A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date: October 7th 2013
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 19.99
Blu-ray £ 22.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD (3 Discs)
(Also Available on Blu-ray (2
Discs)
What It’s About:
An
in-ring career retrospective of the man who dominated WCW for four years, Bill
Goldberg. This compilation of matches begins with Goldberg’s 1997 WCW debut and
ends with his final WWE match at WrestleMania XX. The release is linked by
several video packages which are designed to bridge the story between matches.
Strengths:
The
introduction video package does a great job of introducing Goldberg and his
phenomenon to new audiences and freshening the memories of old audiences. It’s
a fair appraisal of Goldberg, painting him as a dominant and popular star who
came along at the right time and rocked WCW. Though no one involved in the NWO
would ever admit it, Goldberg was much more popular than the faction – this
however is conveniently left out. It’s not the only thing, as WWE neglect to
mention that Goldberg wasn’t conditioned to wrestler matches longer than 2 – 5
minutes in length and couldn’t handle main event calibre matches which would
regularly go twenty minutes or more. Still, it’s a promising beginning.
Goldberg
vs Hugh Morrus (WCW Nitro, 22nd September 1997) is Goldberg’s debut match in
WCW and what an impact he makes. Short in length as mostly all early Bill
Goldberg matches were, contributing to the fact that he would blow up hideously
in long main events, Goldberg was always able to make himself look good in
shorter matches. Before the match a sign can be seen in the crowd which says
‘Raw – retired and awful wrestlers’. The irony of this is that WCW had and
would acquire more retired and awful wrestlers than WWE ever had. Morrus does a
commendable job of getting Goldberg over here and through his selling makes his
opponent look like a star.
Goldberg
vs The Barbarian (WCW Nitro, 29th September 1997) may be yet another short
match merely four minutes in length but it boasts a lively effort. In only his
second WCW match and professional match Goldberg shows so much promise against
the veteran Barbarian. The future WCW World Heavyweight Champion pulls of some
promising and impressive wrestling moves for a man of his size and even though
not all of them look good, they do hold hope of better things to come. The
Barbarian isn’t as giving or willing as Hugh Morrus in the previous affair,
looking thoroughly annoyed that a veteran like him is forced to put over this
green rookie. The effects of this are that Barbarian selfishly refuses to sell
the Jackhammer, merely getting up and walking away after the match. Had this
match gone four minutes longer then it would have been really extraordinary for
a rookie’s second effort. Other reviewers will criticise this and the previous
match for being too short. They may be, but they are of quality.
Goldberg
vs Raven (WCW Nitro, 20th April 1998) in a Raven’s Rules match for the WCW
United States Heavyweight Championship turns out to be ultra heated with the
fans solidly behind Goldberg. Raven is a class act all the way, but going
nowhere in WCW it’s not a stretch of the imagination to realise why he left the
company and went back to ECW. WCW were never going to take Raven as seriously
as ECW did. WCW did however build Goldberg correctly, taking him through the
United States Championship division first before landing him the big one. This
is something WWE should have imitated with Ryback instead of shoving him in at
the deep end. It’s also nice to see a United States Championship which really
meant something to the company and fans.
Goldberg
vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan (WCW Nitro, July 6th 1998) for the WCW World
Heavyweight Championship may be a slow match with very little actual wrestling
involved and lacks the pace of Goldberg’s earlier matches, but thanks to
Hogan’s over-exaggerations and cartoon selling the match is kept watchable. As
this is Goldberg’s first WCW World Heavyweight Championship there is a real
main event buzz and big match feel which a lot of other matches on this release
lack, the atmosphere makes it special to watch. There is some John Cena
inspired no selling by Goldberg and the one killer near fall in the match –
stemming from the ‘Hogan Leg Drop’ – is zapped of heat as the audience have
their eyes glued to the aisle to see Curt Henning make an appearance. There is
an unbelievable and somewhat deafening reaction when Goldberg gets Hogan up for
the Jackhammer and his victory is nothing less than inspiring. The commentators
do the rest of the WCW locker room a disservice when they comment “Whose next?
Who cares!” making the rest under Goldberg seem unimportant, but many can look
upon this as a passing of the torch moment in WCW.
