goldberg VS Kevin Nash

[Aussie Skier]

Starrcade 1998

I watched the match for the first time ever last night.
And I thought it was really good . I mean, oviously the wrestling was nothing special, but thecrowd were so hot that night, and fans were cheering for both Nash and Goldberg.

Anyway, concerning that match, what are you ppl's opinions of it?
I thought it was great until the clusterfuck at the end, which completetly and utterly ruined it.
Was endings like that the reason why WCW was eventually bought out?

[Shaggy]

no...people like vince russo were the reason why WcW was bought out

I havnt seen the match for a long time but yea the ending to it was really bad, I guess they had to find a way to get Goldberg to drop the title but make it so the other person had to cheat to win.

[Loose Cannon]

KILLER MISTAKE

[Loose Cannon]

Oh and Nash/Hogan were bascially beind this masterpiece

[Disturbed316]

Yeah, Nash was booker at the time, so he booked himself to end Goldberg's winning streak. And then, it was completly shitted on after the Finger Poke of Death thing on Nitro

[RemyRed]

I thought it was great till Hogan got the title back on Nitro. And Vince Russo was the best writer WCW had.

[Loose Cannon]

^^you're not serious right?

about Russo

[Normal Is Me]

Never seen the match. I actually enjoyed the finger poke of death though.

They should have re-created the nWo, having a vast amount of members like the original. Goldberg should have systematically taken out all of them until only Hogan was left. Goldberg versus the nWo. This would have allowed the fans to create rally behind another win streak as Goldberg blazed through every nWo member.

Then have the big PAYOFF match at a PPV with Goldberg winning the title.

However, since I never regularly watched WCW I don't know what the fuck they did after the finger poke of death. Last thing I heard was of Sid snapping his leg and then the WWF buying WCW.

[diamondcutter]

Originally Posted by Normal Is Me Never seen the match. I actually enjoyed the finger poke of death though. They should have re-created the nWo, having a vast amount of members like the original. Goldberg should have systematically taken out all of them until only Hogan was left. Goldberg versus the nWo. This would have allowed the fans to create rally behind another win streak as Goldberg blazed through every nWo member. Then have the big PAYOFF match at a PPV with Goldberg winning the title. However, since I never regularly watched WCW I don't know what the fuck they did after the finger poke of death. Last thing I heard was of Sid snapping his leg and then the WWF buying WCW.

Following the F.P.O.D., WCW eventually phased Goldberg out of the title hunt (he got a few more occasional title shots with no build-up, though). DDP won two world titles in the spring of that year, David Flair was handed the U.S. Title after Steiner was stripped of it. Ric Flair and Hogan changed places at Superbrawl (Flair went heel, Hogan face), Bischoff left , Russo, Ferrara, and Jarrett arrived, Nitro set and logo were changed, nWo reformed one last time with a new lineup (Hart, Jarrett, Hall, and Nash), who held all the gold. The Giant, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit (who won the world title at a ppv), Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko all left for the WWF, Russo and Bischoff ran WCW together and made a veterans vs. rookies storyline, Jeff Jarrett, Booker T., and Scott Steiner all won the WCW World Title, Lance Storm and Mike Awesome left ECW for WCW, new stables called "The Natural Born Thrillers," "The Misfits In Action," and "The Filthy Animals" were formed. Ric Flair led an "elite" stable. Cruiserweight division came back with a vengeance.

That's pretty much what you missed.

[Fox]

Honestly, I think this is seriously the best that they could do.

With the whole Goldberg angle, and giving him the World Title (which was horribly rushed), WCW was merely setting themselves up for a failure of massive proportions. Much like today's Eugene, once the character has run its course, there's nothing else for it to do. Goldberg's "streak" was who Goldberg was - he would've been shit on by everybody were it not for the streak. With the end of the streak came a huge question mark as to what would be done with the Goldberg character (even WWE couldn't get it right 4 year later).

Having Nash win the title in that fashion, although a huge let down to the fans, was the best they could think of. Even though the finger poke of death was horribly lame, I actually loved every minute of it, with the red-black-white nWo coming together to baet down Goldberg in the ring. I, for one, was irate.

If only they had taken that angle in a better direction (a Goldberg title chase instead of involving Flair and DDP), maybe WCW would be in better standing today.

