Retired wrestler says he rejected the chance to beat Goldberg
Former WCW star DeWayne Bruce has revealed that he was supposed to defeat Bill Goldberg at WCW Sin 2001.
Bruce, who competed as Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, trained Goldberg at WCW’s Power Plant training facility. The two men were originally due to go one-on-one at the Sin pay-per-view, but they ended up losing against Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger instead.
Speaking to Pro Wrestling Defined’s Jonathan O’Dwyer, Bruce recalled how he turned down the opportunity to defeat Goldberg.
“I was supposed to beat Bill at Sin,” Bruce said. “Yeah, yeah, I was supposed to beat him. I was experiencing migraines and different things through my career taking these stupid bumps. And, well, they’re all worth something, you know.
“I did [set up] the ring, came back from the gym, and I had a super migraine going on. Bill goes, ‘Hey, you’re gonna beat me.’ I was like, ‘I’m gonna beat you? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t want to beat you.’ But that was just a reaction coming from me at that moment.”
Goldberg defeated Bruce in their only televised singles match on the December 11, 2000 episode of WCW Nitro. He also picked up victories over his former trainer at two live events in 1997 and 1998.
DeWayne Bruce on whether he should have beaten Goldberg
Goldberg put together a 173-match undefeated streak before finally losing to Kevin Nash at WCW Starrcade 1998.
Given that Goldberg rarely lost matches in that era, DeWayne Bruce believes he could have benefited greatly from defeating the WCW icon.
“Now, looking back, seeing what that would have done for my career, and that he was willing to give something back like that, that’s pretty special,” Bruce added. “Sometimes I do think about it but I try to keep it out of my mind. You can’t live in the past, right?”
Bruce’s coaching methods at the WCW Power Plant were notoriously difficult for rookie wrestlers. He added that Goldberg did not have a problem with the demanding training regime due to his athletic background.
Please credit Pro Wrestling Defined and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.