Rebooking Goldberg's Undefeated Streak....

[sungod2020]

As we know, Bill Goldberg became one of WCW's fastest rising stars in the late 90s. He came in, he spit, snorted, jackhammered, and speared his opponent asking "who's next" and would repeat.

In April of 1998, he had his first taste of championship gold beating Raven for the US championship. He then targeted "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan for his World Championship and beat him at the Georgia Dome. Even though it was a big moment for him and WCW, many thought it would be better if it took place on PPV rather than a Monday Nitro.

It was basically a quick ratings grab for WCW, who while competitive with the WWF, was now (mostly) on the losing side of the Monday Night Wars. While did what it was suppose to do(beating RAW in the ratings), it wasn't beneficial for them long term as 1)it went back to mostly losing, and 2)Goldberg was still treated as a glorified upper midcarder, continue the streak like before before losing it to Kevin Nash at that years Starrcade thanks to Scott Hall tasing him with a cattle prod.  

That said, how would you book Goldberg's undefeated streak? How would you book him to lose? 

Given how I didn't watch WCW as much as WWF, my knowledge of the product at the time maybe a little choppy, so feel free to correct me if needed. That said, I would have him win the US title like he did before, but have him in a meaningful midcard feud first before he's hotshotted into the main event/world title scene, that way his streak won't be the only thing his character depends on. He can even feud with NWO Hollywood members such as "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner or Buff Bagwell.

The trick here is to keep him looking strong. I'm torn by wheather or not I should have him lose(even if it's by cheating or outside interference) or keep the streak going. Once he's won the feud and he was proven to be over enough outside the streak, then I would have him gun for the World Title at either World War 3 or Starrcade, most likely from Hollywood Hogan. 

How he would lose it and who I would have him lose it to I'm still trying to figure that out. Then, what to do with him after is a whole nother story.

Thoughts? 

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I wouldn't book him to win on Nitro. I would book him to win the match to set him up for Hogan while overcoming nWo interference. Draw money for that match at a PPV.

Then he doesn't lose at Starrcade, he beats Hogan in a rematch. When he eventually loses, it is to put someone over, not get screwed. Probably Sting.

[chazraps]

I think Goldberg should have retained at Starrcade and continued to hold the title under Superbrawl that year. Make DDP the number one contender again. Keep both face, and build around that DDP was in the ring with Goldberg, came closest to beating him and now has all of his moves scouted.

The DDP vs undefeated Goldberg rematch sells itself. That's PPV gangbusters.

DDP wins completely clean after a very competitive match, which solidifies him as top of the card flagship guy. After the match, we see both show a sign of respect to each other.

Then on Nitro, you have nWo mock Goldberg for his loss - have Kev or Hogan challenge Goldberg for a number one contenders match at Uncensored with the stipulation that whoever loses, can't challenge for the belt again for one year. Goldberg loses via nWo interference and you go ahead with Goldberg being the one to destroy the nWo storyline.

What you then accomplish is allowing Goldberg to have a main event place without having to be in the title picture as well as motivation for him to destroy the nWo and then you have the anticipation of people looking forward to him being able to challenge for the title and get his win back. It also allows Goldberg to be the strong beloved face everyone still wants him to be without the tension of him having to challenge a face champion for the title.

Have DDP or whomever lose the title at some point to someone in the nWo as the one-year mark approaches. Have the nWo set the stipulation that in order for Goldberg to get the title shot, he has to beat every nWo member to get there. Goldberg agrees with the caveat that every nWo member he defeats has to leave the nWo forever. nWo agrees to it on the grounds that if Goldberg does make it to the title match and loses, he can never challenge for the world title again.

Goldberg beats the nWo member by member, then finally we have the PPV main event of Goldberg vs whichever nWo member is champ. As nWo attempts to interfere, a different WCW guy comes out to stop them until finally Goldberg gets the spear, jackhammer, pin 1-2-3.

Goldberg is champ again, nWo saga in concluded, you have months of weekly television and pay-per-view with stakes built in, everyone is happy. The end.

