8 Damning Things Goldberg's Universal Title Win Says About WWE In 2017
7. WCW’s Soul Is Alive And Well
World Championship Wrestling may have died 16 years ago, but its spirit lives on in WWE. Today’s product isn’t half as horrific as WCW’s dying days were, but shows are still peppered with grim reminders of Ted Turner’s deceased promotion, particularly in the over-booked main event scene.
WWE are booking Goldberg the exact same way WCW did. Goldberg hits the ring, batters his opponents with two moves, scores the pinfall, and moves on to the next one. This is precisely how Goldberg accumulated his legendary 173-match winning streak in the first place, and while this should be a good way to get a dominant wrestler over on paper, the problem is that it’s not 1997 anymore, and Goldberg isn’t in his 30s.
A 50-year-old man who can’t walk to the ring without breaking a sweat is squashing WWE’s biggest stars with the greatest of ease, and that’s a problem. In straight up copying WCW’s booking practices, WWE aren’t just displaying a disappointing lack of creativity, but relying on a method that only diminishes the company’s full-time stars.
The way Goldberg won the title (through a Chris Jericho distraction) reeked of Vince Russo, too. WWE just can’t escape WCW when it comes to booking Goldberg, showing that for all their talk of being a forward-thinking promotion, they’re still stuck in the past creatively.