10 Times The Past Screwed WWE's Present
Goldberg vs. Kevin Owens is just the tip of the iceberg.
For all the talk of "Revolutions" and "New Eras," WWE are still very much stuck in the past. They'd love you to believe that they're a progressive, forward-thinking company, but this isn't always the case, particularly in the way they push talent. Raw's main event scene, for example, is completely dominated by relics of the past: superstars who made their name in a previous era, but are still prospering over the would-be stars of today.
Sadly, the company regularly fail at building new stars, and while the likes of Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens have sizeable fanbases, they can't compete with a Goldberg or Undertaker. The younger guys are only there to make the veterans look good, when logic dictates it should be the other way around.
The situation is more noticeable today, when wrestlers are generally more athletic and dynamic than ever before. It's not a new problem, however, and WWE have been putting ageing wrestlers over their younger stars for decades, usually to their own detriment.
There's rarely any benefit in derailing a younger wrestler's momentum for the short-term gain of pushing a star of yesteryear, but WWE never learn from their mistakes...
10. Goldberg Vs. Kevin Owens (Fastlane 2017)
Starting with the most recent example, Goldberg vs. Kevin Owens shouldn’t prove to be as catastrophic as some of the others, but it’s hard to defend a 50-year-old who has wrestled two matches in the past 12 years going over a young, hungry Universal Champion. KO lasted just 22 seconds against the former WCW Champion, and after falling to an entrance music distraction, he left Fastlane 2017 looking like the dumbest man in the building.
Goldberg made a stunning WWE return in autumn 2016, but has barely mustered five minutes’ of ring-time since coming back. His Survivor Series match with Brock Lesnar lasted just 85 seconds, he was only in the ring for a couple of minutes at the Royal Rumble, and there’s no guarantee he can even go for longer than 3-4 minutes at this point. It looks increasingly likely that Goldberg will be entrusted with a WrestleMania 33 headlining spot, and there’s a strong chance the Lesnar rematch will be a car crash.
Owens had a poor reign as Universal Champion, and will go down as WWE’s weakest world title holder since Sheamus. Still, seeing his reign end at the hands of an extremely limited part-timer was as disappointing as it was unavoidable. WWE now head towards their biggest show with a main event that won’t last the length of time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and with Owens’ credibility looking more diminished than ever.