5 superstars once considered to be the next Goldberg

As the WWF was starting to turn the tide in early 1998 in the Monday Night Wars, WCW knew they could no longer rely on the drawing power of the NWO. They needed someone who stood out as a true individual, offering fans something other than Hogan, Nash and company.

Enter Bill Goldberg, a former Pro-football player with the ability to intimidate most men with his size and aggression. After a couple of squash matches, WCW soon realised they had stumbled into something truly money making with an incredibly simple formula of having Goldberg march to the ring, beat an opponent in seconds and immediately ask 'who's next?'.

It's a characteristic that many wrestlers have adopted since, especially in the WWE. Here is a look at 5 individuals who were once rumoured to become the next Golberg:

#1. Baron Corbin

In terms of appearance and personality, Baron Corbin might be a million miles from Goldberg, but for a time in his early NXT career, the Lone Wolf's matches followed along a similar vein to the former WCW legend.

While the WWE was still trying to work out what to do with Corbin on the developmental territory, their course of action was to have him follow a very typical jobber-killer trajectory. Facing off against a smaller, less prominent opponent, Corbin would do a couple moves before hitting the end of days, winning the match within seconds.

This began to catch the attention of the NXT fans to the point where they would actually start counting down from the first bell ring to see how short the match actually was. While this did help the relatively green Corbin gain some footing early on, they couldn't keep it up forever, and he soon went back to being like everyone else.

Now that he is the main roster competitor, challenging for various midcard titles, the similarities are a lot less numerous. But for a short time, it looked like we had another 'who's next' situation on our hands.

#2. Nia Jax

With the arrival of the women's revolution a few years ago, the roster began expanding beyond one dimensional, supermodel-like divas. Women of different shapes, sizes and abilities started to make a name for themselves, changing the landscape of female wrestling along the way.

One of the ladies able to benefit from the change was Nia Jax. Sporting a look not generally considered to be typical WWE, fans embraced her as something genuinely different from the norm. Down on NXT, the initial signs were promising but she was not given enough time to hold the NXT Women's Championship like she should have perhaps done.

When she was brought up to the main roster, she was turned into a female version of Goldberg, crushing opponents in seconds. The move made sense considering Jax does look like she can take on most of the roster, maybe even two or three at a time.

Despite the initial Goldberg treatment, her hard work has not yet translated into success. Having yet to hold a major title on RAW, it still feels like Nia's best years are ahead of her.

#3. Mason Ryan

Perhaps the least successful of the Goldberg clones on this list, Mason Ryan was originally brought in as part of CM Punk's New Nexus. Looks wise he was very comparable to Batista, but something about his approaches to matches made it feel like the company were lining up their latest attempt to relive the magic of Goldberg.

In one memorable RAW moment, Ryan managed to break free from a chokehold applied by both Kane and the Big Show. This show of impossible strength got many fans excited as the roster sorely needed a young, fresh monster to take the torch from the two aforementioned legends.

Unfortunately the WWE, in characteristic fashion, pulled the rug from Ryan far too early, having him lose to Randy Orton and thus miss out on a chance to be in his leader's corner for Wrestlemania 27.

As far as calling Mason Ryan the 'new Goldberg', this was perhaps no more than a brief hope held by some of the fans but never something the management really believed in seeing through.

#4. Braun Strowman

The latest in a long line of big men built up through squash matches, Braun Strowman has managed to take a rather vanilla gimmick and turn it into main event material. The former so-called Black Sheep of the Wyatt family was brought in as Bray's enforcer, quickly demonstrating his strength against the likes of Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar.

Then, as the Wyatt family were separated following the brand split and draft in 2016, Strowman was allowed to go it alone. His time as part of the Wyatts didn't exactly set the wrestling world alight, so expectations were fairly low going in.

Strowman then fits into a very familiar formula, taking on 2 or 3 enhancement talents at a time and destroying them in quick fashion. However, unlike most of the people who are given this role, Strowman's fortunes didn't decline the minute he met a more worthy opponent. The WWE, much to their credit, decided to follow through with the idea that Braun was a monster, putting him against Roman Reigns in a feud that caught the imagination of many in the WWE Universe.

Strowman is a little bit of an enigma in that sense. The other people on this list may have once been compared to Goldberg but have also fallen short of managing to become something else. Braun, in many ways, actually has the potential to become a major player for the company in his own right.

#5. Ryback

And we end this list with perhaps the most overt carbon-copy Goldberg gimmick since Gilberg. Following a brief stint as part of the Shield, the man formerly known as Skip Sheffield was repacked as the muscle-bound, ever hungry Ryback.

While other superstars have had one or two traits similar to Goldberg, Ryback appeared to be a kind of homage. Everything from his approach to the ring to his finishing move reminded people of the former WCW Champion. This was not something the WWE Universe were willing to keep quiet about either, as they literally started chanting 'Goldberg' during Ryback's matches.

In the lead up to Wrestlemania 29, there were rumours of a match between the two, which could have had the potential to make a lot of money for the company. Instead, Ryback was turned heel following a loss to Mark Henry and despite a WWE Championship feud against John Cena, his career took a bit of a nosedive.

It's difficult to say whether the Ryback character was a genuine attempt at reliving the magic of Goldberg or just an example of lazy booking from a company fresh out of ideas. Whatever the case may be, the original was eventually brought back for a feud against Brock Lesnar in 2016, reminding us all that there can only ever be one Bill Goldberg.