Worth the wait? Now that he has made his WWE debut, will Goldberg prove to be worth his weight in, err, gold?

Wrestling Digest, August, 2003 by Kevin Eck

Aside from Jericho and an inevitable rematch with the Rock when he returns again from Hollywood, Goldberg's other logical opponents--Brock Lesnar, the Undertaker, and Kurt Angle--all are currently on the "Smackdown" roster.

The ultimate dream match, though, is Goldberg vs. Steve Austin. It's the battle fans have been clamoring for since both were on top of their respective companies at the height of the wrestling wars in 1998. But with Austin recently announcing his ring retirement due to his neck injury, it doesn't look like it will happen. Fans will have to settle for Goldberg and Austin interacting on "Raw," where Austin has assumed the role of co-general manager.

Austin, however, has said in interviews that he might come back for one match in the future, so there is a chance that it could happen.

Now that's a match that really would be worth the wait.

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GOLDBERG IS THE LATEST MAIN-EVENT STAR from WCW since its demise in 2001 to make his way into WWE, and unless Sting signs with WWE in the future, he's also the last.

Here's a look at how the WCW stars who preceded Goldberg into WWE have fared:

DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE

He made a shocking debut in the spring of 2001 when he was revealed as the mystery man who had been stalking the Undertaker's wife. Sara, for several weeks. Page, who most fans know is married to the lovely Kimberly, seemed like an odd choice for the role, and it quickly flopped. In addition to being miscast, Page was made to look like a glorified jobber in this one-sided feud. Not only did the Undertaker destroy Page, but Sara even smacked him around.

DDP later was repackaged as a heel motivational speaker based on the short-lived Jason Alexander post-"Seinfeld," pre-KFC sitcom "Bob Patterson." Page's comical delivery and big, cheesy smile were entertaining, but it seemed a waste of his main-event potential.

Eventually, Page morphed back into the popular "Feel the Bang" character he had played in WCW. He defeated Christian in a well-received match at Wrestlemania X-8 and appeared to be on his way up the card. Unfortunately, though, Page aggravated a neck injury during a match against Bob Holly in April 2002, and he announced his retirement from wrestling two months later.

BOOKER T

The five-time WCW champion made history in June 2001 when he and Buff Bagwell participated in the first WCW-sanctioned match on WWE television, To say it was a disaster would be putting it mildly. Beyond the horrible quality of the match--for which Bagwell was largely responsible--the partisan WWE crowd, programmed for years to hate everything about WCW, booed mercilessly.

Realizing the fans were not going to warm up to the new WCW, the WWE creative team quickly established all the incoming WCW wrestlers as heels. Booker T flourished as a bad guy, working main events with the likes of the Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

With his trademark Spin-a-roony and an assortment of catch phrases, Booker T won over WWE fans and was turned babyface after a brief stint in the NWO. He went on to form an odd-couple tag team with Goldust that provided "Raw" with some of its most entertaining moments in 2002.