Gillberg

Duane Gill (born July 10, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the Attitude Era under the ring name Gillberg, a parody of then-rival promotion World Championship Wrestling's top star Goldberg.

During his tenure in the WWF, Gill became a one-time Light Heavyweight Champion.

He held the title for 15 months, becoming the longest reigning Light Heavyweight Champion as recognized by WWE.

On August 2, 1991, they defeated Cream Team (Dino Casanova and Rip Sawyer) to become the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation's first ever Tag Team Champions.

Gill (sometimes teaming with Barry Hardy) became a jobber with the WWF in 1991 usually appearing on WWF Superstars of Wrestling and WWF Wrestling Challenge losing to the likes of The Undertaker, Kamala, High Energy, The Texas Tornado, Sgt. Slaughter, Jim Duggan, The Bushwackers and The Beverly Brothers.

Gill and Hardy competed in a battle royal becoming the second version of The Executioners and took part in a 40-man battle royal won by Tatanka.

Gill and Hardy then went back to their real names and began competing on Monday Night Raw as well as WWF Superstars against several other tag teams losing to the likes of The Quebecers and The Steiner Brothers.

One night they fought as The Toxic Turtles (dressed up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and won a victory over jobbers, but the gimmick was cut off.

The Lords participated in two of three 40-man battle royals held in 1992.

in late 1993 and early 1994 he worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling.

The Executioners split in early 1994, and Hardy left the company on April 18.

Gill then began competing as an enhancement talent, losing to the likes of Mr. Perfect, 1-2-3 Kid, Razor Ramon, Doink, The British Bulldog, Tatanka and Adam Bomb.

He left the company soon after.

Gill made a one-time appearance for World Championship Wrestling defeating Hugh Morrus by disqualification on October 18, 1995 (aired November 15).

After WWF, Gill would mainly work in the independents in the East Coast and Canada mostly as the Executioner.

In 1998, Gill made his return to the World Wrestling Federation at Survivor Series as Mankind's mystery opponent with a bald head.

Vince McMahon seemingly facilitated Mankind's route to victory in a tournament for the vacant WWF Championship as he appeared to be McMahon's favorite to win.

McMahon built up the suspense before the entrance by referring to Gill as a wrestler with an unmatched win–loss record.

Although the statement was implied that Mankind's opponent won more than lost in his career, the exact opposite was true, and Gill was squashed by Mankind.

He later joined The J.O.B. Squad with Al Snow, Scorpio and Bob Holly.

During this time, Gill became notable for "ending Marc Mero's career" when Mero challenged him to a match, announcing to the crowd that he would retire from wrestling if he could not beat Gill.

Gill won the match with some help from the J.O.B. Squad, and Mero left the WWF, although he did not legit retire.

On November 23, 1998, Gill won the Light Heavyweight Championship after defeating Christian on Raw.

After a successful defense against Matt Hardy on Sunday Night Heat December 13, 1998, Gill was given his most notable gimmick: "Gillberg," a parody of rival promotion World Championship Wrestling's top star Goldberg.

When he became Gillberg, the original plan of the bookers was reputedly to have him lose 173 consecutive matches, parodying Goldberg's winning streak of 173 matches.

The Gillberg character parodied numerous other aspects of Goldberg's character, such as his entrance being accompanied by the pre-recorded sound of a crowd chanting "Gillberg" (which was an allusion to WCW's alleged use of pre-recorded chants in Goldberg's usual entrance) and stage hands that would hold up sparklers (parodying Goldberg's pyrotechnics) and then spray the entrance way with fire extinguishers.

He also had a dotted line "tattoo" on his right arm (parodying Goldberg's tribal tattoo) and would use the catchphrase "Who's First?"

in reference not only to Goldberg's catchphrase "Who's Next?", but also to the fact that Gill would lose to each and every one of his opponents.

Gill made his Royal Rumble debut in 1999, but was immediately eliminated by Edge.

Gill's only victory as Gillberg came on the February 8, 1999, edition of Raw when he defeated Goldust with help from former J.O.B. Squad member The Blue Meanie, who was feuding with Goldust at the time.

By April 1999, he was taken off the main roster and worked in less matches.

Gill lost to Tiger Ali Singh at the pay-per-view No Mercy (UK).

He competed for the WWF Championship against Triple H in a losing effort on the August 31, 1999, edition of SmackDown!.

For the remainder of 1999 he continued working in Maryland and the independents.

While he still came to the ring with the belt, the Light Heavyweight Championship was all but forgotten as Gill seldom defended the title on television or at house shows.

After being off of WWF television for several months, Gill returned on the February 13, 2000, episode of Sunday Night Heat for one final match in order to lose the championship to the debuting Essa Rios.

Upon losing the title, Gill's reign ended at 15 months, making him the longest reigning Light Heavyweight Champion in WWF history.

After leaving the WWF, Gill continued to use the Gillberg gimmick on the independent circuit, most prominently for Maryland Championship Wrestling until retiring in 2003.

Gill retired on February 28, 2020.

Gill made his debut on the American independent scene as a part of a masked tag team with Barry Hardy called The Lords of Darkness, with Hardy billed as Agony and Gill billed as Pain.