Back in 1997-98, there were not many superstars who were as popular as Bill Goldberg. But sadly he was not in WWE as Golberg wrestled for Ted Turner’s WCW, where he single-handedly dominated the WCW roster and drew more fans towards the product.
However, Vince McMahon knew he couldn’t just poach the WCW champion to come and wrestle for his company. So the chairman of WWE decided he would make a mockery of Goldberg, and McMahon created – Gillberg!
It was common in the late 90s for the fans to witness two big wrestling promotions mocking and name-dropping each other one way or another. However, Goldberg absolutely hated the ‘Gillberg’ character and wanted to “kill” him.
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Duane Gill, who happily took the job to impersonate the WCW champion, played the Gillberg character, really enjoyed it. He had the same entrance and WWE just wanted the WWE Universe to laugh at the idea of Goldberg.
Goldberg wasn’t too pleased with that
The former WWE Universal Champion, Goldberg, sat for an interview on the WWE Network show ‘Ruthless Aggression’ where he gave his brutally honest feelings about the first impression on Gillberg.
“I hated the Gillberg thing in the beginning. Just absolutely hated it. I wanted to rip the guy’s face off. I wanted to really kill him. But that means it worked,” he said.
Duane Gill’s Gillberg character was so well done that not only Goldberg, but several WCW superstars also had ill feelings for that character. However, Goldberg and Duane are good friends now, and Gillberg has reappeared on several occasions.
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However, Goldberg was not the first wrestler that Duane Gill impersonated. He did his first parody act as The Undertaker and even took that parody to the indies as well.
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The WWE Universe and the locker room have a soft corner for the WWE legend as he is loved and praised by his peers, wherever he goes.
READ MORE: Vince McMahon Repeatedly Apologized to Top WWE Raw Superstar for a Major Mistake