Kevin Nash believes Goldberg’s freakish explosiveness came with a serious price, and he says the former WCW World Champion was already carrying plenty of physical mileage before professional wrestling ever entered the picture.
During Kliq This, Nash and Sean Oliver were talking about just how badly years in the wrestling business can tear up a performer’s body. Oliver pointed out that the damage doesn’t discriminate between main eventers and wrestlers lower on the card — once someone spends enough years taking bumps, their body usually pays for it. Nash agreed and put his own number on it, estimating that around seven years in the business can be enough for the damage to really pile up.
“I think it’s — I think it’s seven. Seven years to me is like, that’s it.”
That brought Goldberg into the conversation. Goldberg didn’t spend years grinding through wrestling before becoming a star. He exploded onto the WCW scene and shot up the card incredibly fast, but Nash noted that Goldberg came into wrestling after already putting his body through football. Nash pointed to Goldberg’s college and professional football background before explaining what he believes made Goldberg especially vulnerable physically.
“If it’s like Goldberg and you start out like right in the ring, your [bleep] time is — you’re [bleep] quick. I bet you, you know, and the thing with Bill was Bill had already played [bleep]. You know, he was all-SEC [bleep] defensive end. He played pro football.”
For Nash, the problem wasn’t that Goldberg lacked athleticism. It was almost the opposite. Goldberg was so explosive that Nash believes the way his body generated that power also contributed to him tearing things up.
“I mean, he just — Bill’s problem was he was so [bleep] explosive. He just tore [bleep]. He tore his [bleep] — think he tore his abdomen or his [bleep]. I think he tore his abdomen when he was cut in the NFL.”
Goldberg’s combination of football mileage, tremendous size and explosive athleticism helped make him one of wrestling’s most physically imposing stars, but Nash’s point is that those same traits can put an incredible amount of stress on the body.
After decades around the wrestling business and plenty of major injuries of his own, Nash clearly sees longevity differently now. Goldberg may have reached wrestling’s highest level faster than most, but Nash believes there was already a lot of wear behind the powerhouse fans eventually saw tearing through WCW.
What do you make of Kevin Nash’s take on Goldberg’s explosiveness and the physical toll it took on his body? Do you think Goldberg’s athletic style ultimately worked against him physically? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback in the comments.
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