10 Least Effective Swerve Turns In Wrestling History

4. Goldberg

Goldberg Turn
WWE.com

Yes, just the one more (WCW) Vince Russo entry. We're saving the rest for our 100 Times Vince Russo Swerved The Fans list, and that doesn't even function as a joke because it is so easily accomplished. It is as easy as turning your only difference-making babyface heel, with no fictional rationale or real-life logic, purely because nobody saw it coming.

Which is precisely what Russo did at The Great American Bash 2000, when Goldberg turned on Kevin Nash to join the New Blood Faction. There wasn't a Great American Bash 2001, and that's because of bullsh*t like this.

If you think WWE goes overboard with the Evolution hype, you should have bloody heard Russo and Eric Bischoff ahead of the pay-per-view. It was as if they'd secretly signed The Rock. They hadn't; they'd simply made a catastrophic brain wrong. It was deeply counterproductive and deeply unwarranted. On the following Nitro, Goldberg offered literally no explanation. "Why the hell not?" he said.

Hilariously, a defensive Russo once defended the decision by writing off Goldberg as a difference-maker - even though he literally told us the "surprise" was set to win WCW the war - on a Kayfabe Commentaries appearance. "For us to get the rating back consistently to a 3.5 or a 4 would have taken at least a year of consistent booking. It was not gonna be dependent on Bill Goldberg whatsoever," he said.

Consistent booking.

Consistent booking.

Consistent booking.

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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!