Was Goldberg's WWE run REALLY that bad?

[Ragnal]

I've had this thought on my mind for months, but I was thinking...

I know a lot of people crap on WWE apparently using Goldberg in a wrong manner back when he was there, and yeah, I missed the early months of his tenure, but after seeing videos of the stuff on Youtube and seeing the footage of Goldberg after he lost his WCW title (Cattle prod, being beat up by guys in their forties, and other things) and comparing it to the fact he's had one of the loudest crowd pops this decade when he debuted, won the World title in six months (apparently fans cried they waited too long to put the belt on him...compared to the year it took WCW to do the same), and he was never actually jobbed out to anyone cleanly...I don't see why it's so bad.

And before anyone says anything, YES, I've seen the wig clip. It's harmless. It's Goldberg cringing, saying no thanks, and it's never spoken of again. No harm done.

So I ask...what was so horrid about it compared to everything that happened post-Starrcade 98?

[Curt Hawkins Fan]

Sept 2, 2009 18:40:24 GMT -5 Ragnal said:

And before anyone says anything, YES, I've seen the wig clip. It's harmless. It's Goldberg cringing, saying no thanks, and it's never spoken of again. No harm done.

I don't understand why everybody hated this.

Its like if I hated Chris Jericho when he spilled coffee on Kane because I thought Jericho was too cool to drink coffee

[Lancers]

I honestly don't remember much about him other than jobbing to Triple H in an Elimination Chamber match. And the only reason I remember that was because of Triple H's superawesome bicycle shorts. I even wrote a song about them to the tune of his entrance theme.

[lovingway]

He had a good run. It just pissed people off that they had Triple H beat him in the Elimination Chamber after Goldberg took out 3 wrestlers and basically looked unstoppable until a sledgehammer shot

Oh and people got pissed off about the Goldust bit

[blackribbon]

He was in good shape

He gave decent promos

Meh, what can you ask for. People hate it because it was during HHHs super reign

[hbk4ever09]

Think he just got caught in a borine time. Lots of tweeners like RVD and Booker at the time. Only feuds i remember were Rock, HHH, and Kane. Kane/HHH/Goldberg was predictably awful. I'm mad they never got to put someone over before he left. And that he never had a feud with HBK (HBK made him look alright in their match togehter)

[Ragnal]

Sept 2, 2009 18:49:25 GMT -5 lovingway said:

He had a good run. It just pissed people off that they had Triple H beat him in the Elimination Chamber after Goldberg took out 3 wrestlers and basically looked unstoppable until a sledgehammer shot

Oh and people got pissed off about the Goldust bit

Here's my argument: Triple H used a sledgehammer, A SLEDGEHAMMER, to beat Goldberg. Yeah, the dude was unstoppable and smashed the "glass" surrounding Trips' pod, but it's not like Goldberg beat on Trips for five minutes and then got hit with a Pedigree and sold it like death. Also, I forget where exactly Triple H hit him with the sledgehammer, but I'm pretty sure the impact with it at the speed Goldberg was running would have hurt a helluva lot.

As for the wig bit, just read the original post.

[Mozenrath]

I think it was pretty good. I just think it exposed that he's out of his element outside of the WCW setting. He's pretty good, but not great, and after a while, "pretty good" doesn't cut it from a main eventer.

[whatamaneuver]

His feud with The Rock was a great start, but from then on it all seemed to go a bit stale. It seemed there was never any long-term plan, it never felt like he was a permanent fixture.

If I remember correctly he went out of that red hot angle into a mini-feud one with Lance Storm of all people. Storm tried to run him over... which was underwhelming. Then Storm said Jericho had told him to do it (despite them never being alligned together on WWE screens), so Goldberg and Y2J's feud seemed kind of like an after-thought. Actually pretty much exactly the same as when HHH was inserted to the Rikishi/Rock feud.

The feud with HHH for the belt was, dare I say it, typical HHH around that time. After his injury everything he touched seemed to go south. It's hard to blame Goldberg when HHH had similarly underwhelming feuds around that time with Jericho, Scott Steiner, Kane and Booker T.

I did actually really enjoy the feud with Lesnar. Extremely slow build with increasing tension, culminating in costing Brock the title against Eddie Guerrero. Obviously though their Wrestlemania match was awful, and that cemented a 'meh' run as a bad one in people's minds.

