Goldberg: Help or Hinder

[bthomas]

With the impending return of Goldberg, does it help bridge that gap from old WCW to WWE for some of us that got "lost in the transition"?

Meaning... I could never really ever get into the WWF once WCW closed down. I tried, but the storylines were bad and the wrestling was suspect.

I could never get into Stone Cold or the Rock really. Every character I liked they squashed - Booker T, The Hardys, Etc. In order to put over people like Stone Cold and The Undertaker. It can be argued that it was the same way in WCW, which is true (i.e. Hall, Hogan, etc.) - but at least the Storylines were decent PRE Russo.

Anyway, back to the point of this thread -

Goldberg coming back... does this "end" the transition from 2 feds to 1 officially? For me, it's one of the names I wanted to see in WWE . Not because I think he's a good wrestler, because he isn't, but because of his persona and what he was to WCW in the late 90's. The only other person that could have done this for me would have been Sting.

I feel more comfortable now watching WWE with Goldberg. It's like all is right with the cosmos now... kinda like if you travel to another time zone, it takes a while to get adjusted... I think for me it's just now coming back to that point where I can watch Wrestling again. For so long I've felt alienated...

...and when they JOB Goldberg to Stone Cold / Undertaker / HHH then I'll stop watching again too.... THEN you'll know it's political (as if it isn't now anyhow.) - At least at this point I have hope and I'm back on the Short Bus watching this crap...

Sorry to ramble... just trying to get my thoughts out.

 

[Chad]

Eh, I think it's a couple of years too late to have the impact it might have. But you never know... I guess we'll find out with the initial fan's reaction tonight, and then what kind of ratings this Rock/Goldberg feud pulls to the next PPV.

While I like Smackdown more, it seems like I always get distracted from watching it... and rarely even go back and watch my recorded version on TiVo. I watch more of RAW, but find myself disgusted with HHH's attempt to be Ric Flair, and some of his obvious machinations as far match finishes, etc. Plus the Rock/Stone Cold stuff has come across as stale... I thought the Rock/Hurricane stuff was much more entertaining.

Hmmm, maybe Vince's great idea will be to bring Goldberg in a dress as part of some HLA. Yikes.

 

[Korupt]

Well RAW passed and Goldberg made his debut. Looks like Rock VS Goldberg at Backlash. Rock was in the ring and you knew it was going to happen. Rock kept saying " I beat everyone", and with Goldberg coming, you knew he was coming out. Anyways he came out said, "Your Next" and speared Rock. Ahh, what a bad spear it was too. I am not much of a Goldberg fan, but it was cool to see him come out. His spear was horrible though. Honestly the feud will draw a lot to Backlash. In my opinion it was a good move to bring Goldberg to the WWE. One question though. Will they do what they do to every WCW superstar though? Look at Booker T, Scott Steiner, Rey Jr., Eddie Guerro, Chris Benoit, ect. They never really make big superstars out of them. In all honesty Jericho has gone the furthest. I kind of hope they don't make Goldberg suck completely, but I don't want to see another 100-0 thing happen again. Overall it was a good move for the WWE to sign him and have him feud with The Rock. Do they have too much talent though?

 

[bthomas]

Wouldn't you know I fell asleep waiting for the Goldberg Segment... I guess I'm getting old -

I don't think Goldberg is by any stretch a good wrestler, but at least he as a great persona, and his tenacity and verocity is unmatched presently -

I read the article he had on WWE.com where he said he's coming back "for the kids". Makes you wonder if they try to do something with his character that he doesn't like or is contrary to his "face" persona will he just up and walk out ala Stone Cold?

 

[Korupt]

Yea, I read the same article on WWE.com. I am sure he came back for the fans, but thats not the only reason he is back and we all know it. He is definitally going to make a quick impact in the WWE though, Ratings and merchandise sales will go up thats for sure. I think it was a smart move for them to bring him in. It would have been even smarter though if they brought in Sting. Maybee not, but I am still praying that he makes a debut in the WWE.

 

[bthomas]

Word is going around that they are going to bring in both Sting and Luger...

 

[Chad]

Ugh...please not Luger. Apparently he's even bigger than he was before, and still blows up about 3 minutes into a match.

 

[Korupt]

Oh I hope to god that Sting makes a debut in the WWE. If he does come, I could see him coming with Luger seeing is how they are friends. Steiner came with some ring rust, so I am sure Luger can sort it out. Either way if they get the two, ratings are going to sky rocket even more. I just hope they don't get on Smackdown, because we don't get that here. If they do, then you all will have to keep me informed.

 

[Chad]

Steiner doesn't have ring rust, he just sucks now due to his body falling apart. At least from what I've heard, Sting has stayed in some sort of shape. Luger looks in shape but still has the same problems he's had for the last five years.

 

[bthomas]

Agreed, Steiner sucks...

My problem is with the WWE is that they waste SO MUCH time on Wrestlers that just don't have it any more - Ala. The Undertaker, Stone Cold, Nash - The only thing Goldberg has is that he's "fresh" at the moment.

I'd like to see more of Rhyno, Cena, Sean O'Haire instead of tired old gimmicks with those old Chodes I listed above. I guess I'd rather watch Smackdown than RAW, but Smackdown is so inconvenient to watch with Friends, Will & Grace, etc. (my wife LOVES those shows and that is my atonement for dominating the TV during football season) and unlike Mr. Merritt whom we all know has TiVo (booooooo) and Me having the Satellite and not being able to rig it up to tape what I'm not watching, I can't watch it...

BTW, anyone know how I can do that? Tape what I'm NOT watching with Satellite?

Anyhow, I'd like to see Sting, but we don't know how much he's got left... and I don't think I could sit through Luger either - All he's got it the Torture Rack and the clothesline... which is more than Stone Cold has though...

ANYWAYS... I like Goldberg signing. At least it will be interesting for a while.

 

[TWhitefield]

To be honest, bringing in Goldberg is a total waste. Given the interview he did about a month before he came in he has a shopping list of guys he has no desire/intent to work with including:

Austin, HHH, Steiner, Beinoit, Angle, Big Show

Basically, he's wrestling the only guy on the WWE roster that he really wanted to... The Rock. After that match, I don't see anybody, particularly on RAW, that he'll have any real incentive to wrestle. The real question is at this point is whether or not Vince sold out to him or he sold out to Vince.

As for Sting and Luger... I saw them on a WWA PPV against each other a couple of months ago. Luger looked absolutely awful. Worse than usual (and that's saying something). Sting looked decent, though I'm not sure he really fits in with the WWE these days. Virtually every WCW wrestler has ended up getting burried. Booker and Benoit are partial exceptions, based only because they came in with a big following and put forth the work rate to build it further.

While Sting may have a decent following it's not likely he could work the type of match necessary to get him over for long there. Then again, Hogan continues to get over, so who knows.

Sting would be better served going to NWA-TNA unless he really needs the money.