WWE and WCW legend Bill Goldberg is set to be the lead inductee into the WWE's 2018 Hall of Fame class, the company has confirmed. A former NFL player, Goldberg made his professional wrestling debut in 1997, after being trained at WCW's Power Plant facility. While WCW spent most of the famous Monday Night War period dominated by former WWE performers like Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Goldberg was one of their few truly homegrown main event stars, along with people like Sting and "Diamond" Dallas Page.

Goldberg's WCW career was most famous for "the streak", in which the bruising behemoth would destroy opponents in quick fashion, and not lose a match for more than a year. Along the way, Goldberg captured both the United States Championship and the WCW World Championship, the latter from nWo leader Hogan in a sold out Georgia Dome. Goldberg's streak ended in controversial fashion at the hands of Kevin Nash at Starrcade 1998.

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When WWE boss Vince McMahon bought WCW from Turner in 2001, Goldberg resisted being part of the initial wave of WCW talent to migrate over to WWE. Instead, he finally debuted the night after WrestleMania XIX in 2003, beginning a short feud with The Rock. Goldberg's first WWE run was one year, feuding with greats like Chris Jericho, Triple H, and Brock Lesnar along the way. Following WrestleMania XX in 2004, Goldberg retired from the ring. ESPN was the first to report that Goldberg will enter the WWE HOF, and the news was confirmed by WWE.

For over a decade, it appeared that Goldberg's wrestling career was over for good, but in 2016, the master of the spear/jackhammer combo returned for one last run. Goldberg reignited his former feud with Lesnar, defeating in him quick fashion at Survivor Series. He then entered the Royal Rumble match in 2017, eliminating Lesnar. "The Beast" got the last laugh though, pinning Goldberg to capture the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania XXXIII, which the latter had won from Kevin Owens at the prior Fastlane pay-per-view.

The following night on Raw, Bill Goldberg once again said goodbye to the WWE and its fans, but didn't rule out another return to action in the future. Now, he'll take his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, alongside greats like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels. For once, the answer to the question "Who's Next?" is Goldberg himself.

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The 2018 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony airs Friday, April 6 on WWE Network.

Source: ESPN