Is Bill Goldberg vastly overrated

[punk is gold]

So I looked through the old threads and coudn't find one other thread about this subject so I decided to make one.I understand that Bill Goldberg was hugely over in the late 90's early 2000's but I can't understand why,sure he had the look,his winning streak in wcw,and he was stiff,but also he had god-awful mic skills,his stiffness resulted in the end of bret hart's career,and if you ever heard the man speak about wrestling you would learn he neither loves pro wretling nor does he have a passion for it,although he does care about his fans.So I just want to know what others thought of Goldberg,his career,his legacy,and whether he really had It or was just a product of his gimmick and in reality was overrated.

 

[alistahr]

He wasn't overrated, simple... he didn't need to speak, he had great intensity and his persona was innovative and exciting at that point, that is why he succeeded, he wasn't shoved down our throats, they slowly built him and the people responded, and in the end thats what matters, crowd reaction

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

If he went straight after the wcw world title...then maybe he would be overrated...but the fact that they made him go through over 100 wrestlers..made him what he was...that streak was just incredible since he debuted...i don't think he was or is overrated...it was kinda his character...he didn't need mic skills..never had anyone to do for him either....he was good in-ring because he dominated people..again his character...

 

[mikec]

Bill Goldberg was and is extremely overrated. To this day idiotic wrestling fans clamer for his return and the guy was never that talented. For a moment in time he was a huge star with a great look and and larger than life persona. But he wasn't great on the mic, he wasn't good in non-wrestling segments, and other than having a great finishing manuever and a hellicious spear; his wrestling skills were sub-par. Yes, he did get a great crowd reaction and that is important, but he didn't have a passion for wrestling and it was obvious. Plus, his career wasn't near long enough to be considered an all-time great. His brief stint in WWE was disappointing at best, and in what should have been one of the biggest matches in Wrestlemania history; he and that other sellout Brock Lesnar collectively stunk up the joint. That match was a joke. Neither guy was into it. Lesnar was leaving WWE to pursue a football career, and Goldberg's contract was almost up. The only good thing about that match was when Stonecold stunned both of them at the end of it. Goldberg will always be remembered for his incredible dominance in WCW over a span of about 3 years, but to me that doesn't make him a legend or anything close to that.

 

[Davi323]

yes, yes, yes, and again, yes!

Goldberg was a SCSA ripoff, overhyped to the point that it reached ridiculous status. Look. If Vince McMahon wanted to create another Bill Goldberg, he could do it at any time he wanted to. Get one big muscular guy with limited ability, book him to win easily over everyone he gets in the ring with, artificially pipe in chants over the loudspeakers, and boom, you have Goldberg. As a wrestler, Goldberg wasn't great. Hell, he wasn't even good. He was just blessed with good writers who wanted to turn him into a monster to help WCW compete with the WWF. Goldberg's push and streak had absolutely NOTHING to do with his in ring ability.

 

[The Crock]

No, Bill Goldberg is not overrated. All though he had a short career, he did a lot in that short span... but at the same time he wasn't shoved down our throats. His streak is one of the most iconic things in recent wrestling history, he was great.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

No one in here may like this opinion, but too bad. The answer is... Over-rated. Yes, his streak was fun, and made the crowd react very well. And, yes, I think they did a dumb thing with his streak, by one Pay-Per-view, have him destroy the Giant(AKA the Big Show), the next have him lose to Kevin Nash. Yet, he will always be over-rated. Let me explain.

He had a very tough time selling. I think he only did it once, and that was when Evolution did a number on him. Other then that he was just unstoppable. Which yes, that was his character. But his stiffness, and dangerous in the ring performance really ticked off a lot of performers. Jericho and The Rock were a couple of them. He couldn't throw a punch, unless he could actually hit you. We complain about Cena and his 5 moves of doom, Well Goldberg only had 4! Gorilla press slam, his flip leg submission hold, the spear, and jack-hammer. If you only have 4 moves, you have to have some good mic skills, which he didn't. Most of the time, it was him saying... "Your next!"

Crowd reaction was good, but so was the Warrior's, and he was over-rated by far. Not also that, but he only wrestled for maybe 6 years top. Yes I know the Rock had only 10, maybe even less, but people are still begging for the Rock's Return. Goldberg's little stunt at Wrestlemania XX still has people from the wrestling world upset. He messed up a lot in the ring, and as stated earlier very rough to work with.

