12 Awesome Wrestling Gimmicks WWE Didn’t Know How To Handle

1. Goldberg

Goldberg Goldust
WWE.com

Looking set to main event WrestleMania 33 for WWE's top title against Brock Lesnar, the enormously successful reintroduction of Bill Goldberg has thankfully shown that the company can learn from its mistakes after all.

Having electrified crowds with his short sharp shock appearances since his November 2016 return, Goldberg has given fans a taste of what fundamentally made him such a breakout star during his meteoric rise through WCW in 1998.

Astonishing most of all is that WWE has facilitated all of this, having made such an horrendous job with Big Bill in his original 2003/4 run with the organisation.

Though occasionally letting him spear and jackhammer opponents in squash contests (which not coincidentally drew the biggest reactions of anything he'd do), the group systematically destroyed the aura of 'Da Man' in long, drawn-out matches and cringeworthy WWE backstage comedy segments.

Singles pay-per-view matches with The Rock, Chris Jericho and Triple H were completely wrong for the character, as his lack of energy and creativity in a back-and-forth setting were horribly exposed despite his eventual victory. Having a Goldust wig dumped on his head did little to assuage flagging perception.

Bailing immediately after his one year contract ended, probably only Goldberg himself is more surprised at the success of his sophomore stint.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett