Goldberg: Underated or Overated?

[Disturbed]

There has been a lot of Goldberg talk as of late, so I figured why not a thread on whether or not he is underated or overated.

I have to go with overated. I was never much of a Goldberg fan. It's not that he isn't good but people act like he was the greatest thing ever created by man. Sure Goldberg is a big guy but he isn't a monster like he is made out to be. His in ring skills are medicore. His mic skills aren't the best. All he did was say "Who's Next?" Well how about "Who gives a shit?" I know I don't. I will probalby get red repped for this but I don't care. I might be the only poster on the net that doesn't want Goldberg to have one last match.

I am not saying he was terrible. I am just saying he is mediocre. He has had many botches too. If it wasn't for WCW booking him right, he would have been nothing.IMO

WHat are your thoughts?

 

[dwith]

I really enjoyed watching Goldberg kick ass week in and week out. They made him a force to reckon with, and he was a monster. He's the only one in the history of wrestling that I know that was ever that dominate, and undefeated for ever, for good reason. Goldberg was to wrestling what Mike Tyson was to boxing.

 

[Justin Satiable]

The Goldberg gimmick was fantastic back in WCW. A man who could not be beaten. So simple, yet fantastic. Sadly they eventually ruined him completely towards the end of WCW. His run in WWE was also poor, as they just threw away the whole principle of "Goldberg the invincible man"

 

[Ace333]

I enjoyed Goldberg's career. He looked strong week in and week out. The only other person i see being close as dominate as he looked was Brock Lesnar. If Goldberg career started in the 2000's and he was the age he was when he debuted he would be in MMA and not wrestling

 

[Avrusha92]

When I started watching wrestling back in 97' I was about 6 years old, My cousins introduced me to WCW, that was the only wrestling i knew of, I saw Goldberg, and I was amazed, he was the biggest thing in WCW, and he was unbeatable. His opponents would shit their pants when they saw him. I instantly became a fan, Later on as I became 8, Everyone would be talking about The Rock & WWF, and how WWF was better than WCW.

I wouldnt care because I was a huge fan of Goldberg.
(sorry if all i said was off-topic but thats my intro)

Goldberg was not over-rated not under-rated, he was under-rated in his WWE run, they booked him weakly compared to the Unbeatable, the Invincible...GOLDBERG! Its all about the booking.

His mic skills werent the best, and his ring work was similar to John Cena's per-say.
Goldberg was the "John Cena" of WCW, or maybe John Cena is the "Goldberg" of WWE.

So my answer is....he was under-rated in WWE.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

Goldberg Jackhammering The Giant (Big Show) may have not looked the greatest but it was still damn cool so as far as him not being a monster... yeah, John Cena FUing him (or w/e the fuck they call it now) while impressive wasn't nearly AS impressive, the man could do a standing backflip too, sure thas not a move but it shows his range in power and athleticism, his mic skills were dead on for what he was, and yeah towards the end of wcw he was misused badly (who wasn't?) and his run in wwe was an abomination (like pretty much every other wcw star that went there) so I go with underrated and misused

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Goldberg was and still is incredibly overrated in my opinion. Goldberg was a wrestler with a lot of flaws that WCW did a very good job protecting for quite a while, but you can only get away with that for so long. Most of Goldberg's matches were kept extremely short because they had to be.

I'm not impressed with Goldberg's undefeated streak because most of the guys that he beat during the time he went undefeated were jobbers or low undercard wrestlers in about 2 or 3 minutes flat. Most of those tended to be glorified squash matches anyhow and I've never particularly been a fan of squashes. When Goldberg was put into a match against someone higher up, the formula used for most of his matches had to be put aside and his limitations were quickly noticable. If a match lasted longer than 5 minutes, it was plain to see that Bill Goldberg had a lot to learn.

WCW was able to make Goldberg look like this living juggernaut with the way he was booked. As I said, most of his wins were against jobbers but he still managed to look impressive. He did have a presence and he did look physically intimidating and intense. However, when WCW ended Goldberg's undefeated streak, he lost a LOT of steam. He was no longer this unstoppable beast that he'd been portrayed as for so long, he was just another guy on the roster. There was no longer anything special about him and he wasn't a good enough wrestler to remain all that interesting.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Goldberg wasn't meant to be a technical wizard or to have long matches like Flair, Race, or Rhodes. He was meant to walk into the ring, destroy people, and leave the ring. His popularity while on WCW rivaled that of Stone Cold and that cannot be denied. He is rated correctly based on what he was meant to do. WWE didn't understand it and made him more "human" which ruined the mystique if part of it wasn't already ruined when he lost to Nash.

