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I'm Next/Strange Journey of America's Most Unlikely Superhero
Bill Goldberg's friends were skeptical when he decided to quit being an NFL defensive lineman and take up pro wrestling. "Billy Goldberg, a wrestler?" said his pal Roger Duchowny. "Jews don't wrestle... except with guilt." But Bill was a last-string lineman with a bad groin injury, and a born performer. So he went to study with the runty Jedi master of wrestlers, Dewayne "Sarge" Bruce, who used to wrestle as "the Leprechaun in the Dungeon of Doom." Sarge got Billy through basic training with flying colors. Duchowny, a director for The Love Boat , suggested that Billy devise a catch phrase, and they came up with "Who's next?" Needless to say, "Goldberg" proved a more imposing stage name than "Billy." And at his 1997 match in Salt Lake, Goldberg whomped the well-known Hugh Morrus (a.k.a. "Humorous") with style, throwing in a back flip for good measure. Goldberg was on his way. Soon he had a look (bald, gloves, a cool, thorn-themed arm tattoo from Georgia's Psycho Tattoo), and a signature entrance, through a shower of sparks. (The key is to be as wet as possible, because sparks do sting.) There have been times when, for all his success, Goldberg has regretted following his instincts. "Using a real cattle prod was my idea. If I was going to lose, it was going to look as realistic as possible, but when I ate the voltage I knew why those big beasts were so cooperative. As the crowd started to chant 'Goldberg. Goldberg. Goldberg,' I lay there wondering what the hell I was doing flopping around the ring like a fish in a Speedo." Still, art is its own reward, and he has no regrets about severing his tendons, getting 196 stitches, and nearly crippling himself by punching through a limousine window instead of using the scripted prop, a sledgehammer. "My girlfriend could break a window with a sledgehammer. Where's the theatrics in that?" Bill Goldberg's grandpa was in the circus. Like grandpa, like grandson. Only in Bill's circus, the clown, the strongman, and the barker are all rolled into one. Goldberg is one of the barking strongman clowns to watch. --Tim Appelo
Hardcover
First published November 7, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 21, 2022
Bill Goldberg's 2000 autobiography written during the dying days of WCW is blunt, honest, and personable, yet very bare - Goldberg was only three years into his wrestling career at this point, and around the 150 page mark, he seems to run out of content to put in. The first 40% of this covers his early wrestling career, the next 20% are shamelessly filler chapters written by his brother and father, and the final 40% is extensively about his college and pro football career. Only half of this really appealed to me, I kind of zoned out a little during the football sections. Goldberg's style is fed to his brother Steve through ghostwriting, but comes off as personable and charismatic. He's blunt about the aspects of the business he likes and dislikes, the people he can't stand (there's especially petty bits about Scott Hall and Joe Theismann that go into angry rant territory), and the fact that he is, at heart, a football player who made it into wrestling, and his heart is not 100% into the business. Fun little stories and accounts here and there, but this felt entirely too early for Bill to write a book, and it shows with the last chunks trying to fill up space to reach 250 pages.
July 11, 2025
About two years or so ago I went into a charity shop that I frequent and on the shelf was clearly somebody’s donated collection of wrestling autobiographies. As someone who isn’t too bothered about autobiographies but as someone who is crazy about professional wrestling, I bought them all.
Recently I’d bought Jericho’s first book but hadn’t at the time gotten around to reading it. Now, I have and loved it, and I’m making my way through some of the ones I’m least interested in to save the more exciting ones for later.
Sorry Bill, but that’s where we are with you now.
Goldberg’s era was on at a time when I didn’t have cable TV, so only had sporadic knowledge and limited tv time on which I could watch wrestling. My parents hated it, my mum being a Jehovah’s Witness and my dad despising everything that wrestling was and is. So it was hard for me to ever get to watch it, and by it I mean WWF. I had the WWF video games, but I really knew nothing about WCW other than they were also around and the school yard talk was how Goldberg was a poor man’s Steve Austin.
Well, he references that in his book.