[Fox]

Originally Posted by diamondcutter Following the F.P.O.D., WCW eventually phased Goldberg out of the title hunt (he got a few more occasional title shots with no build-up, though). DDP won two world titles in the spring of that year, David Flair was handed the U.S. Title after Steiner was stripped of it. Ric Flair and Hogan changed places at Superbrawl (Flair went heel, Hogan face), Bischoff left , Russo, Ferrara, and Jarrett arrived, Nitro set and logo were changed, nWo reformed one last time with a new lineup (Hart, Jarrett, Hall, and Nash), who held all the gold. The Giant, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit (who won the world title at a ppv), Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko all left for the WWF, Russo and Bischoff ran WCW together and made a veterans vs. rookies storyline, Jeff Jarrett, Booker T., and Scott Steiner all won the WCW World Title, Lance Storm and Mike Awesome left ECW for WCW, new stables called "The Natural Born Thrillers," "The Misfits In Action," and "The Filthy Animals" were formed. Ric Flair led an "elite" stable. Cruiserweight division came back with a vengeance. That's pretty much what you missed.

You forgot David Arquette winning the WCW Title.

[Loose Cannon]

Mr. Sunday Night Heat: Trust me, that was the WORST...AS IN DUMBEST MOVE they could of done with Goldberg when they had him beat. It cost the company a lot. Talk to anyone or find interviews from anyone working in WCW at that time and they'll tell you how much of a fuck up that was.

Bobby Heenan will tell you that move cost hundreds of people thier jobs at WCW.

Originally Posted by Normal Is Me Never seen the match. I actually enjoyed the finger poke of death though. They should have re-created the nWo, having a vast amount of members like the original. Goldberg should have systematically taken out all of them until only Hogan was left. Goldberg versus the nWo. This would have allowed the fans to create rally behind another win streak as Goldberg blazed through every nWo member. Then have the big PAYOFF match at a PPV with Goldberg winning the title. However, since I never regularly watched WCW I don't know what the fuck they did after the finger poke of death. Last thing I heard was of Sid snapping his leg and then the WWF buying WCW.

They did have another Goldberg win streak, but it was killed off by Luger and Bagwell at Sin.

[Aussie Skier]

ok, i'm afraid to ask

but, what is the finger pok of death?

[Lara Emily]

Originally Posted by Aussie_Skier ok, i'm afraid to ask but, what is the finger pok of death?

Nash showed up the next night on Nitro and Hogan challenged him for the title. With the two of the, being the rival leaders of the two nWo factions, it seemed like it was going to be an intense match. It got built up over the entire show. FInally the match begins they get into each other's face, Hogan then pokes Nash in the chest and Nash drops to the mat selling it as if he just got whacked with a chair: 1,2,3, Hogan new champ. He spray paints the title in red nwo letters and thus begins the era of the Hogan led Wolfpac.

[Aussie Skier]

Originally Posted by Lara Emily Nash showed up the next night on Nitro and Hogan challenged him for the title. With the two of the, being the rival leaders of the two nWo factions, it seemed like it was going to be an intense match. It got built up over the entire show. FInally the match begins they get into each other's face, Hogan then pokes Nash in the chest and Nash drops to the mat selling it as if he just got whacked with a chair: 1,2,3, Hogan new champ. He spray paints the title in red nwo letters and thus begins the era of the Hogan led Wolfpac.

OMG...WTF!!!

WCW

i'm happy they're out of business.
so basically, the whole point of goldberg's winning streak coming to an end was...so a 50 year old could hold the title...at the expense of guys like jericho, mysterio, benoit, malenko etc...

[Fox]

Originally Posted by Loose Cannon Mr. Sunday Night Heat: Trust me, that was the WORST...AS IN DUMBEST MOVE they could of done with Goldberg when they had him beat. It cost the company a lot. Talk to anyone or find interviews from anyone working in WCW at that time and they'll tell you how much of a fuck up that was. Bobby Heenan will tell you that move cost hundreds of people thier jobs at WCW.

Mr. Sunday Night Heat... how clever.

You tell me it was a stupid move, but you don't tell me why. Why?

