants. Truth eliminated Lashley with a roll up. After his elimination, Lashley attacked Truth. The third participant was United States Champion Andrade, who was eliminated after exchanging headbutts with Truth, after which, Truth landed onto Andrade for the pin. The fourth participant was Erick Rowan. During the match, Rowan threw Truth into the ring steps which knocked over Rowan's cage which
17888-501: The floor while executing a ringpost-assisted figure-four leglock . The match ended when Roddy Piper , the special guest referee for the contest, declared Hart the winner despite Goldberg never having submitted to the Sharpshooter . Hart vacated the title the next night on Nitro , saying he did not want to win that way and gave Goldberg a rematch. Goldberg was defeated again due to outside interference from Hall and Nash, who came to
18060-443: The following Raw and that Ziggler would fight someone else at SummerSlam. Ziggler presumed that this referred to Michaels but instead, WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg (whom Ziggler disparaged in his promos against Michaels) appeared and was revealed as Ziggler's opponent. Backstage during the July 23 episode of SmackDown , Charlotte Flair voiced her displeasure that she was not scheduled to compete at SummerSlam. Despite not being on
18232-403: The following episode of SmackDown in a six-man tag team match, in which the losers ate dog food. The following week, Corbin stated that he should have won all of those matches and that he would have won the ones against Reigns had it not been for The Usos' interference. He then demanded one more match with Reigns, who came out and attacked Corbin, who managed to escape. Afterwards, Reigns accepted
18404-413: The following month, Goldberg was " injured " in an attack by Rick and Scott Steiner and took some time off to prepare for his film debut in the 1999 film Universal Soldier: The Return alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme . He returned two months later and defeated Rick Steiner at Road Wild . Goldberg then restarted his feud with DDP also involving Page's allies, The Jersey Triad , which culminated in
18576-459: The following night on Raw Talk (which aired on the WWE Network after the Raw broadcast) to wish the fans farewell, but ultimately did not rule out a return in the future. On January 15, 2018, ESPN announced that Goldberg would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame . This was then confirmed on Raw when it was announced by WWE. On March 25, Paul Heyman was announced to induct Goldberg into
18748-458: The following night's episode of SmackDown and confronted a returning John Cena , who was seemingly announcing his retirement. The Fiend challenged Cena to a match at WrestleMania 36, and Cena accepted. SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley refused to face Naomi in a rematch, stating that she already defeated her at Super ShowDown. Bayley then introduced a returning Sasha Banks and she and Bayley proceeded to attack Naomi. Lacey Evans came out to even
18920-434: The following week during a segment of "Miz TV", in which Morrison criticized the fans for turning on Miz the previous week after he attacked Kofi Kingston following his match. Miz and Morrison then began a rivalry with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day ( Big E and Kofi Kingston) in which Morrison would defeat Kingston and Big E on the next two episodes, respectively. On the January 31 episode, Miz and Morrison won
19092-449: The hashtag "CancelWWENetwork" became a trending topic, similarly to other poorly received recent WWE events. Sports Illustrated stated that fans were "incandescent about what took place". The WWE Championship and Universal Championship matches were both universally panned for their short lengths, and for damaging the credibility of their respective losers, in particular Wyatt's. Adam Silverstein and Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports gave
19264-528: The highest paid WCW wrestler, and led the company as its franchise player and public face until it was sold to WWE. During his time with WCW, he became a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion , two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion , and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart ). Along with Hart, he is the fifth WCW Triple Crown winner . Following WCW's closure in 2001, Goldberg wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2002 and 2003 and for WWE between 2003 and 2004, becoming