My only real exposure to Goldberg was recently: I stopped ‘watching’ (really I barely watched it) wrestling and went through about 15 years without knowing anything other than hearing about the tragedies, or when someone crossed over into the mainstream via a meme or a movie. And in 2016 I started again, after Wrestlemania 32. 8 months later, Goldberg was back, and I was pumped. Now was my chance to see what all the fuss was about.
And really…well, meh. His matches with Brock were superb, but then he was being wheeled out to just beat all the guys that I liked, and I felt like he was taking opportunities away from upcoming stars. Then he beat The Fiend and had THAT match with The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia. He also did an interview with Steve Austin on the excellent Broken Skull Session.
And you know what? It wasn’t the best way to introduce Goldberg to me. His matches with Brock aside, he was milked far too much and I wished he would go away. Now, he’s retiring, and I felt like it was time to understand more about this man who to be fair, gave the industry a shot in the arm.
And I have to say that really, I’m still not endeared to him. I don’t want to come across as rude so I will say merely that I can’t relate to the guy. Yes, I completely get the talks about work ethic, and how important it is to work harder than the next guy, but that’s it. I find him spoiled and arrogant. Which is how he came across to me in the years from 2016 to now.
Certain angles within the business that he took too personally when it was just for entertainment he doesn’t understand and is still bitter about even though he has had time for reflection. He’s a man who at the time of writing the book had been in the business for 5 years and acted like it should bend to his will. It just comes across as disrespectful.
Anyway, that aside, it was still interesting to read about his journey and the behind the scenes, even if the structure is a bit disjointed with his early pre-wrestling career taking up a large portion of the last few chapters of the book. As a Brit, American football baffles me (not in a good way) and therefore you can imagine my surprise that I found the chapters about his football career some of the more engaging of the whole book, so kudos to his brother etc who helped put the book together.
Recently I’d bought Jericho’s first book but hadn’t at the time gotten around to reading it. Now, I have and loved it, and I’m making my way through some of the ones I’m least interested in to save the more exciting ones for later.
Sorry Bill, but that’s where we are with you now.
Goldberg’s era was on at a time when I didn’t have cable TV, so only had sporadic knowledge and limited tv time on which I could watch wrestling. My parents hated it, my mum being a Jehovah’s Witness and my dad despising everything that wrestling was and is. So it was hard for me to ever get to watch it, and by it I mean WWF. I had the WWF video games, but I really knew nothing about WCW other than they were also around and the school yard talk was how Goldberg was a poor man’s Steve Austin.
Well, he references that in his book.
My only real exposure to Goldberg was recently: I stopped ‘watching’ (really I barely watched it) wrestling and went through about 15 years without knowing anything other than hearing about the tragedies, or when someone crossed over into the mainstream via a meme or a movie. And in 2016 I started again, after Wrestlemania 32. 8 months later, Goldberg was back, and I was pumped. Now was my chance to see what all the fuss was about.
And really…well, meh. His matches with Brock were superb, but then he was being wheeled out to just beat all the guys that I liked, and I felt like he was taking opportunities away from upcoming stars. Then he beat The Fiend and had THAT match with The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia. He also did an interview with Steve Austin on the excellent Broken Skull Session.
And you know what? It wasn’t the best way to introduce Goldberg to me. His matches with Brock aside, he was milked far too much and I wished he would go away. Now, he’s retiring, and I felt like it was time to understand more about this man who to be fair, gave the industry a shot in the arm.
And I have to say that really, I’m still not endeared to him. I don’t want to come across as rude so I will say merely that I can’t relate to the guy. Yes, I completely get the talks about work ethic, and how important it is to work harder than the next guy, but that’s it. I find him spoiled and arrogant. Which is how he came across to me in the years from 2016 to now.
Certain angles within the business that he took too personally when it was just for entertainment he doesn’t understand and is still bitter about even though he has had time for reflection. He’s a man who at the time of writing the book had been in the business for 5 years and acted like it should bend to his will. It just comes across as disrespectful.
Anyway, that aside, it was still interesting to read about his journey and the behind the scenes, even if the structure is a bit disjointed with his early pre-wrestling career taking up a large portion of the last few chapters of the book. As a Brit, American football baffles me (not in a good way) and therefore you can imagine my surprise that I found the chapters about his football career some of the more engaging of the whole book, so kudos to his brother etc who helped put the book together.
