Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

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Bill Goldberg's pro-wrestling career was shorter than his imposter's.Duane Gill -- a/k/a "Gillberg" -- was among the talent World Wrestling Entertainment brought back for last week's 15th-anniversary episode of "Monday Night Raw" (9 p.m. EST, USA Network).Gillberg lampooned Goldberg's mannerisms and elongated ring entrance before being the first grappler eliminated in a 15-man legends battle royal. Despite suffering such an unceremonious fate, Gill says he had a blast."I was honored beyond belief when they let me come out last," Gill said in a telephone interview. "The crowd loved it. The Gillberg gimmick really was the highlight to my career."Gillberg's return shows how much venom WWE management still has toward Goldberg, who left grappling in 2004 after a tempestuous one-year run. It also reflects well upon Gill's effectiveness in mocking one of the industry's biggest stars.While with WWE in late 1998, Gill told co-workers Kane and Paul Bearer that he did wrestler impersonations on the independent circuit like The Underfaker, "Stone Old" Steve Austin and Gillberg. Word quickly reached WWE writers, who wanted to embarrass Goldberg while he was headlining with rival World Championship Wrestling.To copy Goldberg's appearance, a much-punier Gillberg shaved his head and had a matching tattoo drawn across his left bicep. Goldberg would dominate his opponents with power moves, while Gillberg floundered trying to execute the same maneuvers. Goldberg had a ballyhooed winning streak; Gillberg was given a losing streak.Gill won just one match as Gillberg but still holds the distinction of being WWE's longest-reigning light-heavyweight champion. He won the belt from current Total Nonstop Action Wrestling star Christian Cage in November 1998 and kept it for 15 months when the title wasn't part of WWE story lines.Gill said he never thought twice about spoofing one of his peers. Gill, though, was admittedly nervous about meeting Goldberg when he signed with WWE in 2003."He was pretty cool and actually took some pictures with me," said Gill, who only appeared in one "Raw" skit with Goldberg. "But you could tell that night he hated my guts and everything that had to do with me."Gill said he dreamed of a Goldberg-vs.-Gillberg pay-per-view main event. In retrospect, he thanks the McMahon family for not booking it."They saved me," a laughing Gill said. Goldberg "would have killed me because I'm a little guy (6 feet tall and 230 pounds)."Gill debuted for WWE in 1989 and spent almost a decade working up the card. He was one half of The Executioners tag team with Barry Hardy and a member of Al Snow's J.O.B. Squad.Gill, though, never would have gained such prominence were it not for Goldberg's success."In all honesty, this has surpassed anything I ever could have imagined," he said.A lifelong fan, Gill is thrilled to have faced so many top WWE stars even though he lost to all of them. Gill said he earned as much as $50,000 annually during the 1990s, but wisely knew his wrestling career wouldn't last forever. When he wasn't on the road with WWE, Gill continued operating a construction/home-improvement business near his Baltimore-area home.Gill said having a fellow pro wrestler (Rich Myers) working as one of his employees also paid dividends."I would be putting siding on a house and get a call from WWE saying, 'Somebody got hurt. We need you guys in Rochester tonight,' " Gill said. "We would go home, grab our bags, head to the airport in our construction gear and shower at the arena. I was following a dream."In some ways, he still is. Gill said he harbors hope for another WWE run."I'm like a little kid up there," said Gill, 49. "These are my gods and I'm up there in the ring with them." (Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service.)