 

[dansaun77]

Over Rated completely. Sure the gimmick he was given was great, but it would have got anybody over. Goldberg could not, and cannot "wrestle". He can put together a few high impact moves. His selling was disgraceful. He was so 1 dimensional. Goldberg would be okay for a one night only appearance for the nostalgic pop he would get, but put him in the ring with guys who can wrestle, tell a story...Goldberg would look even sillier then he did in his last WWE match. That was embarrasing at Mania 20. Thoroughly over rated, believed his own hipe.

 

[GameOver]

i vote 30/70, he was tending towards overrated

He had the look, had the explosive strength and was not awfull on the mic.
can't be debated that his character was a huge part of keeping WCW on par with WWF and eventually overtaking.

on the opposite side, he was a one trick pony.
much like Cena, he wasn't great in ring, couldn't sell moves for shit, all his matches were virtually identical and only lasted a couple minutes but despite that he was huge.

WWF payed him out with the Gillberg gimmick which was really funny

I reaslise Goldberg was booked that way to be the immovable object and unstoppable force rolled into one and have no problem with that. He was what he was meant to be and it worked. Also might add WWFE didn't kill him off, he was still dominant and did pretty well considering he never planned on going back to wrestling after WCW folded, but they were paying off his contract so had to do something with him.

also could add they wanted it to seem that WWE was the better product in the end, even though for the most part during the invasion angle WCW was ontop. I'd say that makes WWE the better man

 

[wushady]

Goldberg is very overrated in my opinion he was never a great wrestler, and was very sloppy. He injured many people over the course of his run even ending the career of a true legend in Bret Hart. Don't get me wrong WCW did an awesome job booking him in the beginning. He truly came across as a monster. However after the first year or so that wore off, and he never had that same mystic about him. By the time he went to WWE the majority of wrestling fans had already given up on him and were over the whole Goldberg phenomenon. He wasn't the worst wrestler in the world, but he doesn't belong on the same level as guys like Austin, Rock, HHH, and even Cena.

 

[Monky]

I gotta say overrated. I won't deny that he was eventually misused and that his popularity rivaled Steve Austin. However his popularity wasn't nearly as long lasting as Steve Austin's. Where Austin was versatile, Goldberg was as limited as they come. He may have been misused but his gimmick wasn't sustainable.

Most people say he lost his credibility when the streak ended but as I reccall the fans were bored with the streak by then. That was the streak's fatal flaw. There was no real payoff. They made him an unbeatable monster but had no good idea on how to end it. Nash got to beat him because the streak had to end and him or Hogan were pretty much the only people in the company with the credibility to beat him. After that, he just didn't have the same appeal. Goldberg as just a regular wrestler that wasn't the unbeatable monster just wasn't something people got into.

For maybe a year he was the hottest thing in wrestling but he grew stale and never managed to trancend his spear/jackhammer wrestling ability. As I reccall they tried to reignite his popularity with another streak but it just didn't work. He was good as an unstoppablle monster but that was about it. Personally, I don't blame him. WCW half assed his training, pushed him to the moon, and the result was a main eventer who didn't really get the business and just didn't have a passion for it.

To put it simply, he's not as great as people remember him. His inexperience and recklessness ended Bret Hart's career. His limitations almost made him worthless for anything beyond being the monster with the streak. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but there is no way he's underrated.

 

[Shakin' Abe]

First let me say that I was a huge WCW fan back in the day but Goldberg never had any mic skills or personality. The way I see it, he was given the angle as an answer to Stone Cold. Once the WWE took over, he was a waste of talent and killed a couple of what could have been good PPV's. Now Gilberg on the other hand...Now that's entertainment! I'm curious what Bret Hart would have to say about this thread...

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

For the last time, Goldberg wasn't meant to put on matches like Angle, Hart, and HBK. He was intended to destroy the competition and that's what he did and I defy anyone to argue otherwise. WCW messed him up because of booking (what a surprise) and WWE just ruined whatever was left. Goldberg was dominant during his time in WCW and was the second most popular wrestlers during that time. Even in WWE, I believe Goldberg only lost once or twice.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

I voted underrated for 2 reasons:

1) "Just Right" wasn't an option.
2) The guy was "just right" during "The Streak"...yet that was his only run with the title in WCW. He could have been a great draw for WCW if they put the belt on him a couple more times, but for whatever reason, he was fighting undercard matches against Tank Abbott. Thus, he was underrated for his lack of having more reigns as WCW champ.

 

[mulkeymania]

i loved watching goldberg and as much as he got the crowd into it and seemed like an unstoppable monster i would say he was over rated because his wrestling and mic skills werent much and his career was only around 5 years--that being said he did entertain me and made me want to see him squash somebody and made you believe he was very mean but just not memorable in terms of wrestling ability or mic skills and it seems that he wanted to believe his own hype and considered himself much greater than he was.