19436-596: The history of this business". Diamond Dallas Page and Bobby Lashley also claimed that Goldberg was the most popular wrestler at one point in time. Kevin Owens has said that Goldberg was the "figurehead" and "poster boy" of WCW, while Sports Illustrated noted that he "reached the highest point of popularity in pro wrestling". He has been named as the favorite wrestler of figures such as Big E , Randy Orton , Madcap Moss , and Bron Breakker . Due to his extremely masculine wrestling character, Goldberg has been credited with battling Jewish stereotypes , especially
19608-432: The hood. Immediately after the cameras stopped rolling, medical personnel rushed in to assist the injured Goldberg, who was eventually transported to the hospital for emergency surgery. He lost copious amounts of blood due to the injury and was told that his injury nearly resulted in the amputation of his forearm. The injury caused Goldberg to miss the January 4, 2000 New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) Tokyo Dome show , where he
19780-502: The industry, rendering his Super ShowDown bout the final live in-ring match of his career. On the following Raw , The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) were given one final opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championship where they defeated Rollins and Murphy to win the titles. Another rematch was then scheduled for Elimination Chamber. Also on Raw , Humberto Carrillo teamed with Rey Mysterio to face Angel Garza and United States Champion Andrade. Carrillo pinned Andrade, earning
19952-480: The league after rehabilitation but was not considered a major asset due to his lack of success. The NFL was "a mixed emotional experience" for him because he did not attain the level of success on the field that he desired, despite reaching the goal of simply playing in the league. During his after-NFL rehab, Goldberg began powerlifting and mixed martial arts training when he was spotted by Lex Luger and Sting ; both convinced him to try professional wrestling. He
20124-558: The live crowd clearly loved it". Powell criticized the Kingston-Orton match finish and called it "weak" while saying that it was "a lousy finish to a decent match that was poorly executed". Powell described the Goldberg-Ziggler bout as "a fun Goldberg-style match. I love that they started it with Dolph getting the surprising offense before Goldberg did what felt inevitable. This was a nice redemption moment for Goldberg after he suffered
20296-438: The main event, Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar to win Raw's Universal Championship for a second time. In the penultimate match, Bray Wyatt debuted his new "Fiend" persona and defeated Finn Bálor . In other prominent matches, Charlotte Flair defeated WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus by submission, Kevin Owens defeated Shane McMahon to keep his job, SmackDown's WWE Champion Kofi Kingston fought Randy Orton to
20468-412: The match began, Lesnar blocked a Ricochet dropkick before performing a vertical suplex. Lesnar then performed three German suplexes and an F-5 on Ricochet to retain the title in ninety seconds. Next, Roman Reigns fought King Corbin in a Steel Cage match. Reigns was carrying a chain around his neck and as Reigns locked the cage door with it, Corbin attacked Reigns. During the match, Corbin managed to unlock
20640-427: The match officially began, Roode had an altercation with Mansoor, after which, Mansoor attacked Roode. This resulted in the referee ejecting Roode from ringside. In the end, Mansoor performed a Moonsault on Ziggler to win the match. Following the match, Mansoor gave a heartwarming speech to his hometown crowd. After that, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Championship against Ricochet. As soon as
20812-466: The match, Lynch applied a Sharpshooter of her own on Natalya, however, Natalya immediately fired back with a Dis-Arm-Her of her own. In the climax, Natalya applied the sharpshooter again, only for Lynch to counter and apply the Dis-Arm-Her , forcing Natalya to submit to retain the title. Next, Goldberg faced Dolph Ziggler. As soon as the match began, Ziggler performed a superkick on Goldberg for
20984-456: The match. His next match was at SummerSlam , where he defeated Dolph Ziggler . After six months of inactivity, Goldberg returned to WWE on the February 7, 2020 episode of SmackDown , when he appeared via satellite and challenged "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt to a match for the Universal Championship, which Wyatt accepted, setting up a match between the two for Super ShowDown . At Super ShowDown on February 27, Goldberg defeated The Fiend to win
21156-418: The match. After scaring off Evolution, he turned on Goldberg and executed a chokeslam on him. The following week on Raw , Kane attacked Goldberg again while he was defending the championship against Triple H in a rematch from Survivor Series and expressed his desire to face Goldberg for the title. Raw general manager Eric Bischoff scheduled Goldberg to defend the championship against both Kane and Triple H in