In summary, it had its ups and downs, but the fact it delivered so far from the obvious potential during that feud with The Rock means it is rightly remembered as a disappointing run.

["Gentleman" AJ Powell]

Sept 2, 2009 18:49:23 GMT -5 Lancers said:

I honestly don't remember much about him other than jobbing to Triple H in an Elimination Chamber match. And the only reason I remember that was because of Triple H's superawesome bicycle shorts. I even wrote a song about them to the tune of his entrance theme.

if you post those lyrics i will give you a cookie of your choice

[mondaymorningchamp]

Goldberg's just a big jock with a small brain who got into wrestling to make some money after his football career was ended by injury. Not a bad man, not the worst main eventer in history, but not someone fit for a long career and not someone I wanted to see outside of the, "IT'S GOLDBERG ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN WWE" factor

How he could be so mad about the Goldust thing is beyond me. It was absolutely harmless in every way.

[blackribbon]

People were expecting too much

It was Goldberg. A big guy who smashed through competition.... Not like he wasn't all Hype

[molson5]

Glad to hear some sanity over the wig thing.

When I first heard about that, I didn't remember the incident, and I imagined a Goldberg/Goldust team where Goldberg willingly wore a gold wig as part of the team. And then I saw the actual clip....

Goldberg was very good. Maybe he got a tad lost in the main event shuffle then but imagine him on the roster now. He's like a more-talented, more charismatic, more over version of Batista, and Big Dave has been one of the cornerstones of the company.

He wasn't talented enough to have even a good match with an average or worse worker, but he really improved during his time in WCW. And most importantly, he connects with the fans during his matches. That's a very elusive skill.

[machomadness]

Does anyone remember him having an verbal altercation with a fan who was hurling abuse his way after he was got heavily booed during his match with Jericho? I think it all went downhill from there.

There were stories about him being anti-social backstage and the complaints coming from his side about not being used properly on a regular basis. This was before "This one's for you Paul!".

[Mozenrath]

Sept 2, 2009 19:32:17 GMT -5 machomadness said:

Does anyone remember him having an verbal altercation with a fan who was hurling abuse his way after he was got heavily booed during his match with Jericho? I think it all went downhill from there.

There were stories about him being anti-social backstage and the complaints coming from his side about not being used properly on a regular basis. This was before "This one's for you Paul!".

Not sure. With Goldberg, you always either hear he was nice, or a total dick. Not a lot of in betweens.

[Lancers]

Sept 2, 2009 19:16:05 GMT -5 "Gentleman" AJ Powell said:

Sept 2, 2009 18:49:23 GMT -5 Lancers said:

I honestly don't remember much about him other than jobbing to Triple H in an Elimination Chamber match. And the only reason I remember that was because of Triple H's superawesome bicycle shorts. I even wrote a song about them to the tune of his entrance theme.

if you post those lyrics i will give you a cookie of your choice

I would have already posted it if I had it. I can't remember how it went exactly. All I remember was my friends and I spent a whole Triple H match laughing at the lyrics.

[Deleted]

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SHORTS AND HOW YA WEAR EM!

[Lancers]

Sept 2, 2009 19:38:45 GMT -5 @tagteamspecialist said:

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SHORTS AND HOW YA WEAR EM!

That's how it starts....I think what made it work was the Titantron because I believe the Titantron was showing how the bicycle shorts were made.

[I Like Your Poetry]

I've argued this for years...he came in, speared people, won the World title and had infinitely better matches than the previous HHH & Steiner/Nash affairs.

People have a horrible habit of thinking that a single moment can destroy a career. It's doubtful anybody remembers that Goldust/Goldberg segment, except when Goldy brought it up on Raw for a chuckle.

[DiBiase is Good]

Sept 2, 2009 18:55:10 GMT -5 Ragnal said:

Also, I forget where exactly Triple H hit him with the sledgehammer, but I'm pretty sure the impact with it at the speed Goldberg was running would have hurt a helluva lot.

As for the wig bit, just read the original post.

IIRC, Goldberg was going to spear HHH. HHH dodged at the last second and hit Goldberg in the back of the head with the sledgehammer as Goldberg left his feet.