Our best and worst of Nitro column is currently chronicling the early days of Bill Goldberg’s undefeated streak and rise to the top of WCW, but let’s jump ahead to the end of that streak, as Kevin Nash defeated Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade 20 years ago today. December 27, 1998.
“Kevin Nash defeated Goldberg” is only part of the story, though. The match not only featured legendary interference from Scott Hall disguised as Event Staff and an “electrified cattle prod,” but run-ins from Disco Inferno and Bam Bam Bigelow, as well. If you’ve never seen the finish and would like to spend your Thursday with a furrowed brow, enjoy:
While opinions on Goldberg vary and the live crowd certainly seems to enjoy it, this is retroactively seen as the beginning of the beginning of the end for the company. Not only was WCW jobbing out its biggest draw to the guy who was either helping book the show or about to be put in charge of booking the show (depending on who you ask, and when), this was ultimately another way to get the title on Hulk Hogan. The infamous Fingerpoke of Doom happened eight days later, on the same night that Mankind won the WWF Championship over on Raw. That just exacerbated the nWo’s ongoing identity crisis, Vince Russo would take over the show less than a year later, and the company would be out of business about a year and a half after that.
Raise a glass.