21328-649: The match. In the end, "The Fiend" countered a Coup de Grace from Bálor into the Mandible claw , causing Bálor to pass out and allow "The Fiend" to get the pinfall victory. In the main event, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins. At the start of the match, Rollins rolled out of a Suplex attempt and performed The Stomp for a near-fall. Rollins then performed two Superkicks and attempted another Stomp , but Lesnar caught Rollins with an F-5 . Lesnar performed multiple German and Vertical suplexes on Rollins. Outside
21500-726: The matches for the Tuwaiq Trophy, the WWE Championship, and the Universal Championship being near-universally panned. Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net calling it "not a hot show" and gave a negative review, while Nolan Howell of Slam! Sports did the same, calling it "boring" and stating, "The most you can hope for is these shows [in Saudi Arabia] ending up being inoffensive and this show JUST managed to make it past that mark." Elton Jones of Heavy stated that it continued WWE's habit of weak pay-per-views in Saudi Arabia, calling it "yet another subpar show full of basic bouts that belong on
21672-585: The movie Santa's Slay where he plays a homicidal Santa Claus who goes on a killing spree on Christmas. In 2007, Goldberg starred in the thriller/drama film Half Past Dead 2 alongside rapper Kurupt. In March 2010, Goldberg appeared on the ninth season of Donald Trump 's reality series The Celebrity Apprentice and was eliminated in the sixth episode. In 2016, Goldberg starred in the documentary film Nine Legends alongside other notable wrestlers, former boxing star Mike Tyson and UFC fighter Randy Couture . In 2017, Goldberg made his first appearance in
21844-425: The odds and a tag team match featuring Evans and Naomi against Banks and Bayley was scheduled. Naomi and Evans won with Naomi pinning Bayley. A rematch between the two teams took place the following week, where Banks and Bayley won. Bayley was eventually scheduled to defend her title in a fatal five-way elimination match against the other three women, as well as a returning Tamina , at WrestleMania 36. After winning
22016-469: The opening bout. The event received negative reviews, with the Universal Championship and WWE Championship matches, the gauntlet match, and Reigns vs. Corbin being largely criticized, and the decision to have Goldberg defeat Wyatt being universally singled out as one of the worst booking decisions in history. However, the two tag team championship matches received some praise, with The New Day ( Big E and Kofi Kingston ) vs. The Miz and John Morrison for
22188-515: The other teams in a tag team gauntlet match to enter the match last. On the following Raw , a disgruntled AJ Styles mocked The Undertaker for still wrestling and issued a warning. The Undertaker in turn cost Styles his match at Elimination Chamber. Styles eventually challenged Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 36 as a Boneyard match that Undertaker accepted, cutting a promo akin to his "American Bad Ass" gimmick (circa 2000–2003). Following this non-live cinematic match , The Undertaker retired from
22360-522: The owner of a music club in Aspen, Colorado . Goldberg had his Bar Mitzvah at a Reform synagogue , Temple Israel , in his hometown. He attended Tulsa Edison High School . He acquired a love for football early in his life and, due to his large stature, began working as a nightclub bouncer at the age of 16. Goldberg earned a scholarship to attend the University of Georgia and play college football for
22532-632: The pin, Bayley selected Moon as the number one contender for her title at SummerSlam. During the summer of 2019, Kevin Owens became furious with Shane McMahon due to the latter taking up more and more screen time each week from other wrestlers and exerting even more authority, which was in contradiction to what The McMahon Family ( Vince McMahon , Stephanie McMahon , Shane McMahon, and Triple H ) had promised several months prior. Despite Shane's attempts to ban Owens from SmackDown , Owens would nevertheless show up and attack Shane at opportune moments. During Raw Reunion on July 22, Owens challenged Shane to
22704-446: The pipe. There were four windows on the side of the limousine and Goldberg used the pipe on two of them. He then got aggressive, dropping the pipe and putting his forearm through the third window. A shard of glass sliced an artery in his arm and he began bleeding profusely. The show concluded with Goldberg pounding on the limousine's hood, with the television audience able to see the massive amount of blood gushing from his arm as it covered