This isn't all Goldberg's fault. I mean, he wasn't discovered at an Indy event, or a rival company. But he was known in the Atlanta area. He at times would hang out at the club with some of the WCW performers, and he was only 2nd or 3rd string on his team, so Bischoff offered him a job. I think he only had 3-6 weeks training before his match with Hugh Morris (Bill DeWalt is his real name), Bill did good at putting him over. Then boom, his rise to the top occurred less then a month. Then he had a US title reign, then Bischoff, in less then 8 months of him being in WCW he got a huge Televised main event, and got the belt. Everything happen so quickly for that guy.

If Goldberg stayed in the Mid-card area, for 2 years and won World War 3 instead of getting his title reign due to popular demand, I'm thinking he wouldn't of been so highly over-rated. He was fun to watch though, but over-rated indeed.

 

[Twanfusco]

I don't think anyone overrates him more than what he was, a well timed character that went over big time. I've never heard anyone say he's one of the greatest of all time or one of the best in the ring. His character required him to be intense and he was good at that, his character required very little in ring action which suited him fine too. His run was more of a wcw success story rather than a bill Goldberg success, so in answer, no he isn't overrated because what he/the company achieved was pretty remarkable.

 

[boozinjedi]

Goldberg wasn't overrated,just bad mic skills,
he had about as many moves as Hogan does....Hogan just had better mic and ring presense.

I think Goldberg could've been bigger,remember the "fingerpoke of doom"?
All the things lined up just for Goldberg..right guy with the right look at the right time..
Had they hitched their wagon to him instead of staying with Hogan/Bischoff and crew..I firmly believe WCW could've held for a bit longer

Lightning struck in the 80's for Vince with Hogan...WCW missed out on their chance!

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Goldberg wasn't overrated,just bad mic skills,
he had about as many moves as Hogan does....Hogan just had better mic and ring presense.

I think Goldberg could've been bigger,remember the "fingerpoke of doom"?
All the things lined up just for Goldberg..right guy with the right look at the right time..
Had they hitched their wagon to him instead of staying with Hogan/Bischoff and crew..I firmly believe WCW could've held for a bit longer

Lightning struck in the 80's for Vince with Hogan...WCW missed out on their chance!

Bischoff was a shock artist. He thought if he could do another swerve like he did at the Bash, with Hogan's heel turn, that, he would have not one but two nWo moments.

To be honest, They still had Benoit and Guerro at the time. Those are two guys who I would of loved to promote as WCW's top stars. We never saw a Goldberg vs. Benoit now did we.

Bischoff also had WWF's top star Bret Hart. They didn't use him as a champion till about 2 years, too late. He would of help WCW crush WWF, especially after the screw job.

Not also that, But Jericho, was young at the time, and his Mic Skills and ring ability was threw the roof! I mean, he could of been WCW's Shawn Michaels. He would of been a great heel for the nWo. Especially if he did a nWo, new blood angle, and have Hogan get kicked out. It would of been awesome.

To be honest, Goldberg had a nice gimmick, and that's all it was. Undefeated streaks at times, are bad ideas. You take away the sense of realism, and weaken the workers of the roster.

 

[T2KFreeker]

First of all, Goldberg may have been many things, but the one thing he wasn't was a Stone Cold Steve Austin rip off. I hate it when people say that because they have no clue what they are talking about as the ONLY things the wrestlers have in common was a goatee, they are both bald and both wear black tights and boots, that's it. The two characters have nothing in common at all, PERIOD.

Bill isn't overrated as he did exactly what he was supposed to do. And running the whole "Goldberg's WWE run was crap" thing, well yeah, it was great until he feuded with Triple H. Then again, it went that way with any WCW original wrestler, so there you have it. If I was Goldberg, I would have been upset too. It happened to Scott Steiner and Booker T as well. They had strong runs in WWE until it came time to wrestle Triple H. You can't deny it either. I was truthfully surprised when they put the title on Goldberg in the first place. Then again, Triple H got it back again anyway, so who's to say? His WCW run was outstanding too until Kevin Nash started booking matches and decided to squash him. Goldberg was going to lose the title sooner or later, but at the biggest PPV of the year? Not a great idea at all and it hurt him and his shtick because he was just like every po0ther wrestler now. Go figure? God forbid anyone on the roster be bigger than Hall and Nash.