Originally Posted by Lara Emily Nash showed up the next night on Nitro and Hogan challenged him for the title. With the two of the, being the rival leaders of the two nWo factions, it seemed like it was going to be an intense match. It got built up over the entire show. FInally the match begins they get into each other's face, Hogan then pokes Nash in the chest and Nash drops to the mat selling it as if he just got whacked with a chair: 1,2,3, Hogan new champ. He spray paints the title in red nwo letters and thus begins the era of the Hogan led Wolfpac.

Well, the night after Starrcade Nash said he didn't appreciate Hall helpinghim so he was going to have a rematch next week. The next week Goldberg enters the arena and he's arrested because Miss Elizibethclaimed Goldberg assaulted her or something.

Anyway here's the results:

http://ddtdigest.com/updates/1999011m.htm

[Nowhere Man]

Originally Posted by Mr Sunday Night You tell me it was a stupid move, but you don't tell me why. Why?

Actually, he did tell you why. Because it cost the company good money and turned off a lot of fans from WCW forever. But if you want the specifics of it, I'll try to break it down a little bit.

Ever since the wake of Starrcade '97 (as in, the week after where Sting lost the title), it became painfully obvious to everyone that WCW was a lost cause, because there was no one who could counter the nWo in general, Hogan in particular. The fans were sick of it; they had seen the nWo walk all over the good guys for the last two years, and when the biggest star left on WCW's side finally took out Hogan and won the Title, he was almost immediately made out to look like a total loser afterwards. nWo beats WCW, again. Yawn. It got to the point where the only way to make people care about beating the nWo was with another nWo. And who better to lead this group against Hogan and his massive ego and politicking than Kevin Nash (who does the same things)?

But in the middle of that, Goldberg came along. The winning streak, the unintelligble screaming/growling, the doomsday-sounding theme music, just the whole persona of this monster who comes out and obliterates everyone in his way; it got over fast, and huge. This was the only guy left on the WCW roster who could even come close to the nWo's (especially once Sting joined the Wolfpac). After beating Hogan, it looked like Goldberg had finally succeeded where the Giant, Ric Flair, DDP, Sting, etc. had all failed before him: WCW had beaten the nWo.

So, of course, when it was time for his streak to end, it was only natural for him to drop it to an nWo member, whether it was black and white or black and red. And when the united nWo's humiliated him the very next night, it was clear once and for all: WCW loses. No hell-bent Goldberg demanding a rematch, no final revenge on Hogan, no nothing. Just nWo-beats-WCW again. After that, there was nobody who was over enough to provide a strong counter to the nWo, and that's just the way they wanted it. No matter what, Hogan and Nash were the stars of the show. And by that time, the people were damned tired of seeing Hogan and Nash.

Also, it didn't help that the 'finger-poke-of-doom' incident occurred the same night Mankind won the WWF Title from the Rock and Tony Schiavone pointed it out during Nitro. The combination of WCW's incompetent booking with WWF's superior title match the same night caused a lot of long-time Nitro viewers to switch over to Vince's show and never look back. I know it did for me.

[KayfabeMan]

I think Goldberg should have continued his winning streak at that point, and lost it to someone else that WCW could have banked on (Hart or someone similar). They went to Hart / Goldberg anyway, and excluding Bret's injury and the time off after Owen's death - Bret could've easily made money for WCW.

His whole situation in entering the company was as screwed up as having Nash beat Goldberg, and ending the streak where he was at at the time. When you have a guy come along and defeat everyone on the roster (almost literally) when he loses it has to be to someone who needs the rub. Now - Bret didn't need the rub that much, but being new to WCW it would have helped tremendously for him to win the Title and be the guy to end Goldberg's streak.

That's just my opinion.

[Loose Cannon]

LOL, I didn't mean to call you "Mr. Sunday Night Heat." I swear to god. It just was a reaction. My bad

Anyway, Nowhere Man said it.

Look, Goldberg was the probably the only guy in the company who was still a draw. That means that fans paid to see him WIN. KEY WORD: WIN. When he was made to look like a complete loser on two consecutive nights, fans said: "Well I guess Goldberg really is nothing special anymore." BAM. Goodbye fans. Goodbye buyrates. Goodbye money. Goodbye WCW superstars drawing anymore.

[Loose Cannon]

And I just read Kayfabe Man's post and he hit in on the head also. When it was time for Goldberg to lose, you put over somebody who needs a good rub and who fans like. Benoit, Jericho, Booker would be examples.