ClutchPoints' Shane Shoemaker did a lot of dot-connecting, landing on the believable hypothetical of Colorado football PWO commit Gage Goldberg following his father, Bill Goldberg, into pro wrestling after his collegiate career -- and, if enough things break right, NFL career -- is through. Shoemaker included UNC's Kenyon McMahon and Indiana's Declan McMahon, the sons of former WWE executive Shane McMahon, in that hypothetical as well.
"(The presence of numerous second-generation wrestlers) makes you wonder if others, like the McMahon's and Goldberg, will follow suit if their football careers don't take off," Shoemaker prefaced before saying, "Though they would have their work cut out for them living up to the expectations their names carry, it wouldn't be hard for them to get a fast-track into the business.
"For now, we all have to wait and see how the sons of these former WWE wrestlers perform in their collegiate careers before potentially venturing into the world of their fathers. Gage Goldberg will likely have plenty of eyes on him should he find his way onto the field for Sanders and the Colorado football team during his career. The McMahon brothers will be much the same. But in the famous words of Gage's father: Who's next? Which other prestigious college football programs, like North Carolina, Indiana, and Colorado football, will be looking at the wrestling ring to fill their football rosters? Better yet, who will be using athletics like college football as a springboard into the ring?"
Colorado football commit Gage Goldberg doesn't plan on riding bench as PWO
Gage revealed his goals for the next few years in Boulder, announcing his intentions to land himself a Colorado football scholarship offer -- and not be forgotten within the Buffs' star-studded locker room.
"It goes together, the names Goldberg and Sanders," the younger Goldberg told the San Antonio Express-News (h/t CBS Sports). "They are like two of the exact, same things. I feel like I won't be forgotten in that program because of that and because I'm going to be putting everything I got and I'm going to show them what I have and going to be proving it.
"It's the best chance for me because I have the work ethic and I'm going to put in that work and I'm going to be ready for the next couple of years. Hopefully, in a year or two, I'll get that scholarship. Working up from the bottom is definitely the best, too."
As Shoemaker points out, if that scholarship offer never comes, an NXT NIL deal with the WWE could be instead. And Gage may be in a better position than most second-generation stars would be when it comes to not being lost in his or her father's shadow, considering Bill Goldberg has often been criticized for having a "stiff" (see: legitimately dangerous) style in the ring.
Goldberg has many wrestling fans who'd probably classify themselves as haters, so Gage may have built-in support from those who want to see him surpass his father between the ropes.