Goldberg
vs Curt Henning (WCW Bash at the Beach, July 12th 1998) is a short but capable
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match. Henning hurls himself about the ring
in order to make the WCW Champion look good and Goldberg helps himself with a
wonderful overhead press into shoulder slam from the top rope. Though it’s
clear that Henning is past his best in 1998, the match flows with the precision
you’d expect from a professional such as Henning and Goldberg allow the season
veteran to lead the match which was the best decision he could have made on the
night. Once again the selling from Goldberg is nonexistent. It’s not going to
set your world on fire but it’s good enough to stop it from being horrible –
which is all you could have asked from a man well past his prime, carrying
injuries and a rookie who still hadn’t grasped the fine art of the industry.
Goldberg
vs Sting (WCW Nitro, September 14th 1998) another match for the WCW World
Heavyweight Championship, seems like it is never going to get going but is
saved by its all out ending. It begins with a lot of stalling and nonsense
which you wouldn’t miss if you skipped through it, but eventually fosters into
some great back and forth action which grips the red hot crowd. Sting’s pitch
perfect tombstone piledriver on Goldberg and subsequent Scorpion Death Lock –
which Goldberg shows no respect to by simply muscling out of twice with no
effort at all – really do make you believe that Sting will be the first man to
defeat Goldberg. The final tense near falls and submission attempts save this
match from dropping into the next category.
Goldberg
vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Halloween Havoc 1998, October 25th 1998) is a very
good jaunt in which Page looks the champion and Goldberg merely a challenger.
It’s also a credit to DDP as a wrestler that he manages to carry a man who knew
very few moves in the ring to a fine endeavour. Beginning at pace with some
excellent reversals and gripping offence, Goldberg puts in a first rate
performance as champion beginning with a terrific backwards summersault. Unlike
a lot of other Goldberg matches this one is logical in its execution as Page
deploys submission moves when needed to wear Goldberg down and fast paced moves
when called for to tire the big man. I wouldn’t usually mention something as
insignificant as this but you won’t find a whole lot of it across the release.
Goldberg uses his power to throw Page around the ring and at last, after nearly
a whole disc of waiting, Goldberg sells his arm injury to the point we believe
he may not be able to carry on. The ending is one of the best on the release as
Page reverses a Jackhammer into a Diamond Cutter in one of the best moves in a
very long time and on merit alone; Diamond Dallas Paige deserved to be the
first person to defeat Goldberg and not as it would turn out – Kevin Nash.
Goldberg
vs The Giant (WCW Nitro, November 23rd 1998) may only be three minutes long but
is full of action and that’s not a sentence you would expect to hear from
anyone, concerning a match involving the man who would become The Big Show. The
Giant adds his name to the list of people who look like they may end Goldberg’s
winning streak but never actually manage it and shows he was a very good
wrestler before weight and Vince McMahon shackled him into a certain role. The
Jackhammer on The Giant – considering his size – is mightily impressive and the
Goldberg / Kevin Nash pull apart brawl at the conclusion gets the fans
approval.
Goldberg
vs Ric Flair (WCW Nitro, March 8th 1999) isn’t anything special but is kept
watchable by Flair, who pulls out some old Flair magic in order to carry
Goldberg, whose samey routine is beginning to wear by this point in the
release. The match is popular with fans, as most Goldberg matches were, but his
constant no selling begins to devaluate moves which were once coveted as
precious and the match ends on a lousy disqualification. Not the first on the
release to do so.
Goldberg
vs Kevin Nash (WCW Spring Stampede 1999, April 11th 1999) is going to be an odd
choice for some of you reading this, because whilst is the second match between
the pair on the release, I believe its the better. Some will disagree and opt
for their Starrcade 1998 match which is down in the next category – but for
personal taste and everyone’s is different – this match is shorter, more
methodical and decisively more watchable. Goldberg messes up a simple shoulder
block and seems to land awkward on the legs of Nash, which would give the man
formerly known as Diesel problems later in life. The move looks amateur. Nash
plays his part to perfection but the fans are much more concerned with when
Sting will make an appearance.
