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

Once the alliance with Goldust ran its course, Booker T returned to the solo ranks and challenged Triple H for the world title at Wrestlemania XIX. Although Booker T holds several pinfall victories over Triple H, he has yet to defeat "the Game" with the title on the line.

Arguably the most popular wrestler on "Raw," Booker T is primed for a run as world champion, but he may have to settle for the recently revived intercontinental belt.

RIC FLAIR

The "Nature Boy" made a surprise appearance on a November 2001 episode of "Raw" to announce that Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold their company stock to him, making he and Vince McMahon co-owners of WWE. The storyline of Flair and Vince as feuding business partners paved the way for WWE's roster split, with Flair taking over "Raw" and McMahon in charge of "Smackdown."

After a promising start, however, Flair's WWE career began to sputter. As the "Raw" owner, Flair turned heel and began feuding with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, but just when things were getting interesting, Austin walked out on the company.

Overnight, Flair was suddenly turned babyface again, and he lost a match to McMahon for sole ownership of WWE. After a few months as a fulltime wrestler, the 16-time world champion reverted back to his heelish ways and became the manager of world champion Triple H. He also managed Randy Orton and Batista, who formed Evolution along with Triple H, before the two promising newcomers were sidelined with injuries. In addition to managing, Flair, 54, continues to wrestle on occasion.

THE NWO (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall)

In January 2002, Vince McMahon claimed fellow co-owner Ric Flair was ruining WWE, so he was taking it upon himself to kill the company he had created before Flair could off it. To that end, McMahon announced that he was bringing in the NWO, which he referred to as "a lethal dose of poison."

The original members of the heel faction--Hogan, Nash, and Hall--showed up in their familiar black and white T-shirts at the No Way Out pay-per-view and cost "Stone Cold" Steve Austin the undisputed title in his match against defending champion Chris Jericho, After the match, the NWO broke out their spray paint and defaced Austin.

The following night on "Raw," the trio attacked the Rock, culminating in Hogan ramming a truck three times into an ambulance with the Rock inside.

Despite those heinous actions, it quickly became clear that fans desperately wanted to cheer Hogan, who had not competed in a WWE ring since 1993. A decidedly pro-Hogan crowd of 68,237 at SkyDome in Toronto witnessed the Rock defeating Hogan in an epic encounter at Wrestlemania X-8. Afterwards, Hogan shook the Rock's hand, prompting Nash and Hall to attack the "Hulkster."

More than 18 years after Hogan first won the WWE world title, "Hulkamania" again was running wild, as Hogan defeated Triple H in April 2002 to regain the title, which he held for a month before losing it to the Undertaker.

Hogan went on to hold the WWE tag-team title for nearly three weeks, with Edge, before disappearing from the scene after being injured by Brock Lesnar. Hogan returned to WWE earlier this year and defeated McMahon in a bloody battle at Wrestlemania XIX, prompting McMahon to suspend Hogan. Shortly thereafter, a masked wrestler known as Mr. America--who bears a striking resemblance to Hogan--appeared on the scene to make McMahon's life miserable.