Eric Bischoff’s Account Of Convincing Goldberg To Go Heel

On the latest episode of “83 Weeks“, Eric Bischoff delved into the controversial decision to turn Goldberg from a hot babyface into a heel at WCW’s The Great American Bash 2000. Bischoff candidly confessed that desperation drove the choice and he had to work hard to persuade Goldberg. Here are some notable excerpts:

Regarding the pivotal decision to turn Goldberg, Bischoff said,

“We were desperate. I was very much involved in convincing Bill Goldberg to do this. I wasn’t by myself, but I did support it. I remember talking to Bill about it. Bill at that time, he wasn’t against doing it, he just was not comfortable doing it because he didn’t feel it. Bill Goldberg only knew at this point, a two-and-a-half-year career from when he started, but he had been in a business for a whole less than 36 months, so he didn’t have a sense of when something was right in terms of timing, or wrong, because he was insecure about it, it took a little nurturing to get him on board.”

Reflecting on his conversation with Goldberg, Bischoff shared,

“I remember talking to Bill that night. I had a motor home there that I was using as an office. And [I] brought Bill into the motorhome and sat down and talked to him. Obviously not putting up a fight, wasn’t resisting doing it, but he clearly was not comfortable doing it.

Bischoff added that even insight, turning Goldberg heel was a feasible option, and elaborated on why it didn’t turn out the best way.

“I think one of the reasons, again, was that we needed believable heels. We needed credible, believable, badass heels. I don’t think it was a bad decision. I think the timing sucked, the execution might not have been the best, but I think the idea at that point of turning Goldberg had we not seen a plethora of turns that made absolutely no sense. I think Bill Goldberg turning heel would have made more sense because it certainly did on paper. It’s what we needed to go forward.”

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