Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But Goldberg was not flattered when WWE introduced the world to Gillberg.
Speaking to GameSpot, Goldberg revealed his feelings when he first saw the Gillberg character on WWE television.
"I wanted to cut his head off, and then I wanted to cut everyone's head off that came up with the idea," Goldberg said. "You can take it a number of ways. I took it violently in the beginning."
Gillberg made his WWE debut on January 11, 1999. By that point, Goldberg's streak had been broken by Kevin Nash and the character had cooled off considerably from where he was in the summer of 1998. Still, WWE wanted to diminish the legitimacy of Goldberg and his streak by coming up with a parody that made fun of every aspect of Goldberg's character.
"I should have been honored that they would think enough of me to copy, in a negative way, and try to poke fun at me," Goldberg continued. "Because if I didn't evoke a feeling in them, then they wouldn't have done that. So, there was a reason for it, and I hold nothing against the guy, and I'm greatly appreciative that one more person in the professional wrestling business got a job because I don't know what he was doing prior to that. Hey man, good for him."
Goldberg finally got his hands on Gillberg in 2003. Gillberg, who was brought out as a special guest of The Rock, tried to attack Goldberg. Things did not go well for the lightweight version as Goldberg quickly dispatched of the imitator.
Gillberg returned to WWE television in 2017 as part of the Kevin Owens and Goldberg feud.