June 16, 2025
A relatively short and standard autobiography, this book is hurt by the fact that the chapters were out of order chronologically: The first half is about Bill Goldberg's wrestling career, two chapters in the middle are anecdotes from his brother and father from random points in Goldberg's life, the second half is Goldberg's childhood through his football career, and finally the end returns to the then-present to talk about returning to wrestling after an injury (the layover for which was probably when most of this was put together). The thinking was obviously that the book would mostly appeal to wrestling fans who'd only want to read about wrestling, so front-load that content and the readers can just stop reading after they get to through the pictures; unfortunately, the chronology makes some of the references early in the book hard to understand without the context provided in the back half. At points it feels as though I'm Next was written in order and the chapters switched around at the last minute without editing to keep it understandable. It was also finished up right as Goldberg was turning heel (becoming a villain), a very specific point in time because it lasted for about a month. This was also released less than a year before World Championship Wrestling went out of business, some of the concerns with his employer that Goldberg surprisingly voiced in this book being prescient.
Outside of the time peculiarities, Goldberg comes across as an odd cat: A good friend, cares about kids, loves animals, accessible to fans, and genuinely wanting to do his best in the professional wrestling business to entertain people, but also a dumb lunkhead, aggressive, and possibly a violent maniac who enjoys being covered in blood - whether his own or that of others. His career had a lot of ups and downs, it's kind of easy to see where the downs came from, given his extreme personality.
Outside of the time peculiarities, Goldberg comes across as an odd cat: A good friend, cares about kids, loves animals, accessible to fans, and genuinely wanting to do his best in the professional wrestling business to entertain people, but also a dumb lunkhead, aggressive, and possibly a violent maniac who enjoys being covered in blood - whether his own or that of others. His career had a lot of ups and downs, it's kind of easy to see where the downs came from, given his extreme personality.
October 25, 2025
Christ this wasn’t very good at all.
Written in 2000 (madness, Goldberg had only been around for a couple of years), this is an attempt to make a bit of money with not a lot of material.
It’s clear that at the time (and still now in 2025), Goldberg didn’t have any real respect or love for the business, and saw it as nothing more than a quick buck, and inferior to his beloved American football.
He doesn’t seem to like anybody in the business, but his reasons for hating are paper thin at best.
It’s extremely generic, there’s nothing here for any fan to get excited about. It’s also poorly written, the last 100 pages in particular are bizzare, just a retread of the first 170.
Probably one of the worst wrestling autobiographies I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot), and also an example of just how fu^*$d WCW was in 2000.
Poor poor. Avoids the dreaded 1 star due to a reasonably enjoyable few chapters on the power plant and training etc.
3/10
Written in 2000 (madness, Goldberg had only been around for a couple of years), this is an attempt to make a bit of money with not a lot of material.
It’s clear that at the time (and still now in 2025), Goldberg didn’t have any real respect or love for the business, and saw it as nothing more than a quick buck, and inferior to his beloved American football.
He doesn’t seem to like anybody in the business, but his reasons for hating are paper thin at best.
It’s extremely generic, there’s nothing here for any fan to get excited about. It’s also poorly written, the last 100 pages in particular are bizzare, just a retread of the first 170.
Probably one of the worst wrestling autobiographies I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot), and also an example of just how fu^*$d WCW was in 2000.
Poor poor. Avoids the dreaded 1 star due to a reasonably enjoyable few chapters on the power plant and training etc.
3/10
February 7, 2018
Bill Goldberg celebrates his 55th Birthday on December 27th. This week, the Literary Squared Circle blog takes a look back at his 2000 memoir I’m Next: The Strange Journey of America’s Most Unlikely Superhero by Bill Goldberg and Steve Goldberg (Crown, 2000).
I’m Next begins not with Goldberg’s childhood, but with his decision to become a professional wrestler while recovering from a football injury at the age of 30. Unlike many wrestlers who pen memoirs, Goldberg did not grow up as a wrestling fan who one day dreamed of entering the squared circle. He saw professional wrestling as a way to make a living after his football career met a premature end.
The book details Goldberg’s journey from his training at the WCW Power Plant to all that went into making the Goldberg character unique: his look, his moves, his music, his pyro, etc. He describes his character as, “a cross between Bruiser Brody, Nikita Koloff, Buzz Sawyer, Ken Shamrock, and a wrestling character from one of my favorite movies, Paradise Alley – Franky the Thumper.”
Goldberg discusses his WCW debut and his subsequent winning streak, which would go on for the first year-and-a-half of his career. During his win streak, Goldberg would capture the United States Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Along the way, Goldberg lists things such as the best parts of being on the road, the worst parts of being on the road, and all of the celebrities he encountered during his championship run.
In addition to Goldberg’s narrative, readers hear from those who know and worked with Goldberg, including Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and Arn Anderson just to name a few. His family and football coaches also chime in to provide insight as to what kind of person Goldberg is.
The wrestling portion of I’m Next ends with Goldberg injuring his arm in late 1999. He severed tendons when he punched his fist through a limousine window. While rehabbing from the injury, Goldberg reflected back on his spectacular, yet brief career in professional wrestling, and wrote I’m Next with his brother Michael Goldberg.
The remainder of the book features Goldberg talking about all of his famous friends, including, but not limited to Adam Sandler, Jean-Claude Van Dam, and Jimmy Buffett. Though he is name dropping, Goldberg also uses his platform as a celebrity to work with a variety of charities such as Special Olympics, the American Diabetes Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Association, D.A.R.E., and the Humane Society.
After two chapters which were not authored by Bill Goldberg himself, but instead one by his brother and another by his father, Goldberg returns to discuss his childhood, his days playing college football at the University of Georgia, and his NFL career.
Overall, I really enjoyed I’m Next: The Strange Journey of America’s Most Unlikely Superhero. It provided readers with all aspects of Bill Goldberg’s story, even though it was presented in a very unorthodox manner. As I have said about other books I’ve reviewed, notably by Kurt Angle (LSC #14) and Rey Mysterio (LSC #10), the book was written very early on in Goldberg’s wrestling career. It would be nice to see a second memoir written covering all that has transpired over the past two decades including the end of WCW, his run in the WWF, and his return(s) to WWE as Universal Champion, WWE Champion, and Hall of Famer.
Hopefully, wrestling fans and Goldberg fans in particular can look forward to a follow-up book somewhere down the road. Until then, they’ll have to make do with I’m Next.
4 Stars out of 5
I’m Next begins not with Goldberg’s childhood, but with his decision to become a professional wrestler while recovering from a football injury at the age of 30. Unlike many wrestlers who pen memoirs, Goldberg did not grow up as a wrestling fan who one day dreamed of entering the squared circle. He saw professional wrestling as a way to make a living after his football career met a premature end.
The book details Goldberg’s journey from his training at the WCW Power Plant to all that went into making the Goldberg character unique: his look, his moves, his music, his pyro, etc. He describes his character as, “a cross between Bruiser Brody, Nikita Koloff, Buzz Sawyer, Ken Shamrock, and a wrestling character from one of my favorite movies, Paradise Alley – Franky the Thumper.”
Goldberg discusses his WCW debut and his subsequent winning streak, which would go on for the first year-and-a-half of his career. During his win streak, Goldberg would capture the United States Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Along the way, Goldberg lists things such as the best parts of being on the road, the worst parts of being on the road, and all of the celebrities he encountered during his championship run.
In addition to Goldberg’s narrative, readers hear from those who know and worked with Goldberg, including Sting, Diamond Dallas Page, and Arn Anderson just to name a few. His family and football coaches also chime in to provide insight as to what kind of person Goldberg is.
The wrestling portion of I’m Next ends with Goldberg injuring his arm in late 1999. He severed tendons when he punched his fist through a limousine window. While rehabbing from the injury, Goldberg reflected back on his spectacular, yet brief career in professional wrestling, and wrote I’m Next with his brother Michael Goldberg.