 

[zackattack]

Now I'm not a big Goldberg fan however reason being he was over because he came in, kicked ass and left and that was it. He very rarely ever talked and he had an intensity about him. Also you gonna tell me ur not gonna pop for someone who has to be escorted to the ring by security guards out of "fear" he might kill someone ya sure he wasn't great in either the ring or the mic but he was badass and that's what the fans want. Overrated present time yes overrated in the 90s hell no

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I don't think anyone overrates him more than what he was, a well timed character that went over big time. I've never heard anyone say he's one of the greatest of all time or one of the best in the ring. His character required him to be intense and he was good at that, his character required very little in ring action which suited him fine too. His run was more of a wcw success story rather than a bill Goldberg success, so in answer, no he isn't overrated because what he/the company achieved was pretty remarkable.

Goldberg did achieve a lot in the company. Don't get me wrong. But so did the Warrior. Those two guys have been Black-balled from the WWE. Yet Goldberg has had some talks on a deal, which could make some quick money.

But, when Goldberg got to the WWE, the land of organization, he was a fail. He didn't know how to do safe moves in the ring. Didn't like someone telling him how do something better, and pissed off other wrestlers.

Not also that, but selling out a huge arena, then main eventing 3 pay-per-views, maybe a success, but after that, he didn't get squat did a stupid heel turn, which Vince Russo thought was smart.

At one point, Russo, tried to have a Russo vs. Goldberg angle, something that was in comparison to Austin vs. McMahon. Goldberg couldn't do it. He had little mic skills, and couldn't cut a promo. Yes, silly booking does suck, but then again, if your one of the best, you can overcome silly booking.

 

[brighamosity]

Bill Goldberg's streak really wasn't that impressive. Anyone who actually watched WCW at the came has to acknowledge that 90% of his opponents were jobbers. He must've fought Hugh Morris like 10 times. Sure he beat Hogan, but even that came out of nowhere. He was still a mid-carder at the time. And I've read that his streak was exxagerated anyway. Chris Jericho wrote in his book "Goldberg would have to have been wrestling a mexico city ten match a week schedule to even come close to the number of matches they were claiming he won. One week he'd be 42-0 and seven days later he'd be 58-0"

But I agree that he had very little to do with Stone Cold. I hated that comparison. They were both bald with goatees and they wore black, but personality-wise, there was no comparison.

 

[Smart Mark]

Prowrestlers cant be over rated unless the are being pushed and are not liked by fans, this isn't sport its entertainment. Saying Bill Goldberg is over rated is like saying jack bower is over rated. Sure he lacked in ring ability but none of that matters if people show up and cheer your name, any one who says differently clearly doesn't understand the business.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Prowrestlers cant be over rated unless the are being pushed and are not liked by fans, this isn't sport its entertainment. Saying Bill Goldberg is over rated is like saying jack bower is over rated. Sure he lacked in ring ability but none of that matters if people show up and cheer your name, any one who says differently clearly doesn't understand the business.

In the entertainment business, there is such things as being over-rated. Eugene for example: the guy was a special guy, that just bumped into main event guys, and gave them hi-fives. He had some glorified squash matches, and he sold merchandise like no tomorrow.

Over-rated is a term that means "Doesn't live up to expectations." So Lesnar, would of been one of the best, he quit, so his career his over-rated. Warrior, he got fired, and couldn't get guaranteed money from WCW. His career was over-rated. Maven, the first Tough Enough winner, I think he lasted what, 3 years... Even got a main event spot at Survivor series.. I'm thinking he was over-rated. So, no Over-rated exists. especially in the entertainment business.

 

[Davi323]

Goldberg WAS a stone cold ripoff. Remember, it was Eric Bischoff who told Austin he can't market a wrestler in black tights...lo and behold, one short stint in ECW and a bad ringmaster gimmick later, Vince Mcmahon struck gold with Stone Cold Steve Austin. What does Bischoff do? Finds a guy with minimal training, who wears black trunks, and is bald with a goatee. If that isn't an Austin ripoff, what is? Bischoff can't market a wrestler in black, Austin gets REAL famous, and suddenly Bischoff can market a wrestler in black, and you expect anyone to believe that it wasn't because of Austin? bullshit.

 

[Mark0820]

Goldberg is no more to me than Ultimate Warrior 2.0. Couldn't work, high intensity, hugely over, no mic skills, didn't care if he hurt his opponents and both were given the rub by Hogan.

 

[Simmo]

For all of you out there saying Goldberg was a copy of SCSA g out and watch The Rise and Fall of WCW, he clearly states on there that he wasn't bought in to copy Austin and as for the hair, he was advised to keep his hair long (as it was at the time) but wanted to cut it.....

