WNS Wednesday Column : Jeff Crosby's Top Five Goldberg Matches!

Jeff’s Top 5 Goldberg Matches

Well, with Bill Goldberg returning for one last match. It’s easy to remember his infamous last match with Brock Lesnar. It is even easier to remember 100 of his matches that consisted of only a spear and a jackhammer.

I believe that Goldberg was a hype machine. WCW focused on only his strengths, rightfully so, and hid his weaknesses…. Unless he was in the ring with Lord Steven Regal anyway.

On the other hand, Goldberg was given a very short leash. He did not have much room to grow. He was athletic. He had a great, but limited move set. But, I believe he could have been one of the all-time greats. He was at once point the as big a name in professional wrestling as anyone in history. This point just happened to be in one of the most popular and greatest eras in pro wrestling history.

Imagine if Goldberg was given people to train with and work with. Imagine if WCW allowed him to grow his move set and perfect his craft in 10 minute matches instead of 2 minute matches. Goldberg had a lot of potential, but he just didn’t get the chance to live up to it.

Enough of the preface, let’s jump into my list of Goldberg’s Top 5 Matches!

5.  Goldberg vs Bret Hart Starcade 1999

Did this match end The Excellence of Execution’s career? Maybe. Was this the best match on the card? No; that honor would go to Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett’s ladder match. But, they did go about 12 minutes in a pretty good match. This was a match against pure strength and athleticism vs pure technique. The match told a great story, the biggest downside would be one of the worst finishes I have ever seen. This was supposed to be a no DQ match, but Bret Hart won by DQ… or was it submission? I still don’t know.

4. Goldberg vs Jericho vs Kevin Nash vs RVD vs Randy Orton vs Shawn Michaels in an Elimination Chamber match at SummerSlam ‘03

Is this a cheap pick? Yes! It was a 20-minute match. It started out great between Jericho and Michaels. Goldberg came in for the last ten minutes. But, when he came in he destroyed everyone. It was one of his most dominating moments in his career… much like to his Royal Rumble appearance. He just came in and unleashed on Randy Orton, HBK, and Y2J. Even Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho tried to team up on Goldberg. Goldberg eliminated Orton, threw Jericho from the ring to the chain on the outside, and then speared Jericho through the “bullet-proof” glass pod in a “OMG” moment. But, since Good ‘Ol JR was commenting it was a “BY GAWD” moment! By the time Triple H came in Goldberg was the only man left standing inside the ring. Triple H locked himself inside his pod because he was so scared of Goldberg. Goldberg kicked out the glass (thank god he didn’t try to punch it.) This was Goldberg’s first PPV match since joining WWE. The knock on this match was once again the ending. He was screwed over, beaten with a sledgehammer, and pinned by Triple H… derailing Goldberg’s momentum. If Goldberg would have won this match may be my top 1, but of course…. “Triple H.”

3. Goldberg vs Raven Nitro ’98 US Title Match

Of course, this match was under Raven’s rules... which pretty much made the US Title the Hardcore Title whenever Raven was champion. This match told a great story, and put Goldberg over as good as any match he had. Not only did he destroy Raven, but he destroyed the whole flock and their arsenal of weapons. He jackhammered the 7-foot monster Reese and he won clean. ( no surprise there) We saw what Goldberg looked like with gold around his waist, and we all loved it! While this match was great for Goldberg it wasn’t so great for Raven. The night before he had co-main evented against DDP. This pretty much killed Raven’s momentum in WCW.

2. Goldberg vs Kevin Nash Starrcade ‘98

Who doesn’t remember where they were when Goldberg’s streak came to an end? Nash may have used his newly acquired booking to put himself over Goldberg, but at the same time Goldberg didn’t lose clean. That is a pattern that you can see over the course of Goldberg’s career. This was a great back and forth match. Both men were powerhouses. Nash’s 7-foot frame didn’t have any effect on Goldberg’s move set… actually I think I remember him hitting a drop kick… maybe not. This match probably had the most “big fight feel” of any match in his career. It was a shock to see Goldberg lose. It was a shock to see Scott Hall come out with a cattle prod and Taser Goldberg… for real Taser Goldberg. That was a shoot as Stone Cold would say on his podcast. I do not think this was the right time for his streak to end as I look back, but it did and we got a hell of a match out of it. Also, Goldberg didn’t lose clean. There is definitely a pattern here! Win: Clean / Lose: Not Clean!

1. Goldberg vs Lesnar WM 20

JUST KIDDING HONORABLE MENTION TIME:

Goldberg vs Hogan Nitro ’98; Goldberg vs Rock (personally hated this match); Goldberg vs Sting Nitro ’98 and Slamboree ’99; Goldberg vs Rick Steiner Road Wild ’99; Goldberg vs Jericho Bad Blood ’03; Goldberg vs Booker T Nitro 2000; Goldberg vs Triple H Survivor Series ‘03

Okay now that is done let’s get to the #1 Goldberg match ever!

1.  Goldberg vs DDP Halloween Havoc ‘98

This probably is not a shock to anyone. This match had a great story coming into the match. DDP claimed he knew the secret to beating Goldberg. That secret turned out to be dodging the spear. Does that make DDP a genius or every other wrestler the opposite. Moving on: it was back and forth. Goldberg hit his head and was basically wrestling dazed and confused for the last few minutes… which led to him kicking out of the Diamond Cutter pretty much at a 1 count. DDP carried him through this match, but it does take two to tango. Great match. Goldberg’s best. This was a 3 and a half hour PPV instead of the Standard 3 hour PPV, so the main event was cut off. So the match was played the next night on Nitro. Which led many fans last thoughts of Halloween Havoc with the match of Hogan vs the Ultimate Warrior. Imagine that!

Thanks for reading! What are your favorite Goldberg Matches and Moments? Let me know on here or on Facebook!