Ring Crew Reviews: Goldberg’s Career Retrospective, Part II: 1999

• Ladder Taser Match: Scott Hall vs. Goldberg. Souled Out 99. Hall of course hit Goldberg with the stun gun back at Starrcade and helped Nash win the belt. Some interesting backstory into this match was how good was Hall at ladder matches (without HBK) and could he carry Goldberg. Everyone knows he had two classics with Shawn Michaels but WWE liked to craft a narrative, especially after Nash and Hall left, that HBK wrestled himself in those matches.

• Hall comes out holding a taser to taunt. Buffer calls him a “founding member of n.W.o. Wolfpac” which I don’t think is accurate, but I suppose it depends on which Wolfpac you’re talking about. Hall gets the stick. HEY YO! He’s got some good news and bad news. The good news is everyone got to get a glimpse of Hall himself. Hall then says he “ended Goldberg’s streak” and that Goldberg wet his pants when he found out he had to fight Hall. Goldberg then slipped in it and now has a phantom knee injury and he’s not wrestling. Hall demands a countout victory and as soon as he says that Goldberg’s music hits and he comes out wearing a brace and he’s LIMPING! SELLING BEFORE THE MATCH STARTS!

• WE’RE UNDERWAY! Hall awesomely mocks the limp. Tenay has either really lost his mind from trying to call so many arm drags in lucha or he just doesn’t care anymore because he decides this is the scoop of the century: “Did you notice what I did? As Goldberg made his way to the ring, it looked like he was favoring that left knee. I’m convinced he’s not at 100% for this match!” Hall just cut a damn promo about it and Goldberg is wearing 20 lbs of plastic, foam, straps, and flexible fiberglass or (STEEL if you’re Michael Cole) and yet Tenay feels like he just discovered the location of Jimmy Hoffa’s grave. Awesome. Hall shoves to start and Goldberg no sells and shoves him off his feet. Goldberg wins the lock up with one leg which is pretty ridiculous but there ya go. Hall grabs a headlock and tries a shoulderblock but Goldberg stands stiff. Hall does his eyepoke gambit and some shoulder surges before Goldberg no sells and clotheslines him down. The crowd isn’t exactly popping for this like usual because they know it’s a ladder match and has to go a while. Goldberg clocks a slam and instead takes Hall down with one and on that Goldberg staggers with the leg a bit. Heenan says he should have worn two braces that way Hall wouldn’t have known which leg was bad. Schiavone one-ups him by saying that the n.W.o. Are the ones who attacked him earlier, of course they know which leg is bad. Goldberg with a powerslam and still favors the leg. Hall now clips the leg and goes to work on it. Hall rams it across the apron and then wraps it around the ringpost. Hall gets a ladder but Goldberg waffles him from behind. Hall tries to do something and it turns into a shitty Spear onto the ladder. Goldberg improvises by sending him into the guardrail a few times. Goldberg tries to bring the ladder in but Hall baseball slides it back into Goldberg and sends him into the stairs. Goldberg blades on that. Schiavone: “Remember to win the match, you get the taser and YOU USE IT!” Hall continues to boot him around as Tenay sells the crowd silence as shock as this stunning turn or events. Hall climbs up and drops an elbow halfway off the top. Hall boots him down more and tries to climb out. Goldberg pulls him off with a back suplex. Hall gets the ladder and rams him in the gut and across the back. Hall tries to climb but Goldberg shoves it over and Hall eats rope on the way down. Hall up first again due to Goldberg’s knee. Hall tries to ride the ladder into his knee but Goldberg dodges and clotheslines him down. That was nifty. Hall up first AGAIN. Hall’s constant up first recoveries are a bit much. He sets the ladder up in the corner, but Goldberg whips him into it. The ladder then falls on Hall as well. Goldberg now gives Hall a couple ladder shots and one to the face as well. Goldberg then gives him the brutal ladder shot to the gut to the grounded Hall. Goldberg tries to climb but Hall DROPSKICKS HIM IN THE LEG! GOLDBERG SELLS THE LEG! Hall tries to climb as he and Goldberg have a chat about the next spot. Goldberg shoves the ladder over but Hall comes up short on the crotch spot and eats a nasty bump into the ropes. Goldberg climbs but THE DISCO INFERNO HAS COME OUT! He knocks Goldberg off and helps Hall up. Hall climbs up and gets the taser. Goldberg dodges and holds Hall and gives him the career killer. Goldberg scrambles for the taser and then blasts Disco with it to a big pop. Hall begs off as they milk it a bit too long. Goldberg teases him by tossing it into the air but it’s only a set up for a Spear, Jackhammer, and now a Taser shot wins it at 17:40. Unfortunately, right before that, there was a mysterious cut-away to the entrance to completely telegraph Bam Bam’s post-match run in. Hall grabs the taser and shocks both as the PPV goes off the air to almost completely negate the match itself.

