Could Goldbergs debut back in 2003 been better if he didnt face The Rock?

[quink987]

As we all know Goldberg debuted on raw the following night after Wrestlemania and got into a feud with the Rock, and at the time we all knew that The Rock was leaving so my question is if Goldberg would of debuted against the biggest heel in the company at that time which was Triple H would he of been accepted by the fans more instead of taking on the Rock and getting booed like he did?

for me i think if Goldberg would of came in and feuded with Triple H straight away fter Wrestlemania instead of the rock,I think we all would of marked out more and Goldberg's WWE stint wouldnt be classed as a joke, cause think about it, when he feuded with The Rock at the start of it we all marked out and was thinking yes its Goldberg vs The Rock but as soon as we found out that The Rock was leaving we all turned on Goldberg, why because the Rock is the Rock no matter what he does we always seem to cheer for him face or heel because he is so entertaining.

but if Goldberg would of came in and feuded with Triple H i believe that Goldbergs momentum would of been awesome and the fans would still be talking about it today i know his feud with Triple H wasnt the best but round Wrestlemania 19 time we hated HHH and wanted him to get what was coming to him so if Goldberg would of came in and wooped his ass, i believe it would of made Goldbergs WWE career better

what do you guys think?

 

[GameOver]

Don't think it would've changed much, sure he had some following and was a big hit but he was from the enemy and that affected how the WCW guys were portrayed initially, and rightly so.

They were invading enemies whether they were fan fav's or not. not to mention alot of them were short lived as they were only there til there current WCW contracts which WWE had to acquire as part of the deal expired, once they expired and no longer had to pay them they trimmed the fat to those that would fit into the WWE style and wanted to continue

Goldberg's was no different, his career in WWE was only gonna be short anyway, there's no way they were gonna make him another unbeatable machine against there own established stars that busted there asses to beat WCW into submission so to speak.

They brought him cashed in on his hype just til his WCW contract expired and then he left and moved on from wrestling of his own accord to host Bullrush (or whatever it was called) and a few other shows and movies.

and had said numerous times he didn't need to wrestle anymore.

Speaking of hype i think seriously when you put him up against WWF/E's finest at the time it was obvious who the talent was.

 

[The Mighty Tiger]

I don't think it would have made a difference who he went agaisnt first, the problem w/Goldberg was his character didn't fit into WWE. If he would have gotten better in the ring then I think he could have gotten over better, just the whole idea of him coming in & bashing WWE's top stars in 5 to 10 mins just wasn't believable. Look how fast he beat The Rock, I know he spear Rock like 3 times, but damn Rock had just come off of beating Austin in a epic battle then gets his ass handed to him in like 5 to 10 mins. Stuff like that just doesn't sit well w/fans. Now I believe if he came in & put on at least 3.5-4 star matches that lasted at least 15 to 20 mins then he would have been alright, but for some reason that wasn't how Berg did things. So WWE just cashed in on him while they could & he moved on, as a fan of his I really wish he would of had a better run w/the E, but oh well.

 

[mayankeagle]

It was fine to have him face the Rock because the Rock was on the top at that time after his Mania win against Austin. Since he was leaving, you needed to fill that gap and to do that, the only way to have people take notice of somebody else is to have that guy beat Rock. That way you could take your attention away from Rock and focus on the new guy now. The only way to make him equally as big as the Rock or to have him fill the shoes of the Rock is to have him beat the Rock. Otherwise if he came and feuded with HHH or some other directly, then the Rock would leave without passing the torch to anyone and people would miss him. So it was better this way, to have Goldberg make the Rock exit the WWE.

Moreover, it was good if the Rock wanted to push somebody before leaving - give him credit for doing that, as that is something Austin never did (he walked out when they wanted him to lose to Lesnar). Although I am more of an Austin fan than a Rock fan, I agree Austin had more ego issues than the Rock had.

 

[TheDonjo]

It made perfect sense at the time. Before he debuted on Raw, the Rock was boasting about who all he had beaten and that there was nothing left to prove. I would compare his stint in the WWE more to the end of his career in WCW. He was still beating people during the end of WCW but he was not the invincible force he was during his initial streak in WCW.

 

[Blisken]

I think the only way Goldberg was going to make any form of a bigger impact on WWE was if he had of been:

1) Part of the invasion angle and as such the main guy on their team
2) Debut and face Austin

We all know the Invasion angle was a bit of a let down because Hall, Nash, Hogan, Sting, Steiner and Goldberg werent a part of it, but the big thing many fans wanted to see was Austin vs Goldberg in the ring and see who really was the toughest SOB in the business.

 

[science]

Obviously, leading a fully fledged invasion would have been the best way for a Goldberg debut but failing that:

Goldberg v Undertaker at Mania "Streak v Streak"

They could have had Goldberg come in a few months before Mania and go on an undefeated streak like his WCW days, crushing most people in his path and making him look like a monster. Then he could have cut a promo about his WWE streak, only to have the lights go out and then Taker to be standing over a flattened Goldberg, setting up the match...... If only!

 

[Tripleb2k1]

They brought him cashed in on his hype just til his WCW contract expired and then he left and moved on from wrestling of his own accord to host Bullrush (or whatever it was called) and a few other shows and movies.

He wasn't under contract with WCW anymore. if he was, they'd have to buy out his contract with AOL/Time Warner. in 2003 WWE signed him to a 1 year contract

 

[WunNightStan619]

it made all the sense in the world. Rock was just as big a heel, if not a bigger heel than hhh. He was def the bigger star. So it only makes sense for goldberg to start off against rock, this way he looks super strong

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

The Rock. HHH. It really didn't matter. WWE fans were slow to accept Goldberg because he was a WCW guy, and the WWE didn't exactly set a great example in how WCW guys should be treated.

The Rock was a logical choice. Did you hear how the fans reacted to The Rock during his title match with Brock Lesnar? The fans weren't in The Rock's corner at that time, and he was actually playing the heel. Also, it was very easy to put Goldberg over The Rock due to Rocky's impending departure.

The Rock wasn't a full-time wrestler anymore, but he was still a huge name, maybe still the biggest in wrestling. Goldberg getting a victory over The Rock could have been huge, if the fans hadn't kinda, sorta rejected the notion. It was the best idea they could have gone with, considering the way the fans were feeling about The Rock at that time. I don't think WWE thought the fans would actually side with Rock at Backlash.

 

[wushady]

I don't think it would have made a difference who he faced first. A large part of the WWE fans never accepting him, had to with him waiting over two years to join WWE. He stayed home and got paid the rest of his WCW contract. Many of the main event guys in WCW were actually under contract to their parent company Time Warner. So when WWE bought WCW they had the option to get out of their contract and sign with WWE or to stay at home and get paid for doing nothing.

Many wrestling fans saw it as him being greedy and not caring for the business that made him famous. I still think The Rock was the best choice for his first WWE/PPV match. He was leaving so it didn't matter if he lost, and it gave Goldberg the opportunity to face other top guys down the road. No one else would have benefited as much by beating The Rock. All the top guys at the time were either in a feud or established enough that beating The Rock wouldn't matter as much. They wanted him to go straight to the main event. So beating a mid carder was not going to work.