The remainder of the book features Goldberg talking about all of his famous friends, including, but not limited to Adam Sandler, Jean-Claude Van Dam, and Jimmy Buffett. Though he is name dropping, Goldberg also uses his platform as a celebrity to work with a variety of charities such as Special Olympics, the American Diabetes Association, the Juvenile Diabetes Association, D.A.R.E., and the Humane Society.
After two chapters which were not authored by Bill Goldberg himself, but instead one by his brother and another by his father, Goldberg returns to discuss his childhood, his days playing college football at the University of Georgia, and his NFL career.
Overall, I really enjoyed I’m Next: The Strange Journey of America’s Most Unlikely Superhero. It provided readers with all aspects of Bill Goldberg’s story, even though it was presented in a very unorthodox manner. As I have said about other books I’ve reviewed, notably by Kurt Angle (LSC #14) and Rey Mysterio (LSC #10), the book was written very early on in Goldberg’s wrestling career. It would be nice to see a second memoir written covering all that has transpired over the past two decades including the end of WCW, his run in the WWF, and his return(s) to WWE as Universal Champion, WWE Champion, and Hall of Famer.
Hopefully, wrestling fans and Goldberg fans in particular can look forward to a follow-up book somewhere down the road. Until then, they’ll have to make do with I’m Next.
4 Stars out of 5
March 27, 2014
Browsing in the library for something on running, I started looking at the books about "professional wrestling" aka "sports entertainment." I decided to read Goldberg's autobiography, written with his brother. Much of the prose sounds like direct transcriptions of his reminiscences. What appealed to me was that, the blurb above about what kind of "machine" he is notwithstanding, Bill Goldberg is a thoughtful and hard-working man, and a compassionate human being who cares about people. What in other books might come across as name-dropping, in this case becomes a grateful tribute to many who have helped him have a wonderful life in a couple of painful and soul-threatening businesses. A tip of the yarmulke to Bill Goldberg and I'm Next.
February 7, 2016
I have read a lot of books by wrestlers/former wrestlers and was looking forward to this one more than most. Goldberg was the face of WCW in the 90's and was only one of a couple of big names the company produced themselves so thought it would be an interesting read.
However most of this book is dedicated to his failed NFL career. It appeared to me that he had no interest in wrestling and only did it as there was nothing else for him in sports.
I wouldn't only suggest reading if your a big Goldberg fan.
If you are looking for a good book from a wrestler I wouldn't suggest this one and say to read something from Foley, Bret Hart or Jericho.
However most of this book is dedicated to his failed NFL career. It appeared to me that he had no interest in wrestling and only did it as there was nothing else for him in sports.
I wouldn't only suggest reading if your a big Goldberg fan.
If you are looking for a good book from a wrestler I wouldn't suggest this one and say to read something from Foley, Bret Hart or Jericho.
August 19, 2012
Bill Goldberg was one of the toughest wrestlers to ever complete in World Championship Wrestling, this guy debuted in September 1997 with a total of 173 victories that led him to win the United States Championship and even the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Hollywood Hulk Hogan in the main event on WCW Monday Nitro on TNT in a sell-out of 43,000 people at the Georgia Dome (the place that he played for the Atlanta Falcons during his NFL career), this is the untold story of Goldberg, uncensored and unreal.
October 14, 2015
I felt this book read more like an extended magazine article than it did a wrestling biography.
At times it was more focused on Goldberg the celebrity that it was Goldberg the professional wrestler. Which does say something about how Goldberg views himself. You don't really get a sense of his passion for the business.
At times it was more focused on Goldberg the celebrity that it was Goldberg the professional wrestler. Which does say something about how Goldberg views himself. You don't really get a sense of his passion for the business.
January 20, 2008
Dude, he won like 150 matches in a row. Fear the spear.
August 25, 2008
it was an alright book, not as good as Chris Jericho's but not a total waste.
Read
April 13, 2009This book talked about a professional wrestler and his journey to get where he was. This book is good book to just read when you have nothing else to do.
October 23, 2016
As one of my favorite WWE wrestlers, I enjoyed learning about Goldberg and his experiences in wrestling and in his own personal life.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews