Eric Bischoff thinks WWE can absolutely build another Goldberg—but if the company forces it, fans will smell the copy job a mile away. The man who helped turn Goldberg into an undefeated wrecking machine says the idea can still work in 2026, but WWE needs to wait, find the right guy and hide his weaknesses.
The discussion came up during the 83 Weeks podcast while Bischoff and Conrad Thompson were talking about The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. Thompson brought up WWE’s recent booking of Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi before asking whether modern fans would accept another dominant undefeated run similar to Goldberg’s rise in WCW.
Bischoff said the concept still has life, but trying it too soon would make the entire thing feel like a cheap remake.
“I think it could still work, but you’d have to let more time go by. Doing it too quickly, rushing into a streak-type creative story similar to Goldberg’s—or trying to achieve what you’re not going to achieve with Undertaker in the near future—is it possible? Yes.”
Bischoff believes WWE should wait another year before even considering the idea. He said the streak would need to grow naturally instead of arriving with flashing lights and an obvious sign telling fans they are watching the next Goldberg.
“I would probably wait another year or so because if you do it too soon, it doesn’t feel authentic. That’s a big part of this stuff. Authenticity is everything in sports entertainment.”
“The more authentic it feels, the more organic it feels, the more the audience will suspend their disbelief. The more they’ll lean into what you’re doing, the more willing they’ll be to connect to the story and the characters and come back every week for it.”
That means WWE couldn’t simply pick a powerhouse, start counting victories and expect fans to fall in line. Bischoff said the streak would need to sneak up on the audience before people realized they were watching something special.
“In order to get there, it has to be believable. There has to be some authenticity. I think doing it too soon would be rushed, but when the time comes, whenever that time is, it could be done.”
“It has to be done really carefully so people don’t see through it and immediately say, ‘Oh, they’re just trying to rerun a Goldberg angle.’ You don’t want that. You want it to almost come from out of nowhere in order for people to believe in it.”
Bischoff then pulled back the curtain on why Goldberg’s original WCW run worked. Goldberg looked like an unstoppable killer, but behind the scenes, WCW knew he was still learning and built everything around the things he could already do well.
“It’s got to be the right talent. Bill worked in his role because we realized how limited he was. That wasn’t his fault. He was just new.”
“You can’t pack ten years of experience in front of a live audience into 12 months in the Power Plant, or anywhere else for that matter. You’ve got to do this out in front of people to get the real experience you need.”
Instead of throwing Goldberg into long matches and asking him to expose everything he hadn’t learned, WCW kept the presentation tight. His opponents fed him the right moments, his matches stayed explosive and his weaknesses never became the story.
“We were smart enough to recognize—at least occasionally—that Bill had certain limitations and build his story and his matches around what he could do, while minimizing any risks in terms of including things he didn’t do very well, which would take away from his character.”
Bischoff said anyone trying to recreate that kind of run needs to stop getting cute and follow the simplest rule in wrestling.
“That’s where it gets difficult. ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ is about the best advice you could give somebody who’s going to try to build that streak-type story. Keep it simple, keep it relatable and don’t overcomplicate it.”
Bischoff believes another undefeated monster will eventually come along, but he isn’t convinced WWE’s current booking style can keep someone protected long enough to pull it off.
“I think it could happen. It probably will happen somewhere along the line. It should happen. I don’t know if it can happen in WWE. It feels like WWE really likes to do 50/50 booking.”
Goldberg’s streak worked because WCW didn’t ask him to be something he wasn’t. The company found the right presentation, kept the matches simple and let the wins pile up until fans were hooked. Bischoff believes that blueprint still works, but copying the surface without understanding what made it successful would kill the idea before it ever got moving.
Who do you think WWE could build into its next undefeated wrecking machine, and would fans accept another Goldberg-style streak today? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
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