Wild Bill Irwin Recalls The Origins Of The Goon

Sporting a hockey jersey, gloves, shorts, socks, and boots resembling ice skates, WWF fans were introduced to The Goon in July 1996. "I've been banned from the NHL and all the leagues in-between, one coast to the other. And now I'm bringing my talent to the [WWF], where fighting is legal and I'm going to be the scoring king," he said in a pre-recorded promo on "WWF Superstars."

The man behind the gimmick, "Wild" Bill Irwin, revealed on "Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw" that he came up with the idea when on a phone call with Bruce Prichard. "You've had every other athletic sport come into this business, you know, what about a hockey player? What if you had a hockey player come in?" he said. Not phased by wrestling in hockey gear, Irwin suggested removing the blade from a hockey skate and having a shoemaker stack three inches of tapered foam on the bottom to give the illusion of a skate blade. "He [Prichard] called me back and said, 'Yeah I took it to Vince and he loved it! He wants to call you The Goon,' and I says, 'The Goon it is!'"

The Goon wrestled nine matches, winning two. His final match was a loss to The Undertaker on January 5, 1997. Irwin feels more could've been done with the gimmick. "I think it was Jim Ross was the booker at the time and I don't know, maybe he didn't like me, maybe he didn't like the gimmick, I don't know," he said. Irwin reprised The Goon in the 2000's for the WrestleMania 17 Gimmick Battle Royal and "WWE Raw" 15th Anniversary Battle Royal. In 2021, Mattel released The Goon action figure as part of their WWE Elite Series.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.