[fg]

Apr 23, 2023 21:56:17 GMT -5 chazraps said:

I think Goldberg should have retained at Starrcade and continued to hold the title under Superbrawl that year. Make DDP the number one contender again. Keep both face, and build around that DDP was in the ring with Goldberg, came closest to beating him and now has all of his moves scouted.

The DDP vs undefeated Goldberg rematch sells itself. That's PPV gangbusters.

DDP wins completely clean after a very competitive match, which solidifies him as top of the card flagship guy. After the match, we see both show a sign of respect to each other.

Then on Nitro, you have nWo mock Goldberg for his loss - have Kev or Hogan challenge Goldberg for a number one contenders match at Uncensored with the stipulation that whoever loses, can't challenge for the belt again for one year. Goldberg loses via nWo interference and you go ahead with Goldberg being the one to destroy the nWo storyline.

What you then accomplish is allowing Goldberg to have a main event place without having to be in the title picture as well as motivation for him to destroy the nWo and then you have the anticipation of people looking forward to him being able to challenge for the title and get his win back. It also allows Goldberg to be the strong beloved face everyone still wants him to be without the tension of him having to challenge a face champion for the title.

Have DDP or whomever lose the title at some point to someone in the nWo as the one-year mark approaches. Have the nWo set the stipulation that in order for Goldberg to get the title shot, he has to beat every nWo member to get there. Goldberg agrees with the caveat that every nWo member he defeats has to leave the nWo forever. nWo agrees to it on the grounds that if Goldberg does make it to the title match and loses, he can never challenge for the world title again.

Goldberg beats the nWo member by member, then finally we have the PPV main event of Goldberg vs whichever nWo member is champ. As nWo attempts to interfere, a different WCW guy comes out to stop them until finally Goldberg gets the spear, jackhammer, pin 1-2-3.

Goldberg is champ again, nWo saga in concluded, you have months of weekly television and pay-per-view with stakes built in, everyone is happy. The end.

Everyone except for a certain bald-headed orange goblin…brother!

[chazraps]

Apr 23, 2023 22:02:33 GMT -5 fg said:

Apr 23, 2023 21:56:17 GMT -5 chazraps said:

I think Goldberg should have retained at Starrcade and continued to hold the title under Superbrawl that year. Make DDP the number one contender again. Keep both face, and build around that DDP was in the ring with Goldberg, came closest to beating him and now has all of his moves scouted.

The DDP vs undefeated Goldberg rematch sells itself. That's PPV gangbusters.

DDP wins completely clean after a very competitive match, which solidifies him as top of the card flagship guy. After the match, we see both show a sign of respect to each other.

Then on Nitro, you have nWo mock Goldberg for his loss - have Kev or Hogan challenge Goldberg for a number one contenders match at Uncensored with the stipulation that whoever loses, can't challenge for the belt again for one year. Goldberg loses via nWo interference and you go ahead with Goldberg being the one to destroy the nWo storyline.

What you then accomplish is allowing Goldberg to have a main event place without having to be in the title picture as well as motivation for him to destroy the nWo and then you have the anticipation of people looking forward to him being able to challenge for the title and get his win back. It also allows Goldberg to be the strong beloved face everyone still wants him to be without the tension of him having to challenge a face champion for the title.

Have DDP or whomever lose the title at some point to someone in the nWo as the one-year mark approaches. Have the nWo set the stipulation that in order for Goldberg to get the title shot, he has to beat every nWo member to get there. Goldberg agrees with the caveat that every nWo member he defeats has to leave the nWo forever. nWo agrees to it on the grounds that if Goldberg does make it to the title match and loses, he can never challenge for the world title again.

Goldberg beats the nWo member by member, then finally we have the PPV main event of Goldberg vs whichever nWo member is champ. As nWo attempts to interfere, a different WCW guy comes out to stop them until finally Goldberg gets the spear, jackhammer, pin 1-2-3.

Goldberg is champ again, nWo saga in concluded, you have months of weekly television and pay-per-view with stakes built in, everyone is happy. The end.

Everyone except for a certain bald-headed orange goblin…brother!

