10 WWE Matches That Were Meant To Be Epic (But Failed Miserably)
4. Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania XX)
Contrary to the lack of excitement generated by WWE for the Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker match, there was, at least initially, a tremendous amount of enthusiasm from the fans for a match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar a decade prior. Starting with their first interaction at the 2003 Survivor Series, Goldberg and Lesnar were set on a collision course that had wrestling enthusiasts of all types itching to see them come to blows. Through the Royal Rumble in 2004 and onward to Goldberg helping Eddie Guerrero win the WWE Championship from Lesnar at the No Way Out PPV, it looked like a clash of the titans was looming at Madison Square Garden for WrestleMania XX. Unfortunately, very little worked out from there. WWE mishandled Goldbergs dates, meaning that he was a virtual ghost for the last month of Mania hype. Goldberg was already wrapping up his one year WWE tenure at Mania; a fact that New York's smart fans were well aware of long before March 14, 2004. Lesnar, in a surprise twist of fate, decided that he did not like the travel schedule involved with being a pro wrestler and was going to quit WWE after Mania. In all likelihood, executives thought that they had that secret kept pretty well under wraps, but to their dismay and to the detriment of the match, the internet spread the news like a virus with the primary area affected being New York City. When the match started, the fans let Brock Lesnar have it. What did he think he was signing up for when he inked his WWE contract? A walk in the park? It is a hard life. WWE put him at the top of the mountain from day one and fans invested in him. They felt betrayed when they discovered that he was leaving. As a result, Goldberg and Lesnar had a match, structured quite well to accentuate their strengths, but unless you mute the TV while watching it, the crowd is so distracting that it is difficult to view the match, critically, as anything but an epic failure.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
