Early in his wrestling career, Goldberg had two moves that were absolutely lethal when used one after the other. These two moves proved to be so effective for the tank-built former pro football player that it was all he needed for a while and took him to an undefeated streak and a World title in under a year.
It’s “Moves of Doom” where we take the moves and see how much doom they bring on a scale of zero (Safe) to five (DOOM). Let’s look at the two most devastating moves of former four-time World champion Bill Goldberg.
The Spear
Sometimes in wrestling, it’s just easier to use one’s athletic background as means of coming up with a finishing move and even a gimmick. Now, in Goldberg’s case, WCW didn’t simply say “You played football, so we’re calling you Defense Danny and you’re using a tackle, baby.”
Goldberg was in foreign waters in wrestling and stuck with something familiar to help ensure victory. Goldberg’s Spear is such that it could be a finisher on its own. The Jackhammer is more of icing on the cake when you watch a lot of his streak. Once he exploded out of the corner and trucked someone into a one-way trip to the pay window, it was a done deal.
The man hoisting his opponent up and planting them with The Jackhammer was basically him throwing around a corpse. What I did like about the Spear is that it had a flaw in that if the opponent was simply faster than Goldberg, it could be avoided. Unbreakable moves can get boring to see.
DOOM LEVEL: 5/5 – YOU’RE COOKED, YOU’RE DONE
Goldberg and The Jackhammer
I used to wonder where some wrestlers got their finisher. Like how did they decide that this move was it? “This is my move to defeat people. This is the move!” When wrestlers change their finishers you can see why they chose a move to use but what about when you haven’t been paying attention to a wrestler’s progress or you’re new and you see them using a move regularly?
That was the case with me and a lot of finishers from the late 90s. Some of them simply made sense because they fit the character. With others, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. The Jackhammer is one of those moves. When I first saw it, I was amazed that he lifted Hugh Morrus and slammed him.
Now, he’d perform better Jackhammers over the years and some would either look buttery smooth or fluid. However, seeing that first one was impressive because it was new and you could instantly see the flaws in the move. It was only useful in his hands but eventually, his Jackhammer would be deciphered.
Until that day came, Goldberg was ripped through the opening and midcard with this effective, two-move overkill approach.
DOOM LEVEL: 3/5 – Doom Incoming
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