In this timeline, Hogan's guestspot on Suddenly Susan becomes a recurring role, eventually becoming part of the main cast and getting its own NBC spinoff, keeping him free from WCW television except for major events. It also allows him to promote Muppets From Space more, which becomes a massive hit.

[buckethead]

He should've lost to DDP at Halloween Havoc.

[Celexa Bliss 54]

As someone who was a major Goldberg fan back in 1998, I can honestly say that they put the title on him too soon.

Here's the thing. They spent all of 1997 dominating the ratings against Raw, so they had no reason to hot-shot angles. That's why Sting didn't wrestle Hogan until Starrcade, and we know how that went down. Now jump ahead to the summer of 1998, where Raw is rebounding in the ratings. Bischoff is panicking, pulling stunts like challenging Vince to a PPV match nobody actually believed would happen. So when Goldberg catches fire, of course Bischoff jumped at the chance to put the belt on him and pop a rating. Of course, he shot himself in the foot with that move, as he had to promise Hogan he'd get his win back, which subsequently led to letting Nash end the streak and having Hogan "beat" Nash, while Goldberg got buried. And that, friends, is how WCW died.

So how do you fix this? You do the same thing they did with Sting, but don't f*** it up at the eleventh hour. Hogan wins the title back the same night Goldberg wins the US Title. There's where you connect the two in the story. Hogan keeps doing his thing, feuding with Savage for a few PPVs, then the Rodman and Leno stuff. What's Goldberg doing? At Slamboree, he beats Saturn like in real life. Moving ahead to the Great American Bash, we need to give him an actual feud and I think the right person to really help Goldberg move up is Curt Hennig. Hennig never joins the Wolfpac for that dumbass swerve with Konnan. Instead, when the nWo split happens, Hennig and Rude go off on their own, maybe they align with The Windhams and Bobby Duncum Jr. a year early. Goldberg then has to deal with these rugged veterans who will force him to learn how to work (hopefully). At the Bash, Goldberg wins, but gets beaten down. At Bash at the Beach, Goldberg beats Hennig again to end the feud. Now at Road Wild, instead of the nWo battle royal, Goldberg will still be involved with the Hollywood and Wolfpac guys, in a three-way match for the US Title. The Giant, representing nWo Hollywood, and Lex Luger, representing the Wolfpac, challenge Goldberg for the title (Sting and Nash can defend the Tag Titles against two Hollywood guys, or Disco Inferno and Alex Wright, or High Voltage or whoever). Getting to Fall Brawl, Goldberg is not on the show. I was going to book him, but I actually want the Jericho bit with the fake Goldberg. For Halloween Havoc, Goldberg defends against The Giant one-on-one. As for Hogan, instead of facing Warrior, he defends the title against DDP. This takes us to World War 3, where Goldberg defends the US Title against Jericho. Nash still wins the battle royal, setting up Nash vs. Hogan for Starrcade. Goldberg faces Sting for the US Title. With Hogan/Nash, Hogan wins thanks to nWo shenanigans, but as Nash and Hall (who officially reunites with Nash early in the show) get beaten down, Goldberg comes out and confronts Hogan. The announcers go nuts, talking about the Streak and how both men have been Champion for the same amount of time. At Souled Out, Hogan and Bischoff face the Flairs, while Goldberg beats Bam Bam Bigelow. Finally, you get to SuperBrawl, where Goldberg beats Hogan, clean, for the World Championship. From there, give Goldberg six months at a minimum with the gold, although I'd be fine letting him hold it until Halloween Havoc. Have Sid or Benoit beat him, since they were the top faces on the rise by then (Bret, but let's not do him vs. Goldberg, please and thank you), then Goldberg can linger around the main event scene and maybe get the belt back in 2000.

[XIII]

Step 1: remove approximately 80 of his wins by limiting him to one Jerry Flynn and Hugh Morris match. I swear he he got like 90% of his wins against those two.

[tirtefaa]

It wasn't breaking the streak that was the problem.

It was the fact that it was all a set up for it to go back to Hogan and reform the nWo.