Goldberg
vs Scott Steiner (WCW Fall Brawl 1999, September 17th 2000) is a nice surprise
addition to the release. Steiner, carrying all that muscle wasn’t the star or
athlete he used to be in the late 80’s or early 90’s and his matches usually
sucked big time. Here though he seems determined to prove he’s better than
Goldberg and puts in a real shift. Pace is the name of the game here and both
men share some very commendable moves. Goldberg executes another impressive
press slam into shoulder slam combo and his reversals of Steiner’s moves into
powerslams are worthy of a seasoned professional. Steiner’s belly to belly
suplex’s are striking, especially his belly to belly off the top rope and the
former tag team star should be praised for what turns out to be an outstanding
star turn. The match descends into farce when Vince Russo gets involved and you
can begin to see why WCW lost so much money in such a short space of time.
Copying the whole Vince McMahon vs Stone Cold angle really didn’t work for WCW.
The
video package before Goldberg vs The Rock match doesn’t explain what happened
to Goldberg after losing his tag team match at ‘Sin’ and therefore being forced
from WCW by Vince Russo (he went into acting as well as other ventures) and
jumps straight to the closure of WCW. However the video does ably explain the
feud between The Rock and Goldberg, featuring highlights of Goldberg’s debut on
Raw the night after WrestleMania XIX and his spear on The Rock. Whilst we could
have done with this included in its entirety, the video package shows none of
the other weeks of build up.
Goldberg
vs Christian (Raw, May 12th 2003) is a respectable Steel Cage Match even though
it lacks heat and tense exchanges. Christian plays heel perfectly seeking the
victory with some vicious chair shots and when on the end of the beating,
throws himself into the cage in order to try and maintain Goldberg’s fast
slipping image. Interestingly, Goldberg put more effort into his WWE run than
he did his WCW tenure. The match ends with yet more no selling, as after what
seems like uncountable chair shots, Goldberg simply jumps back up to
effortlessly hit Christian with the Jackhammer. Maybe Goldberg gave lessons to
a young John Cena.
Goldberg
vs Chris Jericho (WWE Bad Blood 2003, June 15th 2003) is solid and everything
Goldberg vs The Rock should have been. The match follows the usual Goldberg
guidelines until he misses a spear which sends him sailing through the ringside
barricade. Adding judgment to the match, Jericho wisely works over the injured
arm and every move is met with some kind of emotion from the audience. There is
no history provided for this match when there should have been considering the
real life history between the pair and feelings Jericho held towards Goldberg
from when they were in WCW and Goldberg refused to face Jericho because he
though Jericho wasn’t a big enough star. Goldberg’s first spear on target looks
awful and it’s around the time the audience side with Chris Jericho, which you
can pin point the moment Goldberg realises WWE is a tougher battleground than
WCW ever had been. Goldberg looks to be struggling to get through this match
and it’s nothing to do with the story or selling. In WWE Goldberg got lost in
the shuffle and he wasn’t the star he was in WCW. On the whole, this is a good
match which warrants its inclusion.
Goldberg
vs Triple H vs Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels vs Kevin Nash
(WWE SummerSlam 2003, August 24th 2003) Elimination Chamber Match for the World
Heavyweight Championship, is an all star spectacular. Goldberg’s slip on the
ramp during his entrance has been edited out whilst Shawn Michaels and Chris
Jericho contest a skilful and accomplished opening five minutes complete with
polished reversals. Randy Orton’s pain can be felt as he’s backdropped onto the
steel with force and for one of the only times this late in his career, Kevin
Nash – who looks like a lesbian here thanks to his hair being shaved by Chris
Jericho – gets around competently considering the state of his knees and
manages to keep his section of the match flowing, whilst his input is
thankfully kept to a minimum. Had Nash gone any longer, then his performance
would have almost certainly dipped. His elimination thanks to a Sweet Chin
Music by Shawn Michaels and pin by Chris Jericho is a smooth chain of events.
Michaels’ second Sweet Chin Music on Triple H as he exits the chamber is timed
to perfection, though Triple H sells it for longer than needed whilst he waits
for Goldberg’s entrance. When the man of the moment does enter the match last,
a wise move so his impact is lasting, a mix of his willingness to rise to the
occasion and his opponent’s eager nature to sell for him make for a truly
unforgettable performance. Goldberg’s spear through the chamber wall
implemented on Chris Jericho – though the glass doesn’t break the first time –
pops the crowd big time. The match flows and builds very well to a heated
finale between Triple H and Goldberg. Though the one on one finale doesn’t last
a huge amount of time in order for the company to promote a singles match for
the World Heavyweight Championship the following month at Unforgiven 2003,
Goldberg kicking his way through the chamber to reach Triple H who has locked
himself in is amusing and gets the crowds approval and the finish is very well
timed for a wrestler who seemingly had very little timing elsewhere in his
career. Triple H however gets an extra mention as at the time he was working
with a very nasty abdominal tear.
