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WWE NETWORK'S 'GOLDBERG AT 54' SHOWCASES HALL OF FAMER'S PASSION AS HE SEEKS TO JACKHAMMER REALITY ONE MORE TIME

From the day Bill Goldberg made his debut in professional wrestling, he’s played Superman.  So, what happens when Superman is called back to play that role, but Father Time and all the mileage on the body makes it harder to return to form as that larger than life indestructible monster?  How does Hercules keep pushing that boulder up the mountain when the path becomes increasingly arduos?

That’s the premise of the latest WWE Network documentary Goldberg at 54, which speeds through it’s 20-minute run almost as quickly as WWE thrust the idea of the WWE Hall of Famer returning to challenge then-WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at the 2021 Royal Rumble.

While he’s still portraying the mighty superhero before WWE cameras, Goldberg is at peace enough to know the truth - it’s getting harder and harder to give the public what they are expecting.  Scenes of Goldberg going through his training at the gym and a truly painful and cringe-worthy sequence from his tendon-stretching sessions shows how hard he’s trying to push himself.

Equally revealing is Goldberg’s admission that he enjoys and loves performing far more now than he did in his prime.  His criticism of Ric Flair performing 20 years ago is brought up as his the fact his initial WWE run was very much Goldberg vs. the world behind the scenes.  The Goldberg of 2021 just thisclose to wishing he loved performing this much 20 years ago, but chalks it up to the experiences of life and gaining better perspective.    It makes one wonder what might have happened if Goldberg hadn’t debuted among a sea of political sharks in WCW and what could have been if Goldberg and Vince McMahon had forged the type of friendship Goldberg says they have today.

The reality is, however, that the one thread that connects the Goldberg of 1996, 2004 and 2021 is that Bill Goldberg, the man, is genuinely a great person.   An early scene with Big E and Goldberg reminiscing about Big E, the fan, meeting Bill 20 years ago tells the story of what a positive impression Goldberg made on the future WWE star and his father.  That Goldberg is the one that untold fans have met over the decades, the one that always had time for them and a smile on his face.  It’s the same Goldberg who’s mystical facade disappears in the documentary as he discusses moving to Texas, immersing himself in that community and being inspired by his daily workouts with his teenage son, Gage.  

That same passion drives Goldberg to try and live up to what fans expect - and as much as he is pushing himself physically, it’s a mental drive to give the fans what he believes they deserve, even as with every passing week, it’s harder and harder to fight against the reality that the younger generation he’s in the ring makes it ever harder to get to that level of performance.  He wants to keep giving fans a happy energy of the hero many of them grew up with.

We all know the story of how short the McIntyre vs. Goldberg match was and in some ways, this documentary reflects that since it wasn’t a long build, hence there wasn’t a lot of time for the WWE crew to follow and document the Hall of Famer, but what they did capture was interesting enough that one almost wishes they could go deeper into his fight to stave off Father Time, his passion and support of his son Gage’s dreams, the unique balance of having a deeper passion for being around pro wrestling as his time in it is coming closer to a final end with each bout and Goldberg, the man, seeing those he inspired during the height of his career maturing into becoming stars alongside him in the WWE locker room.

Any of these would have been worthy subjects that WWE could have taken deeper dives into, but the time of the doc wouldn’t allow that.  While Goldberg at 54 is a damn interesting viewing, what would truly be amazing is if it ended up doubling as a pilot for a potential WWE reality series following the snippets of Goldberg’s life in and out of the ring because what was here felt like the beginning chapters of a far deeper, enriching journey that could be mined.   As driven as Goldberg is to keep delivering in the ring, this doc shows he has far more to provide to the fans beyond the next Spear and Jackhammer.

Goldberg at 54 will debut on the WWE Network tomorrow on demand at 10 AM EST.  WWE provided an advance stream of the documentary.

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