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Almost lost in the heartbreak which followed during Raw’s Festival of Friendship this past Monday night (Feb. 13) was the return of Duane “Gillberg” Gill to WWE.
The longest reigning Light Heavyweight champion is company history wasn’t around for long, having been quickly dispatched by that soulless so-and-so Kevin Owens, but the man who made a career as a Goldberg parody act is trying to make the most of his return to the spotlight.
In an interview with the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast taped after his Raw return, Gillberg sadly reveals he has not been re-signed by WWE for a James Ellsworth-esque run:
Please tell me it is true? Dude, I am not saying it to just save my ass... I have heard nothing. As far as I’ve heard I was brought in for RAW. God, I would love to sign a contract. No problem. I love wrestling and wrestling is my life. I’ll be a wrestler til the day I die and I would love to go back up. Even if it was for six months. It is a childhood dream.
But that’s not the saddest part. One of the reasons Gill wants that six month deal is to finally get a WrestleMania moment. He tells the Two Man Power Trip he was booked for the “Gimmick Battle Royal” at X-7, but was stopped just before walking out on stage as it was decided they didn’t want to piss off Goldberg when they were trying to get him to join the company (this was 2001; Bill would sign for a 2003 - 2004 run):
I made it to WrestleMania one time and I made it to the curtain and I had three seconds to go and they stopped me. I was standing getting ready to go out of the curtain for the Gimmick Battle Royal and they stopped me three seconds before I walked through the curtain and said sorry you can’t go. They thought Bill was coming in for the first time and they didn’t know how he would react. They just kind of freaked out. I understand the business but you want to talk about crushing man, it killed me. It was a hard one to take and ever since then I want to go back. I’ve got to make it through that curtain.
Normally, I’d probably roll my eyes at his #GillbergWrestleMania efforts on social media, but... man, that story is almost as sad as “The List of KO”.
Let’s get Gillberg in the ‘Dre (or something).