Cucch’s Book Review: Goldberg: I’m Next

Well, you figure a book with writing credits lauded to Scott Keith and fellow baseball wonk Rob Neyer would lead to a great book.

No.
Bill Goldberg is a wrestling anomaly. He is someone who trained quickly and in short order became a superstar that defies description. Many have called him WCW’s Austin clone. Some have called him WCW’s Shamrock clone. The fact of the matter is that Goldberg is no one’s clone. Goldberg was GOLDBERG, and the quicker we accept that fact, the quicker we can accept and appreciate what a once in a lifetime talent Goldberg was.

Goldberg’s biography, much like his career arc, is totally different. This book was written in 2000, after the peak of his career. (12 years later, I think I can state that.). Goldberg was an absolute phenomenon, one of those human events that just sort of happen out of nowhere. WCW did a remarkable job in booking Billy Boy. He was a sensation. Spear, jackhammer, powermove, pin. That was the Goldberg equation.

His book, as sad as I am to say, is total rubbish. He starts with his horrible groin injury in the NFL, and then goes into his WCW career, as started by Sting. Now, I LOVE hearing about wrestlers starting from nothing and then making something of them. Big Billy does none of that. His book starts with him taking methadone to power through injury. He then goes through some, SOME, of his matches and then  mentions Make-A-Wish, which is an excellent foundation. But Goldy often glosses over periods of his career, and that is something this scribe does not care for. Basically, Goldberg treats his career as an also ran, a piece de resistance that makes him seem like some dude off the street who fancies notoriety as opposed to a well earned rep as a good wrestler who competes in good matches.

Now, I would like to mention that this book leads me to a well informed, well educated point, but the fact is it does not. Goldberg took advantage of his name and published this shittastic book. Read it at your own peril. I will say this: If you are a 1998 mark of the business, this is your book.. Otherwise, its rubbish.