Goldberg
vs Triple H (WWE Survivor Series 2003, November 16th 2003) is much better than
their Unforgiven 2003 scrap which can be seen in the next category, but still
isn’t excellent. This time around there is a purpose to their match as Triple H
takes the lead and Goldberg follows, as ‘The Game’ works over Goldberg’s
injured leg to limit the time he has to work at an all out pace because of the
abdominal injury he was still carrying at the time. This may sound dreary and
dull but it gives the match authenticity. The bout still doesn’t feel like a
main event calibre match when it should have been the draw of the year, but
Goldberg has to be given credit for trying his best and selling the injured leg
more than any injury he’s supposedly suffered thus far. The upturn of this is
that it makes him look more like a fighting champion and less like someone who
has been given the role purely on looks instead of skill. Unlike their
Unforgiven outing, this match builds to a much more believable and tension
filled finale.
In
the summation video package at the end of the release, our resident voice over
guy does a plentiful job of reminding us that Goldberg was a popular wrestler
who accomplished some much sought after achievements in the business – some
which accomplished professionals never attained during their many years in the
business – even if his in ring product wasn’t always that good. WWE do a good
job of glossing over Goldberg flaws in the summation even if they do fail on
ever other level with this release.
Weaknesses:
Goldberg
vs Steve ‘Mongo’ McMichael (WCW Starrcade 1997, December 28th 1997) is as dull
as you will find on this release and does nothing with its eight allocated
minutes, which at this point is way too long for Goldberg to wrestle. The star
of the show applies some very weak submission moves and his whole offence
consists of pushing McMichael around the ring until he gets the nod from the
referee that its time to take the match home, for which he strikes Mongo with a
feeble spear that wouldn’t fell a child. So early in his career, Goldberg
needed and heavily relied on superior opponents who had the ability to carry
him to a decent if not thrilling match. McMichael wasn’t one of these
wrestlers, himself being a dire in ring performer. The niche of both men being
former American Football stars didn’t sell the feud as well as WCW hoped.
The
video package explaining Goldberg’s rise to the top of the wrestling industry
to challenge Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
skips a huge amount of history in Goldberg’s career. Purposely glossing over
his rise through the United States Championship division, WWE seemingly want us
to believe that Goldberg went from zero to hero in a matter of months whilst
bypassing the rest of the roster – which isn’t true. There’s no real concrete
history added to his challenge for the top tier Championship or mention of any
of the wrestlers he went through to attain that level of credentials.
Goldberg
vs Scott Hall (WCW Nitro, July 6th 1998) is the precursor to the WCW World
Heavyweight Championship later in the same night, but is a shocking display of
carelessness by the man who was an hour away from lifting the WCW World
Heavyweight Championship. The match is a complete mess from beginning to end
and Goldberg’s treatment of Scott Hall, using him merely as a rag doll is
shocking and appalling to watch. Nothing Goldberg does in this match looks safe
and it’s clear that he’s wrestling the event and not the match, visibly carried
away with the emotion of the night. That Scott Hall manages to add some
wrestling to proceedings is completely lost as the match degenerates into a
mere mauling with Scott Hall visibly annoyed that Goldberg doesn’t seem
bothered if he injures his opponent or not. The reversal of the Outsiders Edge
into a Spear gets a huge reaction from the crowd as does the victory. How Scott
Hall came away from this without any injuries is a miracle and Goldberg should
have been reprimanded for his slipshod attitude towards his opponent’s safety
especially when he could broken both of Scott Hall’s legs on a hideous
backdrop.
