Goldberg defeats The Rock

One night after defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin in their third WrestleMania encounter, The Rock decided to celebrate with Rock Appreciation Night. Before The Rock could get his celebration into full swing, Goldberg made his WWE debut and proclaimed that The Rock was "next." With that, he stormed the ring and leveled the People's Champ with a crushing spear. It was clear who Goldberg's first target would be in WWE.

They were scheduled to face off at Backlash, but just a few days before the event, The People's Champ had a "Rock Concert" scheduled for RAW. The Rock sang parodied versions of "Georgia on my Mind" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." The Rock wanted a bigger audience so he invited Goldberg down to the ring. Instead, it was Gillberg who came out, mocking The Rock's Backlash opponent. Goldberg did storm the ring however, but The Rock retreated. He made it look like he left the arena, but he was just in hiding. After he thought Goldberg left in pursuit of him, The Rock came back to the ring to resume his concert. But it was Goldberg who had outsmarted The People's Champ. Goldberg stormed the ring, but The Rock was ready for him. With some help from Christian, the most electrifying performer in sports-entertainment maimed Goldberg with several chair shots. The Rock had the clear advantage heading into Backlash.

Goldberg got out to an early advantage and even hit The Rock with his own patented maneuver -- The Rock Bottom. But when he went for a spear, The Rock stepped out of the way, and Goldberg went shoulder-first into the ring post. The People's Champ continued to work on Goldberg's shoulder. The Rock followed that up with a Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow, but Goldberg kicked out. Goldberg couldn't be stopped. He hit The Rock with two crushing spears and then put the exclamation point on his debut match with a thunderous Jackhammer for the big victory.