Where did WCW & WWE go wrong with Goldberg

4636 Views 29 Replies 23 Participants Last post by GillbergReturns, Mar 31, 2014

NitroII

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 2014

Goldberg was so hot when he won the WCW Title from Hulk Hogan in July 1998, that it seemed, he would rule WCW forever. But once he lost the title for Kevin Nash at Starrcade 98, and then the Hogan/Nash Fiasco at Nitro the following week, he never got his momentum back. In fact it would be the only time Goldberg was WCW Heavyweight Champion, the same number as Vince Russo & David Arquette.

So where did WCW go wrong? Should Goldberg have never lost at Starrcade? Should he have regained the title instead of the Hogan/Nash incident? Should he have won the WCW Title from Bret Hart at Starrcade 99 instead of leading to NWO 2000?

Then he comes to WWE the day after WM XIX, and never really got going. He had a way too long match with The Rock at Backlash, then feuded with Chris Jericho on his way to Summerslam and the Elimination Chamber where he got beat by HHH. He won the World title the month after but by then it was too late.

Was it too late by 2003 when WWE brought in Goldberg, or could they have done more with him?

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INFERN0

· #21 · Mar 31, 2014

A few things they did wrong.

Having him win the title on nitro, when that should have main evented starrcade

Having him lose in a stupid manner. His first loss should have been a huge deal, in a ppv main event against a young guy they could really push, maybe booker t or steiner etc, just someone who would really benefit from it

When he lost, he should have been a guy who hardly ever loses, it's not hard, build it up, this guy has gone unbeaten for 6 months, a year, 18 months etc. When he does lose it's a huge deal and the guy who beats him gets a massive rub for it.

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coffeeman

· #22 · Mar 31, 2014

I like what Bobby Heenan said in his book, written in 2002, he said "I'd still have Goldberg undefeated!" I know as a kid I stopped watching when Nash and Hogan did the finger poke. I remember when Goldberg lost I was so sad because one of my favorite memories as a kid is still Golberg winning that belt cause I thought it'd never happen. When Nash won I gave him the benefit of the doubt cause I wanted to see him beat up Hogan. Then it didn't happen and it sucked.

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Steve-a-maniac

· #23 · Mar 31, 2014

WCW went wrong with Goldberg by taking a guy who couldn't work, couldn't talk, and didn't give a shit about the business outside of the paychecks and strapping a rocket to his back. As others have noted, the streak was not a gimmick and a character like Goldberg has a very limited shelf life. He was over as hell for a while, but he didn't have the talent to remain a star once the streak ended, since that was the only reason he was over in the first place.

WWE went wrong with Goldberg by thinking that he could thrive in WWE's landscape, which was vastly different from WCW. WCW had a vast, VAST roster of lower card guys and jobbers that they could feed to Goldberg, and that, combined with his look, was enough to get him over. WWE was a completely different animal. The roster was smaller and a guy couldn't be billed as a main eventer if all he did was squash the same group of jobbers in 2 minute matches. In WWE, main event stars were actually expected to use their ring skills and mic skills to deliver good storylines and PPV-quality main event matches on a consistent basis, which Goldberg could not do. He really had nothing to offer them besides a decent look and a name that was big 5 years before they signed him. By the time he came to WWE, he wasn't really relevant anymore and he sure as hell hadn't improved in the ring at all.

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PepeSilvia

· #24 · Mar 31, 2014

Goldberg was a developmental wrestler with a rocket up his butt. Of course he was going to get exposed.

He was like a rookie pitcher coming into the league with 2 really good pitches no one has seen before- and tearing up year 1. Then by the time year 2 comes along everyone knows his stuff and he has a 6.29 era

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The Ultimate Warrior

· #25 · Mar 31, 2014

WCW ended Goldberg's winning streak. He never really recovered from it as no-one had any real idea what to do next with him.

Then he comes to WWE and has an ok run until the Chamber match. WWE messed up there and all the momentum Goldberg had was lost. He stuck around as just another guy until the Lesnar storyline then he was gone.

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IRISHwhip78

· #26 · Mar 31, 2014

INFERN0 said:
A few things they did wrong.

Having him win the title on nitro, when that should have main evented starrcade

Having him lose in a stupid manner. His first loss should have been a huge deal, in a ppv main event against a young guy they could really push, maybe booker t or steiner etc, just someone who would really benefit from it

When he lost, he should have been a guy who hardly ever loses, it's not hard, build it up, this guy has gone unbeaten for 6 months, a year, 18 months etc. When he does lose it's a huge deal and the guy who beats him gets a massive rub for it.

There wasn't anything wrong with Goldberg winning the title at Nitro. WCW didn't get anymoney from Starrcade it all went to Turner Home Movies. Everyone who cites this including Jim Ross doesn't understand WCW. It was owned by a TV company. There job was to pop ratings and not sell PPV's. WCW should have scrapped the PPV market and converted everything to Free TV like the Clash of the Champions.

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Buttermaker

· #27 · Mar 31, 2014 (Edited)

WWE still made Goldberg look strong though. Take his matches with Evolution where he constantly fought off multiple members. You don't need to spear soemone in 3 seconds to look strong. Hell even his early WCW matches where not even like that.

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webb_dustin

· #28 · Mar 31, 2014

As the previous post that pointed out that WCW could feed him an entire group of wrestlers without him ever touching the main event is what got him over, but when he went to the WWE Goldberg came with a lot of hype, but honestly the fans didn't want to see him run roughshod over main eventers that had won the Monday night wars. He accomplished a lot considering his limitations but much like Hogan, it was about booking and marketing, not talent.

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siam baba

· #29 · Mar 31, 2014

I do t think wcw fucked up the Goldberg character. He was still a huge draw and a huge star to the very end of wcw.

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GillbergReturns

· #30 · Mar 31, 2014

With WWE it was poor timing. He debuts the day after WrestleMania 19 which was a commercial flop. There's no SCSA. Rock is 1 and done and back to Hollywood. You have the brand split slicing his competition in half. There wasn't much there for him. Goldberg v HHH. They make the colossal mistake of wanting to put Lesnar over him and that's the perfect ending to his underwhelming run.

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