Another
video package leading into the Goldberg vs Kevin Nash encounter at Starrcade
1998 (which is Goldberg’s first loss in WCW) may as well not exist for the lack
of information it provides us with. The package mentions the winning streak
which Goldberg attained and does show fleeting clips of Goldberg demolishing a
few of WCW’s jobbers but falls down in not naming at least a few star names
Goldberg went through to keep the streak in tact. Add to that no declaration of
the feud between Nash and Goldberg except for the fact that Nash won a battle
royal at WCW World War 3 to earn a Championship Match and you have an inferior
segment on a release which is meant to be all about Goldberg’s career. Too much
information is better than too little.
Goldberg
vs Kevin Nash (WCW Starrcade 1998, December 27th 1998) is their No
Disqualification Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Kevin Nash
still had the ability to carry someone like Goldberg in 1998 and put on a
gripping main event match when he wanted to. Sadly, this isn’t one of those
occasions. The match is overtly slow and stalls unnecessarily at predetermined
intervals. It’s a strange course of action to take with a main event match
which had been hyped so heavily on WCW television in the weeks and months
previous. People came to the arena hoping to see an all out war – the No Disqualification
rule screamed to the paying audience that there would be blood and an ultra
heated hardcore brawl – which never happens. The bout picks up momentarily with
a Spear but the pair cannot maintain the rapidity as they hit the home
straight. Goldberg looks absolutely exhausted and well out of ideas by the end
of the match which finishes with a Scott Hall shock stick strike to the
Champion, handing Goldberg his first loss in wrestling one year and three
months after his debut. Sadly though the defeat was done purely to feed Kevin
Nash’s ego and Goldberg’s streak could have gone on and ended at the hands of a
new main eventer who needed to spotlight that defeating Goldberg would have
provided.
Goldberg
vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Nitro, April
5th 1999) for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship has all the components to
be a thrilling Fatal Four Way Match but turns out to be an unremarkable plod.
Instead of the past paced back and forth match you’d expect from three men who
could easily carry Goldberg, the match dithers, taking all tension away from
every fall and move. For Goldberg, he executes his usual routine and doesn’t
bother to deviate from it to try something new, not warranting his status in
the company on this night. The match doesn’t have enough huge events in it to
make it gripping and though it warms up at the end you will have lost interest
well before. Yet again, the fans are too bothered about when Sting will make
and appearance than the match happening in front of them and Sting overshadows
proceedings, as the cameras are focussed on his entrance from the rafters and
miss the deciding pinfall of the match.
Goldberg
vs Diamond Dallas Page (WCW Fall Brawl 1999, September 12th 1999) can’t live up
to their cracking stint at Halloween Havoc the previous year. Though it boasts
some good reversals and moves, the whole shebang is filled with illogical
decisions which highlight the predetermined nature of the business; the worst
being when Page leathers Goldberg with brass knucks and then doesn’t even
bother to cover him even though he would have clearly gotten the victory,
instead opting to continue punching Goldberg, sans brass knuckles. To people
watching this who aren’t wrestling fans, the only explanation for this is that
Page has been told not to pin Goldberg because Goldberg is going to win. Page
spends an awful amount of time choking Goldberg on the ropes to the monotony of
the crowd and then worse, Page applies one very long Chinlock which drains every
last drop of interest or heat from the match. That Goldberg simply shakes all
of this off to hit a Jackhammer is unbelievable and shows he still, two years
after his debut hadn’t grasped the basics.
Goldberg
vs Sid Vicious (WCW Halloween Havoc 1999, October 24th 1999) is a bloody
encounter but ultimately useless. Sid bleeds like a pig and except one Electric
Chair Drop by Goldberg nothing else of note happens through the whole match.
There is no tension, no actual wrestling and it gets tired very quickly. Being
totally honest, with it being Goldberg and Sid in there, what hope did this
match have in the first place?
A
video package for Goldberg vs Sting at Halloween Havoc 1999 (after Goldberg
fought Sid) is fleeting. We’re shown footage of Hulk Hogan lying down for Sting
in their booked WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match and Hogan walking out
of the company but we’re never told why (Hogan and WCW had a real life
disagreement so instead of dropping the Championship the professional way,
Hogan took it upon himself to be the centre of attention yet again and lay down
for Sting – Hogan wasn’t even dressed for a match). There is no sensible reason
to exclude this information and all doing so does is confuse the viewer who
doesn’t know why it why it happened. Instead the video package is more
concerned about getting over that the match between Goldberg and Sting was an
impromptu match. The fact is hammered home so often that you can’t believe the
fact they’re trying to preach, knowing how wrestling works Goldberg and Sting
must have been privy to Hogan’s plans and their clash at the end of the show.
