10 Biggest WWE Pay-Per-View Disappointments
3. The Rock Vs Bill Goldberg (Backlash 2003)
Following a brief-yet-beautiful run as a hollywood heel since his February 2003 return, The Rock could just about do no wrong in-ring and on the microphone, and was set to depart via defeat to WWE's newest ex-WCW roster edition.
Promoting the arrival of Goldberg during the WrestleMania 19 broadcast, fans were rapturous for his appearance the night after on Raw. Predictably, he ploughed through 'The Great One' with a spear to cap off Rock's self-made 'Appreciation Night' as he basked in the glory of his victory over Stone Cold Steve Austin.
In a dark foreshadowing of how aggressively the company would fail with the Goldberg character, their Backlash pay-per-view main event was ultimately booked to go twenty minutes and follow typical WWE formula with a long heel beatdown to build to an eventual comeback.
It exposed the Goldberg act on night one, with perennial crowd favourite Rock stealing the remainder of the heat with an impossibly entertaining heel act he simply refused to curb.
As Rock's clear farewell from the organisation for the foreseeable future, years of loyalty to 'The Great One' flooded out from the live crowd, highlighting worrying disinterest in Big Bill.
Even re-watching his first night years later, it's abundantly clear why Goldberg would be gone less than twelve months later.