10 Times Wrestling Fans Didn’t Know Better
9. Goldberg Reprise
Dig far enough back through this Author Page, and you're certain to find much in the way of pessimism surrounding WWE's treatment of Goldberg's 2016 return.
The idea of revisiting his disastrous last match, opposite Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX, read as a depressing punchline delivered by a company who had long made a joke of nostalgia. The shocking result of their second meeting sent fans into a divided frenzy: what was the logic behind "wasting" Brock Lesnar's unbeatable killer aura on a 49 year old guy with a broken bump card? Didn't it make so much more sense to elevate a younger, full-time talent? What did it say about Dean Ambrose et al., if Goldberg could do in a minute and half what they failed to do in ten minutes?
If nothing else, WWE isn't a reactionary company - and for once, this was to their benefit; they knew Lesnar was not dead, and they killed two birds with one stone. Money was extracted from Goldberg in the short term, and the long-term Lesnar investment was secure enough to take the risk. Their trilogy rubber, at 'Mania 33, was also unexpectedly excellent. WWE astutely lowered expectations of match quality, allowing the two beasts a platform on which to spring a surprise.
It was reassuring stuff. Eventually.