22876-520: The ranks. Goldberg's win over Saturn was his 74th consecutive without a loss. The next night on Nitro , he challenged Raven for the United States Heavyweight Championship that Raven had won the night before at Spring Stampede. Goldberg was forced to deal with interference from Raven's Flock ; ironically, however, he overpowered them all and defeated Raven to win his first professional wrestling championship . Two days later, on
23048-443: The referee declared that Styles would only win by forfeit if Mysterio did not make it to the ring by the count of ten. As the referee counted, the camera cut backstage and showed that The O.C. were attacked by The Undertaker, who then made his entrance, taking Mysterio's place. Undertaker then performed a Chokeslam on a surprised Styles to win the match and the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy. Next, The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defended
23220-440: The referee out from the ring. Owens then attacked Elias, which also incapacitated the referee. Owens further attacked Elias with multiple chair shots. With the referee down, Owens performed a low blow and a stunner on Shane to win the match and keep his job. Next, Charlotte Flair faced Trish Stratus. During the match, Stratus applied her own figure-four leglock on Flair followed by the Figure-Eight Leglock . Stratus performed
23392-453: The ring brandishing baseball bats which they used to attack Goldberg. In a swerve , Hart took one of the bats from The Outsiders and began beating on Goldberg himself, doing enough damage to score the pin and regain his championship. After the match, Hall, Nash, Hart and Jeff Jarrett reformed the nWo and gave Goldberg a new target for a feud that, however, would not last long. Shortly after his title match loss, Goldberg injured himself on
23564-684: The ring, Rollins performed a Frog Splash on Lesnar through the Spanish announce table, and then another Frog Splash and a second Stomp in the ring for a nearfall. In the end, as Rollins attempted a third Stomp , Lesnar caught him and attempted a second F-5 , however, Rollins countered and performed a third Superkick and a third Stomp on Lesnar to win the match by pinfall, winning the title, and giving him his first singles clean defeat as defending world champion in WWE. The event received fairly positive reviews. Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net described SummerSlam as "a solid show overall that closed with
23736-423: The ring—his last match was at SummerSlam in August 2019. With his old rival Brock Lesnar tied up with Ricochet and Drew McIntyre over the WWE Championship, Goldberg turned his attention to the Universal Championship , as he never received a rematch for the title after losing it to Lesnar back at WrestleMania 33 in April 2017. After Universal Champion Bray Wyatt interrupted Goldberg with a special news version of
23908-809: The ropes, performed high kicks, and performed the occasional backflip. Goldberg made his first pay-per-view appearance at Halloween Havoc by helping Alex Wright defeat Steve McMichael and then received McMichael's Super Bowl XX championship ring from McMichael's wife Debra . Goldberg proceeded to attack Wright with it. Goldberg's attack on McMichael led to a match between the two in Goldberg's first pay-per-view match at Starrcade , which Goldberg won. In early 1998, Goldberg squashed Brad Armstrong at SuperBrawl VIII and pinned Perry Saturn at Spring Stampede . By mid-March, WCW stopped referring to him by his full name, shortening it to simply Goldberg . WCW also began counting Goldberg's consecutive wins on television at about this time, and he continued to climb up
24080-621: The same Nitro in the first round of the tournament in a match that also served as the first defense of his newly won United States Heavyweight Championship. Sid Vicious and The Outsiders managed to interfere in the contest and cost Goldberg the title match, thus giving him his second career loss, and eliminating him from the tournament which was eventually won by Hart at Mayhem in November. Goldberg continued his rivalry with Vicious and defeated him in an "I quit" match at Mayhem to close their feud. Shortly thereafter, Goldberg joined forces with Hart, teaming with him to defeat Creative Control for
24252-402: The same time Ryback asked for and was granted his release from the company in 2016. Many promotions would parody Goldberg's infamous streak, including WWE on multiple occasions, albeit with a losing streak such as with the aforementioned Gillberg as well as Curt Hawkins . In 2014, Ring of Honor started a gimmick for R. D. Evans , where he began gloating about his win streak, which he dubbed
24424-443: The save, but was attacked by Banks with a steel chair. Banks again attacked Natalya backstage the following week. A match between Banks and Natalya took place on the August 26 episode, where Banks won. The following week, Banks challenged Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at Clash of Champions , and Lynch accepted. Dolph Ziggler had his match with The Miz, which he also lost. After the match, Ziggler taunted Miz, who performed
24596-530: The second women's match to be held in Saudi Arabia, but the first to be contested for a championship. On the February 17 episode of Raw , after Kevin Owens and The Viking Raiders ( Erik and Ivar ) defeated Murphy and AOP ( Akam and Rezar ) via disqualification due to Seth Rollins' interference, The Street Profits ( Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford ) came out and aided Owens and The Viking Raiders by attacking Murphy, Akam, and Rezar while Rollins retreated. Later, Rollins and Murphy were scheduled to defend
24768-560: The son of classical violinist Ethel and OB-GYN Jed Goldberg. He is of Russian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish descent, with his Romanian-born great-grandfather having relocated to the U.S. from Bucharest through Ellis Island . His father was a graduate of both Harvard and Johns Hopkins University . His parents later divorced, and his father died in late 2006. His mother breeds flowers and created an award-winning hybrid orchid in 2000, which she named after Goldberg. He has two brothers, Michael and Steve. His brother Michael later became
24940-513: The stretch." The tag team championship matches were the only matches to receive a rating average or above from Slam! Sports , who stated about The SmackDown tag team title match: "Miz and Morrison aren't missing a beat in their return and their cutting off New Day comebacks played really well here" and rating it 3.25/5, the highest-rated match of the card. The event would be voted as the Worst Major Wrestling Show of 2020 by readers of
25112-497: The title to Kevin Nash after 175 days as the champion and the official count of 173–0 ended, as Scott Hall (disguised as a ringside security guard) made a run-in and shocked Goldberg with a taser gun . Goldberg got his revenge at Souled Out , when he defeated Hall in a ladder taser match . Goldberg won when he used the taser which was hung high above the ring, requiring the ladder to obtain it. Goldberg's win–loss record at WCW events from 1997 to 1998 differed from that which
25284-446: The top rope to retain the title. After that, Kevin Owens put his WWE career on the line against Shane McMahon. Before the match began, Shane introduced Elias as the special guest enforcer. During the match, Elias distracted Owens, allowing Shane to attack Owens with multiple cheap shots. Shane countered a pop-up powerbomb attempt with a DDT for a near-fall. Owens eventually performed a pop-up powerbomb on Shane, only for Elias to pull
25456-450: The two. On the August 2 episode of Raw , Lashley would accept Goldberg's challenge, making their match at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship, official. At SummerSlam, Goldberg lost due to not being able to continue after incurring a knee injury. When Lashley continued to attack him after the end of the match, Goldberg's son Gage intervened but ended up being attacked himself. On the August 30 episode of Raw , an interview with Goldberg
25628-419: The world's strongest men—also described Goldberg as one of the strongest people in wrestling. WWE describes Goldberg as "one of the most dominant Superstars to ever set foot inside the squared circle ". WWE Hall of Famer and industry veteran Arn Anderson likened Goldberg's popularity at his late 1990s peak to that of Hulk Hogan , The Rock , and Austin, saying that he "was as hot as anybody has ever been in
25800-547: The year behind WrestleMania. Announced on August 27, 2018, the 2019 event was the 32nd SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 11, 2019, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto , Ontario , Canada , being the second SummerSlam to be held at this particular venue, after the 2004 event . It featured wrestlers from the Raw , SmackDown , and 205 Live brand divisions . The event comprised 12 matches, including three on
25972-839: Was getting over as a main eventer , and he continued to defend the United States Heavyweight Championship and slowly became a contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship that was held by New World Order (nWo) leader Hollywood Hulk Hogan . Hogan eventually accepted a title match with Goldberg. It was scheduled for the July 6, 1998, episode of Nitro held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta with over 40,000 in attendance, but Hogan insisted that Goldberg first had to defeat his nWo stablemate Scott Hall . Goldberg won and also able to defeat Hogan later in
26144-449: Was 21 or even 29, but these guys are so far ahead of me in terms of experience. I never say never, though. But I don't see myself stopping my movies, my shows, my commentating, or being a dad to do that". On June 2, 2007, Goldberg also commentated on K-1 Dynamite USA. Goldberg became a color commentator for the EliteXC organization during their inaugural event. The event, EliteXC Destiny ,
26316-422: Was announced as the pre-order bonus for the upcoming WWE 2K17 video game. Throughout the summer, Goldberg and WWE 2K17 cover star and former rival Brock Lesnar traded insults with each other through social media and WWE 2K events such as Gamescom . Goldberg would also appear at the WWE 2K SummerSlam event the weekend before the pay-per-view event took place, fueling speculation he would be appearing at
26488-475: Was broadcast live on Showtime , on February 10, 2007. He continued in this role through all of EliteXC's showcase and combined cards, including Dynamite!! USA , Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni , EliteXC: Renegade and EliteXC: Street Certified , until the organization was defunct in 2008. SummerSlam (2019) The 2019 SummerSlam was the 32nd annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE . It
26660-543: Was brought in for a reason. I'm a relief pitcher ." He reiterated that he is just a performer and does not book the matches. Goldberg began acting while working for WCW in 1999. His appearance in Universal Soldier: The Return corresponded with him being featured in the music video. He was a special guest star on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling . On the show he showed the contestants his various power moves and also how to hit an opponent with
26832-594: Was challenged by Bob Sapp to either a professional wrestling match or a mixed martial arts fight, but nothing came from it. On July 22, 2006, Goldberg served again as color commentator, this time in World Fighting Alliance (WFA) King of the Streets ' s pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California. When asked whether he was interested in becoming a mixed martial artist, Goldberg stated, "I'd love to, especially if I
27004-410: Was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw , SmackDown , and 205 Live brand divisions . The event took place on August 11, 2019, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto , Ontario , Canada , and was the second SummerSlam held at this venue after the 2004 event and the first held outside of New York since 2014 . 12 matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. In
27176-565: Was in a dark match at a Saturday Night taping on July 24 when losing to Chad Fortune . On the September 22, 1997, episode of Nitro , Goldberg defeated Hugh Morrus in his debut match. Soon afterward, he began to score quick victories over his fellow WCW wrestlers in a range of 1–2 minutes. Goldberg had a succession of wins, and he advanced up the card and was pushed as a singles wrestler. The newcomer captivated fans with his monstrous yet silent charisma, brute strength, and agility, and he vaulted
27348-458: Was in the midst of dominating the Royal Rumble match (he eliminated Charlie Haas , Billy Gunn and Nunzio ) as the 30th entrant until Lesnar interfered in the match and executed an F-5 on Goldberg. Angrily distracted at Lesnar's attack, Goldberg was eliminated by Kurt Angle . Vowing revenge after defeating Mark Henry and Jonathan Coachman in a no disqualification handicap match the following Raw , Goldberg declared Lesnar his next victim. On
27520-478: Was intended to enable Goldberg to have shoulder surgery, but WCW was sold to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 2001, while Goldberg was still recuperating. The WWF did not buy out Goldberg's contract with AOL Time Warner (the parent company of WCW) as they had done with several other WCW wrestlers, due to Goldberg still being paid out a significant amount of money by AOL Time Warner that he
27692-435: Was interrupted by Dolph Ziggler , who insulted Michaels. The Miz intervened but was pulled back by Michaels. Ziggler then attempted to punch Michaels, but accidentally struck Miz instead and then superkicked Michaels. The following week, a match between Miz and Ziggler was scheduled for SummerSlam, however, during the contract signing on the August 5 episode of Raw , Miz revealed that their match would actually take place on
27864-449: Was lost to injury and had to miss time. As a result of this betrayal, Goldberg feuded with Nash and defeated him at Bash at the Beach , with help from fellow New Blood member Scott Steiner. Goldberg participated in a triangle number one contender's match against Nash and Steiner at New Blood Rising , which Nash won. Goldberg walked out of the match midway through while Nash had him ready for
