H Jenkins on January 26, 2026
The question of who really ended Goldberg’s undefeated streak has been debated for decades, but the truth is a little more chaotic and way more WCW than fans remember. This is a legendary story that comes up from time to time, even today, and Kevin Nash was right there for the whole thing.
Goldberg’s legendary run was pushed as one of the hottest storylines in wrestling history. However, it was officially snapped on December 27, 1998, at WCW Starrcade, when Kevin Nash defeated him for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The finish instantly became infamous as Nash used a taser on Goldberg during the match.
At the time, WCW had been proclaiming Goldberg’s record as 173–0, a number that was inflated fast as it started to feel like it was being updated by a random number generator in the WCW Nitro production truck. The streak wasn’t just unbeaten, it was marketed as unstoppable, and the crowd treated it that way. That’s why the way it ended mattered so much, and that’s why fans were so upset about how it went down.
The bigger controversy came after the taser and the title change. Only six days later, Nash dropped the WCW World Title to Hulk Hogan in the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom angle on January 4, 1999, an event that has been blamed by many for helping kick off WCW’s long slide toward collapse.
Kevin Nash revisited that moment during a recent Q&A with Going Ringside, and he’s not holding back about how WCW handled Goldberg’s win record and the entire situation.
“I think what they should have done is — Bill should have been, that night he wrestled me, he should have been 62 and 0. He shouldn’t have been 179 or whatever.”
Kevin Nash argued the streak would have felt more believable and more valuable if it was presented like a realistic combat sports narrative instead of being inflated to comic-book proportions. In other words, the number didn’t make Goldberg feel stronger, it just made WCW feel faker.
“You can’t be 3 and 0 on Monday night and then the following Nitro be 22 and 0 when there’s only been four days that we wrestle in between.”
That criticism hits harder because WCW wasn’t just promoting Goldberg as dominant, they were promoting him as if he was wrestling like 15 matches a week. Nash made it clear the math simply didn’t match the business reality.
“Scott and I were the guys that contractually were booked for the most dates… and even we weren’t working that many shows.”
Kevin Nash tossed in a deep-cut detail that rewrites the entire “undefeated” narrative and explains why so many old heads never bought into the official record in the first place.
“There was a kid — he was Eric Watts’ partner on that Techno Team 2000… whatever that kid’s name was — he beat Goldberg on a TV match that was dark, before Goldberg ever got going. So, he wasn’t undefeated.”
Many longtime WCW fans have said this for years. Goldberg’s streak wasn’t just a storyline, it was a marketing machine. The taser finish didn’t just end a run, it ended the illusion, and the Fingerpoke fallout made it feel like WCW cashed in its hottest lottery ticket.
Money and ratings fell for WCW after that. Soon enough, the Monday Night Wars ended in the way it did. Many fans still re-visit this time to this day, and that’s probably a good idea to study the past in this instance, so they don’t repeat those past mistakes.
What’s your take on Goldberg’s streak and how it ended? Do you believe that the business was better off after Goldberg’s run in WCW? Was the Fingerpoke of Doom legendary or terrible? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
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