There are few wrestlers who were as inexplicably popular as Goldberg was back in the mid to late 90’s in WCW (World Championship Wrestling), as he tore through the roster on his way to the WCW World Championship. His legacy is already cemented through his achievements in that decade.
He also had a brief run in WWE in the early 2000’s, where he faced the likes of The Rock, Chris Jericho, and Triple H in marquee matches, winning another world title along the way. Most recently he’s competed for WWE once again, returning in 2017, and entering a feud with Brock Lesnar which involved Goldberg turning back the clock, conquering The Beast Incarnate in mere seconds, defeating Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship, and then losing it to Lesnar in a great match at Wrestlemania. If he called it quits there, it would have been perfect. He was inducted into the Hall Of Fame, and had one final big match on the grandest stage of them all, but he didn’t stop there.
Super Showdown With The Undertaker & Dolph Ziggler At Summerslam
In the 90’s, a match between Goldberg & The Undertaker would have been some fans wet dream, two larger than life titans squaring off, the only WCW vs. WWE match that would have been bigger was Sting vs. Undertaker. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that match then. We got it once both men were well beyond their primes, and it will remain a stain on the final stretch of both mens careers. There was just countless botched moves as they tried to hit all their signatures, with the scariest being a Jackhammer attempt turned into a brainbuster. The Undertaker made up for the performance by being part of a fantastic tag match with Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules, but Goldberg hasn’t reclaimed the glory he lost in that match.
When he faced Ziggler, it was more typical of a Goldberg squash of old. He came in, ate a Superkick for a near fall, then just hit a few spears & a jackhammer to defeat The Showoff at Summerslam. It was an impressive performance, but not something you want to cap off a legendary career with. Goldberg himself had this to said “It was by no means my farewell performance, nor was it my best performance”
Who’s Next?
With the Royal Rumble quickly approaching, we could see Goldberg enter that matchup, and someone eliminating him from that would set up an easy feud going into Wrestlemania. NXT Star Matt Riddle has been taking shots at Goldberg on social media, and if WWE views him as someone who could be a major star for the company, having him beat Goldberg at Wrestlemania would be the easiest way to do it.
Goldberg is a name who can sell tickets and still has a badass aura about him, but he’s only got a few matches left in his tank. We can only hope WWE uses them to build stars and not just do something like Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns to attempt to get Roman over yet again.