28036-610: Was not a fan of professional wrestling. Seeing it as an alternative to his fledgling football career, he began training at the WCW Power Plant . Goldberg made five appearances, working as Bill Gold during this part of his career. His first-ever official wrestling match was in a Monday Nitro dark match on June 23, 1997, in Macon, Georgia defeating Buddy Lee Parker . He also faced and defeated Buddy Landell , Hugh Morrus , Chip Minton , and John Betcha. His final pre-televised appearance
28208-459: Was not afraid to fight Lesnar and asked if Lesnar was scared to fight him. In response, Lesnar attacked Ricochet with a low blow and stated he was not scared. At the Royal Rumble , Lesnar dominated the first half of the Royal Rumble match until Ricochet entered as the fifteenth entrant. In response to what Lesnar did to him on Raw , Ricochet attacked Lesnar from behind with a low blow, which allowed eventual winner Drew McIntyre to eliminate him with
28380-481: Was on top of the steps. An irate Rowan then attacked Truth with the steel steps, thus being eliminated by disqualification. The penultimate participant was AJ Styles, who eliminated Truth by submitting him with the Calf Crusher. The final participant was originally Rey Mysterio, however, Mysterio was attacked backstage by The O.C (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson). Styles then claimed himself the winner by forfeit, however,
28552-426: Was owed, so he was not involved in the WWF " Invasion " angle. Goldberg instead remained under contract to AOL Time Warner until May 2002, when he agreed on a contract buyout. He was WCW's highest paid athlete, alongside Bret Hart , earning $ 2.5 million per year, a sum which would have risen to $ 3.5 million in the final year of his contract, due to have expired in July 2003. Goldberg had suffered an arm injury during
28724-625: Was perpetuated by the company, with the official figure exaggerating the number of matches in which he won to 173. Nick Schwartz of Fox Sports wrote that "No one really knows what Goldberg's actual record was... but it's generally accepted that 173–0 is an inflated number." Some of Goldberg's industry peers have stated that the figure was exaggerated. His then-WCW colleague Chris Jericho stated that "One week he'd be 42–0 and seven days later he'd be 58–0. Did stepping on bugs count?". Manager Jimmy Hart –who also worked with Goldberg in WCW–regarded
28896-603: Was right that he held Kingston back and accepted the challenge. Orton also claimed credit for Kingston becoming WWE Champion, as it was Orton who had injured Ali , who Kingston had replaced in the WWE Championship match at Elimination Chamber , which led to Kingston winning the title at WrestleMania 35. Following the Superstar Shake-up in April, Bray Wyatt , who had been on hiatus since the previous summer, began appearing as an eerie children's entertainer in pre-taped segments called Firefly Fun Fouse . He eventually revealed
29068-557: Was scheduled to face Manabu Nakanishi . After taking time off to recuperate, Goldberg returned to WCW on the May 29, 2000 episode of Nitro interfering in a handicap match between Kevin Nash and the team of Tank Abbott and Rick Steiner. At The Great American Bash , Goldberg betrayed Nash during Nash's world championship match against Jeff Jarrett and turned into a villain for the first time in his career, aligning himself with The New Blood faction. This did not last long, as Goldberg again
29240-434: Was shown, during which he revealed needing surgery to his knee and vowed to return to get revenge on Lashley for attacking his son Gage. On the September 27 episode of Raw , he appeared via satellite to again call out Lashley for having attacked his son, vowing that he would come after Lashley in retaliation. On the October 4 episode of Raw , Goldberg would call out Lashley and in response, Lashley would challenge Goldberg to
29412-463: Was the top star at WCW and also had a good run in WWE". In response to Chael Sonnen 's confusion about Ryback's appeal in late 2014, former WWE writer Jon Piermarini noted on an episode of Sonnen's podcast that the creative staff were doing "essentially the exact same thing they did with the character when it did not work or catch on the first time" and would only continue to get Goldberg's character over as Ryback. Goldberg would return to WWE around
29584-440: Was to lose another match at any point in time, unless he managed to duplicate his undefeated streak from 1997 to 1998, he would be forced to retire from professional wrestling. Goldberg defeated KroniK ( Brian Adams and Bryan Clark ) at Halloween Havoc in a handicap elimination match . He then started a feud with Lex Luger. This culminated in a match at Mayhem , which Goldberg won. They continued their rivalry and battled in
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