10 Things WWE Suddenly Wanted You To Care About (After Programming You To Hate Them)

4. Goldberg

Baron Corbin
WWE.com

WWE ruthlessly re-conditioned the audience when debuting Goldberg in 2003.

The intense, smash-mouth destroyer of WCW was gone, replaced by a wrestler who sold and sold before the comeback in a betrayal of his essence as a performer. The old Goldberg was such a wrecking machine that he didn't even need to mount a comeback; there was no coming back after being broken in half after his spear.

As the years receded from 2004, company rhetoric painted Goldberg as a one hit wonder. Triple H, speaking to SBNation on the WrestleMania XXVII hype train, referred to him as a "hodge-podge" guy. He wasn't even asked about Goldberg; he was asked who he enjoyed working with, and claimed Goldberg was somebody he couldn't have a "classic" with, and it's strange. Goldberg has a nice, hardened ass. It's almost as if Trips provides different, contradictory reasons for burying guys that threaten his spot!

"Bill's trying to get into the Hall of Fame," Triple H continued. "If there's a rumour about him coming back, he probably started it."

As those years receded, and WWE failed to replace the top stars, Goldberg was welcomed back into the fold in 2016. WWE reimagined him as a Hall of Fame headliner by...

...booking him as the intense, smash-mouth destroyer of WCW.

Contributor
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!