Goldberg
vs Sting (WCW Halloween Havoc 1999, October 24th 1999) is a seven minute main
event match which apart from its well done reversals offers nothing. WCW may as
well have stripped Hulk Hogan of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and had
Sting vs Goldberg vs Sid for the Championship as it would have been a better
outing than both of Goldberg’s matches at the 1999 edition of Halloween Havoc.
That way WCW could have incorporated the Goldberg vs Sid feud whilst making
Goldberg the WCW World Heavyweight Champion again. The fans would have gotten a
meaty main event and Goldberg may have had a few new strings added to his bow.
As it turns out, Hogan’s selfishness ruined this match. Had he done the job the
right way then there would have been no need for this to take place.
Goldberg
vs Sid Vicious (WCW Mayhem, November 21st 1999) in an ‘I Quit Match’ is a banal
six minute slog. It’s not quite as dull as their Halloween Havoc exertion but
it comes mightily close. As usual, punches and power moves are the focus here
adding nothing to build the tension for the inevitable relinquishing of the
match from Sid. I Quit Matches usually have some hardcore play to heighten the
tension before the heel quits but this has nothing. The pair trade some prosaic
rest holds and so called submission holds but everything on show falls flat.
Sid is way past any prime he may have had in the wrestling industry but does
hear the cheers for chokeslamming Goldberg – which in turn is beginning to hear
the jeers of the fans as they slowly tire of the character. The ‘Quit’ attempts
have no heat and the ‘Goldberg Sucks’ are richly deserved here.
Goldberg
vs Kronik (WCW Halloween Havoc 2000, October 29th 2000) is a ridiculous pay-per
view match to put Goldberg in, in the first place. Above all that it’s a
tedious and pointless effort. After hearing about a beat down of Goldberg
earlier in the night and that he was supposedly so injured he couldn’t compete,
Goldberg strides to the ring as if nothing has happened, no selling any effects
of the beat down. After minutes of double teaming and a two on one beat down,
Goldberg simply shrugs it off to eliminate both members of Kronik in quick
succession. It’s clear that Goldberg had given up by this point in time and
with the company not using him correctly he obviously had the attitude of ‘why
should I bother?’ What we basically have here is Goldberg vs Adam Bomb and
Crush – yeah, my sentiments exactly.
Another
video package of the Goldberg vs Vince Russo feud is poorly explained even by
this release’s standards. There is no justification as to why Russo and
Goldberg were trying to re-enact the McMahon vs Austin feud or what led to the
feud in the first place. Worse, the package is bereft of rationalization into
the next link and match of Goldberg and his trainer Duane Bruce against Lex
Luger and Buff Bagwell. We’re informed that if Goldberg can attain his previous
undefeated streak of 173 wins without a loss then he will get a WCW World
Heavyweight Championship Match but if loss he will be fired from WCW, but
that’s all. It’s a lazy and mediocre effort.
Goldberg
and Duane Bruce vs Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell (WCW Sin, January 14th 2001)
really is as bad as it sounds. It’s farcical to think that a man who was so
popular with fans four years previous was used like this despite his
shortcomings in the ring, when he could and should have been used to rebuild
the company which was already in financial ruin and would be brought by Vince
McMahon two months later. The match is tedious beyond compare whilst none of
its participants were in any mood to try and turn it around. Lex Luger in 2001
was all but useless in the ring thanks to his unnatural muscular gain brought
on by chronic steroid use and Bagwell is shadow of his former self, adding
nothing to the already doomed affair. Duane Bruce takes the brunt of the
punishment in order to build the hot tag to Goldberg which doesn’t play out to
the audience reaction they would have liked. Goldberg mops up upon his arrival
in the match and the ending of the bout in which a planted fan turns on
Goldberg and maces him in the eyes in order for Luger and Bagwell to take the
win with a tope rope Blockbuster, is a clear indication of why WCW went out of
business. It’s also unbelievable, after all we’ve seen him absorb to come back
and win from on the release that Goldberg would be felled by the simplest of
heel turns. The pay-per view was named Sin, but ironically it’s what WCW were
living in, in real life.
