10 Worst WWE Booking Decisions Of The 2000s (Year-By-Year)

Much has been written about Triple H’s “Reign of Terror” from 2002 to 2005. Many fans blame the decline in interest in WWE’s product mainly on Helmsley’s stranglehold of the world title picture during that time, which had a great deal of collateral damage in the form of many superstars’ momentum. RVD, Kane, Booker T, and others were all buried in the name of “getting heat” on Triple H. Of course, one could argue that none of those guys were ever gonna be big money megastars. Goldberg, meanwhile, was a different story.

With all the momentum in the world as one of the last unblemished WCW megastars, Goldberg absolutely should have marched into SummerSlam 2003 and won the World Heavyweight Championship in the Elimination Chamber. However, either because of Goldberg’s attitude or their desire to randomly swerve the audience, WWE put the brakes on Goldberg’s heat and had Triple H retain his title via sledgehammer to the skull.

It’s one of the most glaring examples of Vince and co. flushing money down the toilet. Just as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash ended the original WCW streak via stun gun, Triple H killed Goldberg’s mystique through shenanigans. The honeymoon of Goldberg’s return ended, and while he would win the belt the next month, he would just be another guy until his contract expired. It would take WWE 12 years to figure out how to properly utilize him.