Goldberg to me is what wrestling in the 90's was all about - 1 guy who made lots of money for the company. Vince had SCSA and the Rock, Bischoff had Goldberg....

In the end all of them got screwed over (ala finger poke of doom)...

As for saying he had no mic skills, his gimmick was all about not needing to speak and letting his actions d othe talking, plenty of current wrestlers could do with shutting the hell up and doing the same...

IMHO the most over-rated wreslter of all time is and always will be Hogan....

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

I think another question you can ask is if Goldberg could have ever worked in any company or any other era... he was perfect for WCW at the time, his style was so sloppy but so were a lot of things it just fit into the clusterfuck that was WCW... to WCW's credit though it was an entertaining clusterfuck, but a clusterfuck nonetheless. Goldberg did his thing and it worked but it's definitely not something I'd put him over as a great "wrestler." He was a great attraction for WCW but that's all I'd put him as... an attraction. They ended that attraction sooner than they needed to with his loss to Nash, after that all the mystique was gone.

 

[Vintage]

He was overrated and this is why.

Outside of excitement of how he was booked and by this I specifically mean his win streak and him squashing his opponents.. what the hell does he bring to the table? He's the second coming of the Ultimate Warrior but yet he's the one praised for being an all around piece of shit.

1) He was very unimpressive in the ring. He lacked psychology and his move set was bland. When he was coming to the ring to job you could see it a mile away.

2) He believed his own hype and the people around him suffered for it.

3) When it was his time to return some favors and lay down for some people everything became a political issue backstage.

4) He was sloppy and stiff in the ring. I'm surprised the list of people he injured or times he injured himself wasn't longer.



Overall he was good for WCW but he was bad for pro wrestling. He'll probably end up in the hall of fame one day and all he did was have a cup of coffee in the ring compared to most performers.

 

[RVDgurl]

Goldberg may very well be the most overrated wrestler in history. The guy had a great look and the WCW booking team behind him because of it. He had the win streak- which was nothing short of a farce. Anyone recall that one week he would be announced as being 18-0 and then the next week he would be 27-0? He had no in ring skills, was awful at faking any kind of intensity and he was terrible on the microphone. He was pushed to the moon before he even had a chance to learn anything about the business. This of course, is not his fault, but it gave him very little room to improve.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Goldberg was a phenomenon, and he was just as hot as anybody when he was at the top. Was he reckless in the ring? Yes. We all know about what happened at Starrcade 1999, and Bill had a history of not being the most safe guy to work with in the ring. But the fans just ate up everything this guy did. Fans would be anxious during his entrance, and everyone in the arena would be foaming at the mouth for a spear or jack hammer. Now of course Goldberg should never be put on the same level as guys like Austin and Hogan, because he wasn't as huge as they were when they were on top.

Goldberg also never really had too many great or good matches. The match where he won the world title from Hogan on Nitro was a memorable moment, and the best match I've seen from him is the one he had with DDP at Halloween Havoc 1998. Other than, I can't remember any Goldberg masterpieces. Goldberg was a guy who had the size, the look, and he had tons of intensity. He was a wrecking machine, and the fans did love him. Also, he still had a lot of mystique left during his short time in WWE. I don't know if I would call Goldberg vastly overrated, but I would say he is slightly overrated, because like it or not, he did have an impact in the wrestling business.

 

[Travaje]

Goldberg was as over as anybody has been in the short run he had. He was an average wrestler but a huge attraction. Used correctly, he could have had a much bigger run and drawn a ton of money. Had Goldberg beat Hogan on PPV in the Georgia Dome for the strap, with the correct buildup, they could have had one of the highest grossing PPV's in history.

After losing to Nash, and the fingerpoke of doom, he was irrelevant.

I don't think his run should lose any significance over time, however if anyone believes that he is much more than that, they're wrong, and then he is overrated. Also, as many know, once he won that belt he didn't want to do business anymore. He could have had perhaps a little bit of a longer run, but he was never going to be a 20-year star of the sport and one of the industries best. If people just remember him for what he was, then he's just that, and he deserves recognition for his run.

 

[Lazerball]

Fuck yea, always has been, always will, hes awful in the ring, cant really have a match, jus a squash, and remember i would say more than half his undefeated streak was beating liz mark jr, villiano 4 and 5 and guys like that every damn week, Bill Goldberg is crap, and like it was said Vince could have run that angle pretty much anytime he wanted, Goldberg is crap, and doesnt respect the business that put him where he is today.