Goldberg
vs The Rock (WWE Backlash 2003, April 27th 2003) is a disappointing match which
should have been ten times better. It begins at a snails pace and then switches
to full on action before reverting to a trudge through some very dull stalling
to the point you ponder whether it’s ever going to get out of first gear. It
doesn’t! The Rock has obviously been told by Vince McMahon to act like a
complete moron which he accomplishes to perfection with his cringe worthy
overemphasised motions and reactions. This isn’t one of The Rock’s best nights
in the ring. He does nothing of note and fails to do with Goldberg what he did
with Brock Lesnar in their excellent SummerSlam 2002 main event match. The
Rock’s saving grace is his thoroughly superb promo which gets the audience on
his side even though he’s the heel. It’s a recurring theme here. Even though
The Rock is meant to be the former hero who sold out to Hollywood the fans are
almost all staunchly on his side which speaks volumes for the popularity or
lack of, of the Goldberg character in 2003. On the whole, the match is slow and
hard to get into. Goldberg’s very late kick out after a Rock Bottom is
amateurish when he should know how to create tension on a fall by now. There
are no chain moves which build tension and this is one match in The Rock’s
career which is better forgotten.
Goldberg
vs Triple H (WWE Unforgiven 2003, September 21st 2003) is yet another
disappointment from Goldberg’s career archive. Working with an abdominal
injury, Triple H wasn’t able to carry Goldberg to the stunning match everyone
expected of the pair and though it doesn’t move as slowly as Goldberg vs The
Rock, it resembles a very mediocre mid-card effort. Triple H and Goldberg never
really seemed to gel in the ring whilst the match stipulation of Goldberg must
leave if he loses means that there is only ever going to be one winner –
Goldberg. The big moves that you would expect from a main event match for the
World Heavyweight Championship; only appear at the end of the bout and leave
the rest of the match wanting. It’s clear that for maximum effect, WWE should
have booked the World Heavyweight Championship change at SummerSlam inside the
Elimination Chamber, because this was never going to surpass their efforts the
previous month in what was by far Goldberg’s finest WWE performance.
Goldberg
vs Mark Henry (Raw, October 6th 2003) was going to leap into the ‘Strengths’
category as it began with so much promise from both men. Unfortunately, the two
cannot maintain the hectic nature of the beginning of the match and it
dissolves into a rest hold bonanza which has no place in a seven minute match.
Had the rest holds been replaced by action and the pair contested a high octane
powerhouse affair constantly kicking out of each others slams and power moves,
until Goldberg hit the inevitable Jackhammer on the mammoth Henry then it would
have been a credit to both. As it is, the match turns out to be the usual Mark
Henry contest, though no one can deny the Jackhammer on Henry is mightily
impressive.
Goldberg
vs Batista (Raw, November 10th 2003) is a nothing match, which is allocated
less than five minutes and is packed with stalling and punches until Triple H
runs in causing the disqualification. If this is the best WWE can dig up then
why bother at all? It certainly doesn’t warrant an inclusion on a release
entitled ‘The Ultimate Collection’.
The
release jumps from Survivor Series 2003 in November straight to WrestleMania XX
on March 14th 2004 and Goldberg’s final WWE match with Brock Lesnar. Bypassing
nearly four months, we get no explanation of what led to the match or how the
feud built when WWE could have provided footage of their face to face meetings
in interviews as well as Brock Lesnar’s interference in the 2004 Royal Rumble
Match which led to Goldberg’s elimination and Goldberg’s run in during the
Brock Lesnar vs Eddie Guerrero WWE Championship Match at No Way Out in February
2004, the match in which Goldberg Speared Lesnar in retaliation for his Royal
Rumble exit allowing Guerrero to capture his first WWE Championship. All of
this, as well as the weeks leading up to WrestleMania XX were vital to the feud
and the unknowing viewer is left wondering why two such important wrestlers in
WWE at the time were simply thrown onto a card without any build up. Of course
those new to the company will not have seen the months of build for the match.
Goldberg
vs Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania XX, March 14th 2004) is a woeful effort by
everyone’s standards. This match, the last night in WWE for both men at the
time (Brock Lesnar was leaving to go and play in the NFL and Goldberg had
already had enough of wrestling), should have been the best of both men’s
careers and the dream match for every WWE fan. Instead it is by far the worst.
