‘WWE: Goldberg – The Ultimate Collection’ Blu-ray Review
Goldberg was one of the most dominant and talented individuals ever witnessed in sports entertainment, exploding onto the scene by amassing an epic win streak of 173 matches. Throughout his WCW career he defeated legends such as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page. As he crossed over to the WWE, this powerhouse continued his dominance taking on such Superstars as The Rock, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar among others. This compilation features some of the biggest matches in Goldberg s impressive career and showcases why his legacy will forever be cemented in sports entertainment.
Bill Goldberg debuted in World Championship Wrestling in the September of 1997 and defeated Bill “Hugh Morrus” DeMott. It was on that night that the famous Goldberg undefeated streak began and it lasted 173 wins. Goldberg was even the first wrestler to ever win the World Heavyweight Title whilst in the midst of such a streak. It was all this, the way he was packaged, pushed and presented that made Goldberg a major star and asset to WCW in the late nineties.
This release is not a documentary and doesn’t feature a current-day Goldberg talking about his wrestling career, and in that sense it’s a shame and pretty disappointing. It would have been nice to hear Goldberg himself talk openly about that chapter of his life. This set, like the Randy Savage one from a couple of years ago, is basic information and clips that tell the story of Bill Goldberg’s career in-between a variety of matches from his WCW and WWE runs.
I think it’s easy to forget just how “over” Goldberg was in his prime years, and this production really shows off just how important to WCW he was around 1997 and 1998. The reaction to his World Title victory over Hulk Hogan on Nitro in 1998 is just massive and really highlights just how much of a star he was at the time.
There are certainly some duds on here and it can be a bit of a chore to watch in one sitting because it is simply a compilation of Bill Goldberg’s matches. Fans of Bill will certainly love this release that features most of his major performances, but newer fans or those who didn’t care much for the Goldberg product might not be so happy about it.
Highlights of the set include Goldberg’s first World Title win over Hogan and matches with DDP, Curt Hennig, The Rock and Chris Jericho. There are no promos or talking heads but the Blu-ray release does come with a stack of exclusive extra matches including: World Title Battle Royal (WCW Road Wild, 8th August 1998); Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (WCW SuperBrawl IX, 21st February 1999); Goldberg vs. Sting (WCW Nitro, 8th November 199); No Disqualification Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg vs. Bret Hart (WCW Starrcade, 19th December 1999); and the World Heavyweight Championship Match: Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE RAW, 20th October 2003)
A must then, for fans of WCW and Goldberg, and a worthwhile release to a guy who set the wrestling world on fire for a short time in the late nineties.
Goldberg – The Ultimate Collection is released on DVD and BD through WWE/FreemantleMedia on October 7th.
