Former WCW booker Kevin Sullivan has recalled using Mike Tyson as the inspiration for Goldberg.
Despite being a popular part of WCW in the mid to late 1990s, Goldberg has been heavily criticised over the years for his lack of wrestling ability.
The star became famous for his lengthy undefeated streak, but matches often consisted of him hitting a Spear and Jackhammer for quick wins.
On the latest edition of Tuesday with The Taskmaster, Sullivan discussed the creation of Goldberg, admitting he really didn’t have wrestling ability, at least at first.
“I created Bill Goldberg without really wrestling ability — until he got it. But, what I did was, I copied Mike Tyson, in a way — black shoes, the short ones, double socks, black tights.
Kevin Sullivan tried to stop comparisons between Goldberg and Steve Austin
The look inevitably earned the WWE Hall of Famer comparisons to Steve Austin, something Sullivan hoped to head off by limiting how much he talked.
“The other thing … I knew people would think, ‘Hey, he’s [looks] like Steve Austin,’ who was the hottest thing in the world.
“[When] people were going over what he’s going to do in his interviews, ‘He ain’t gonna talk, because once he opens his mouth, he’s dead, because people would start comparing him to Austin.'”
Sullivan went on to praise Goldberg for learning as much as possible from the wrestlers around him, something he thinks is lacking in a lot of young stars today.
“Some people say, ‘I don’t want to listen to Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts, or Tully Blanchard … my question is, ‘Would you learn to draw with Leonardo Da Vinci or Picasso [or] are you gonna get a crayon book?'”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.