 

[The Holy One]

I would say underrated and it's not b/c of how much of a fan I was of his when I was a kid. He didn't need mic skills or wrestling abilities to be over. He just flat out destroyed people and the fans loved it so what more can you ask for? He was over and he was one of the only things working for WCW against the WWE. WCW somehow messed him up and his legacy hurt b/c of that. Goldberg could have gone down as one of the top 5 guys of all time if WCW didn't drop the ball on him.

 

[onewayleeway69]

There has been a lot of Goldberg talk as of late, so I figured why not a thread on whether or not he is underated or overated.

I have to go with overated. I was never much of a Goldberg fan. It's not that he isn't good but people act like he was the greatest thing ever created by man. Sure Goldberg is a big guy but he isn't a monster like he is made out to be. His in ring skills are medicore. His mic skills aren't the best. All he did was say "Who's Next?" Well how about "Who gives a shit?" I know I don't. I will probalby get red repped for this but I don't care. I might be the only poster on the net that doesn't want Goldberg to have one last match.

I am not saying he was terrible. I am just saying he is mediocre. He has had many botches too. If it wasn't for WCW booking him right, he would have been nothing.IMO

WHat are your thoughts?

Dude what is the point in these threads? under or overrated? your giving people 2 choices and basicly saying they have to be one or the other which is ******ed!. Goldberg wasnt overrated because he could back it up in the ring and on the mic with his aggressive manor that nobody has duplitcated to this day. The jackhammer was awesome and combined two simple moves(a suplex and powerslam) to make one of the most brutal moves in wreslting history! and nobody has a better spear then goldberg not even Edge or Rhino. Was he underrated? erm no the crowd went nuts when he came out hes been 2 time world champion beat almost every big star in the game and every move he did he made look awesome! people judge him because he was week at submissons? so what he didnt need anythink like that and hell ever put armbars and leglocks in to his move-set. But dude this thread is really ******ed you need to come up with a new idea. What about Overrated Underrated or Just right? Then its givin us a choice to pick what we want!

And to the sheep that follow Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa BAaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[HiddenInPlainView]

The Goldberg character is actually one of the things that pushed me away from WCW and back to the WWF. It was the same match every week and never a good one. Every week it was "Who is NWO gonna beat up or have join?" and "Who is Goldberg gonna destroy?" Just got too boring and predictable!

 

[RVDisTNA]

I have to say underrated. Guys like him are usually perceived as big clumsy powerhouses. But Goldberg is very agile and very charismatic. He is a really good athlete for a big muscle guy. Nobody gives him credit for that.

 

[ToWhomItConcerns.]

i think he was a bit of both...but if i had to choose 1 i'd say overrated.

does that mean i didn't (at 1 time or another) enjoy watching him? of course i did...i think everybody at 1 time or another liked Goldberg...but that doesn't make him any less overrated looking back.

to say he wasn't a great wrestler is like saying Warrior wasn't a great wrestler...its a no-brainer. obviously he wasn't pushed to be a Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels type star...but he was good for what they needed him to be in WCW.

in WWE........not so much.

 

[A Mod's Best Friend (aka Bitch)]

I think he was neither overrated or underrated. WCW probably nailed it perfectly on how to use him and turned him into a powerhouse which drew ALOT of viewers. His first loss squashed all the momentum he had built over the last year and a half, all in order to pump up Kevin Nash's ego. Thought he and WCW got the most out of him.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

What was there to do with Goldberg though? After his defeat, he pretty much was washed up. But there really wasn't much they could do with him. He couldn't really generate much heat on the mic if he didn't have that unbeatable mystique behind him, and he was limited in the ring.

If you want to look at a more recent repeat of what happened to Goldberg, look at Umaga. Same thing happened there, the guy was unbeatable, pushed to the moon and as soon as he lost his first match, he had absolutely no momentum because their whole gimmick is being impossible to beat. Once that's gone, so are they.

 

[WAR VET]

I think he was way over rated. I didnt find him entertaining at all. Put him against anybody besides a jobber and you could see he was nothing more than a pile of muscles. Also, the man was dangerous in the ring due to his lack of wrestling skills, his botched moves did more than just end bret harts career, he was known as a "stiff" wrestler that would hurt people all the time...

 

[Dagger Dias]

I could argue in favor of a third option.... both. His WCW run was great, but his WWE run however was overrated. I didn't care for it much. The reason I argue in favor of "both" instead of overrated is because he could have gone on to become even better if his streak hadn't ended the way it did in WCW. That was one of the biggest mistakes they ever made. He still would have been decent even if it weren't for the streak. So he was underrated in WCW and overrated in WWE. The answer is both, but I voted for underrated in the poll due to only two options.