A little known fact about the match is that WWE were so offended by both men’s
so called ‘betrayal’ that they wanted to leave, Shane McMahon was sat in the
audience leading the ‘You Sold Out’ chants and ‘Goodbye’ song which are so
audible here. The writing was on the wall for how the match would turn out
after they don’t touch each other for nearly four minutes, just standing like
statues staring each other down, whilst Stone Cold as the special guest referee
is the most popular man in the building. It’s apparent that neither in their
last match in the company (Lesnar would return to great fanfare in 2012) could
be bothered to put on a show and we get a borefest of epic proportions with the
only highlight being the Press Slam into a Standing Spear by Goldberg. The
‘Goldberg Sucks’ chants prove how bored the fans were with his character in
2004 and put a question mark over how welcome he’d be in 2014 should he make a
return to the ring. Utterly awful!
On
a release documenting his in ring career, Goldberg doesn’t appear once to talk
about his time in the ring.
Blu-ray Exclusive
Extras:
Battle Royal - WCW Road Wild, August 8th 1998
WCW World Heavyweight
Championship Match
WCW Superbrawl IX,
February 21st 1999
Goldberg
vs Bam Bam Bigelow
WCW Nitro, November 8th 1999
Goldberg
vs Sting
WCW Starrcade 1999,
December 19th 1999
WCW World Heavyweight
Championship Match
No Disqualification
Match
Goldberg
vs Bret Hart
WWE Monday Night Raw,
October 20th 2003
World Heavyweight
Championship Match
Goldberg
vs Shawn Michaels
Conclusion:
‘Goldberg
– The Ultimate Collection’ is a lackadaisical effort by WWE after so many very
good releases. The release consists of either matches that are too short or
matches which don’t cut the mustard. This of course isn’t all WWE’s fault
seeing as the majority of Goldberg’s career was contested in WCW. However,
seeing that matches alone weren’t going to be enough to sell this as a must
have, WWE should taken the time to revamp the release with a two-hour
documentary on Goldberg’s life and career complete with comments from those who
knew him best and the man himself.
That
Goldberg doesn’t appear once in an interview of any kind proves that this
release is purely put together to make money for WWE, from the Goldberg name.
Like ‘Macho Madness’, which was ten times the release this is, WWE didn’t want
to pay Goldberg for his time in an interview and instead misguidedly believed a
few matches slung together linked by the odd and almost always awful video
links – which don’t give us any backstory – would be sufficient for the UK
asking price of £19.99 (DVD) and £22.99 (Blu-ray). News flash – it isn’t.
The
first three matches on the release last under fifteen minutes in total and the
first five matches take Goldberg’s career from debutant to WCW World
Heavyweight Champion, ignoring his rise through the United States Championship
division – barring one United States Championship Match against Raven. There
are no matches against Bret Hart on the main release and only one on the
Blu-ray extras – and nothing on his WCW World Tag Team Championship reign with
Hart – plus almost all the extra matches on the Blu-ray version would have been
better served on the main release, in place of other less than satisfactory
matches. Saving better matches for the Blu-ray release to try and get us to
spend extra money out to see them is sooner or later going to begin to annoy
the fans.
There
appears to be an outstanding lack effort put into this release. WWE could have
easily added mountains of information on his career and paid the guy to appear
as a talking head – the only talking head if needs be. There is no excuse as to
why the matches picked don’t belong on a release of this kind and why the video
packages are so short and bleak where information is concerned. The only
explanation is that WWE wanted to get this out quickly to make money. And in
2013, that simply isn’t good enough.
Goldberg
may not have been the greatest wrestler in the world but this release doesn’t
do what he could accomplish in the ring justice. It’s mediocre and the next
time WWE contemplate putting together a release on a personality not with the
company anymore then I hope they learn from their mistakes here and actually
put some effort into the product. This may be a must have for Goldberg
enthusiasts but for anyone else, then you may want to wait until this goes down
in price as it isn’t worth the £19.99 / £22.99 asking price. By leaving this
release out of your collection, you won’t be missing a thing.
Rating: C
Next time in Review
Corner: WWE Triple H – Thy Kingdom Come DVD and
Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