Honestly, Goldberg losing to Nash was one of the better conclusions. Nash hadn't won the WCW title yet, so it was a fresh change up from what we'd seen over the last few years.

Instead, the focus went right back to the nWo running the show and Goldberg became a bit of an afterthought. Yes, he was still prominently shown, but honestly...where do you go? Have him beat Hogan again? Have him attack the nWo again? This was the issue.

Again, I'll stress this...the moment that Goldberg won the title, guys like Hogan, Flair, Savage and Luger just needed to stay out of the title picture entirely. This would have been a good time to focus on Goldberg, Nash, Hall, Hart, DDP, Steiner, Giant, Benoit, Jericho, Booker T and Bigelow. There was a strong class of guys who could have carried the company while the older guys could have been special features.

[Wilfred]

With the benefit of hindsight, I’d have Goldberg’s first World Title win held off till Starrcade 98. Then he’d defend until Bash at the Beach the following year until Scott Steiner ends the streak.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Said it before, but for me, book the streak the same including losing to Nash in screwy fashion, even have the finger poke. But use that as the final straw.

The problem with it ending wsnt the end, it was the follow up. OK Goldberg went for revenge against Hall but it didn't seem like much changed and he just meandered, it almost didn't matter.

Instead, use his loss to change him. It wasn't fair, so now he's PISSED so people get invested in his revenge.

Everything up to the fingerpoke is the same.

Next week, nWo elite show up all cocky, get to the locker room... and the entire place is wrecked, the b team are massacred with "who's next?" On the wall.

nWo are running scared, throwing things at him to slow him down Giant was about to leave, so have Goldberg squash him to the point he goes out on a stretcher, have most of the nWo quit in fear.

Have him run in on in ring segments demanding a title shot, revenge.

Use this to get WCW rallying behind him.

After a couple of months, somehow he earns a shot, takes down a couple of waves of interference, demolishing Hogan, who turns to say, Nash, who backs away, ending the nWo, Goldberg gets his big moment.

Then you can see who's around and over, first challenger can be Sting as a new era without the nWo and you start looking for someone to take it after a couple of months, probably DDP.

[Super Duper Dragunov]

Apr 23, 2023 21:56:17 GMT -5 chazraps said:

I think Goldberg should have retained at Starrcade and continued to hold the title under Superbrawl that year. Make DDP the number one contender again. Keep both face, and build around that DDP was in the ring with Goldberg, came closest to beating him and now has all of his moves scouted.

The DDP vs undefeated Goldberg rematch sells itself. That's PPV gangbusters.

DDP wins completely clean after a very competitive match, which solidifies him as top of the card flagship guy. After the match, we see both show a sign of respect to each other.

Then on Nitro, you have nWo mock Goldberg for his loss - have Kev or Hogan challenge Goldberg for a number one contenders match at Uncensored with the stipulation that whoever loses, can't challenge for the belt again for one year. Goldberg loses via nWo interference and you go ahead with Goldberg being the one to destroy the nWo storyline.

What you then accomplish is allowing Goldberg to have a main event place without having to be in the title picture as well as motivation for him to destroy the nWo and then you have the anticipation of people looking forward to him being able to challenge for the title and get his win back. It also allows Goldberg to be the strong beloved face everyone still wants him to be without the tension of him having to challenge a face champion for the title.

Have DDP or whomever lose the title at some point to someone in the nWo as the one-year mark approaches. Have the nWo set the stipulation that in order for Goldberg to get the title shot, he has to beat every nWo member to get there. Goldberg agrees with the caveat that every nWo member he defeats has to leave the nWo forever. nWo agrees to it on the grounds that if Goldberg does make it to the title match and loses, he can never challenge for the world title again.

Goldberg beats the nWo member by member, then finally we have the PPV main event of Goldberg vs whichever nWo member is champ. As nWo attempts to interfere, a different WCW guy comes out to stop them until finally Goldberg gets the spear, jackhammer, pin 1-2-3.

Goldberg is champ again, nWo saga in concluded, you have months of weekly television and pay-per-view with stakes built in, everyone is happy. The end.

This is fantastic.