• Some decent Goldberg selling and the gimmick elevate this above the usual for Goldberg. I wouldn’t call Hall a miracle worker or anything in this because Goldberg’s had better matches, but Hall was directing traffic and put together a solid one. ***1/4

• Triangle Match: Scott Hall vs. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Goldberg. 01/18/99. This is the night after Souled Out. Hall has Disco with him and Schiavone either refers to him as Hall’s “boob job” or “screw job.” I can’t make it out. Hall has said taser with him. You see, someone thought it would be a good idea to just blow the whole thing off on TV and have Hall continue to carry around the same gimmick to get heat even though he LOST the match last night. It’s almost like the PPV and the last match never happened. For those caring, Goldberg’s knee injury and brace and all that are gone as well. Goldberg scares Hall and Disco into the aisle only for Bam Bam to attack them from behind with no music. Bigelow slides Hall in and he and Goldberg pound Hall around due to the mutual tasing. Goldberg with an STO and Goldberg clotheslines Hall down. 3B punches Hall out of the ring and then tries to take on Goldberg. Goldberg with a back elbow and a fierce big boot. He covers but Hall breaks it up. Hall and 3B now try to corner Goldberg. Goldberg instead stacks them up in the corner and hits a DOUBLE SPEAR! Goldberg wants a Jackhammer on 3B but Hall breaks it up. Hall tries a suplex but that of course gets countered into a Jackhammer. But WAIT! BRYAN ADAMS HAS COME OUT! He breaks up the pin. Here comes Curt Hennig and the B-Team. Goldberg clears the ring so they can go collect their paycheck. Now, the heavy hitters of Luger and Nash are out and here comes Hogan as well. Flair and the Horsemen come in to run off Hall and Scott Steiner. Arn’s got a time iron and they help Goldberg clear the ring. Most of the n.W.o hierarchy escape to the parking lot and hop in a limo. Flair chases the limo away as the bell FINALLY rings for the n.W.o finish at 4:21. Seriously, there was at least 15 guys out there other then the people in the match and they couldn’t be bothered to ring for a DQ until after the brawl was over. The brawl was entertaining at least. *

• Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Goldberg. Superbrawl IX. Schiavone on Goldberg’s intensity: “It continues to rise to the point to where he comes out and he almost explodes. You can see it, facially.” Poor choice of words, Tony. Crowd chants for Goldberg as they go head to head to psych up. Lock up goes nowhere as they try to out troll yell each other. Another lock up takes them into the corner. Bam Bam with rights hands off the break up and shoulderblocks Goldberg down. Goldberg no sells and catches him in a World’s Strongest Slam. 3B takes a breather to regroup. Back in, Bam Bam sends him off but eats a flying shoulder block from Goldberg. Goldberg fireman’s carries him into an armbar but Bam Bam gets the ropes. Goldberg whiffs on a Watts dropkick, so he covers by clotheslining Bam Bam to the floor. 3B trips him up and gives him a few low blows and then works the legs across the apron. Bigelow with an elbow across the knee and works over the leg some more on the floor. Back in, 3B decides to go BACK to the leg that Hall and the n.W.o injured at the last PPV but no one on the crew seems to remember. Bigelow works the leg grapevine and drops a few elbows. Goldberg sells and spits on the mat in exhaustion as the crowd gets a bit restless. Goldberg goes for some kinda choke and that gets Bigelow to break the hold. 3B with some falling headbutts and goes to a chinlock. Goldberg tries elbowing free so Bigelow clips the leg again. BACKTOTHECHINLOCK! Goldberg counters with a back suplex. Bigelow up first with scoop slam and hits the headbutt off the top but only for 2. Bigelow wants a moonsault but Goldberg knocks him off. Goldberg sets up the Spear but 3B rolls to the floor. Back in, Bam Bam tries a whip and gets Speared anyway. Goldberg wants the Jackhammer but decides to hit him with the Career Killer, Spear him again. Jackhammer ends it at 11:15. Well, it’s clear that after the loss to Nash, they tried to evolve Goldberg’s match style so that at least the heels could get in a semblance of heat. This was OK enough though it’s worth noting that because Goldberg lays around a lot of the match and takes heat, the matches are much more about his opponents than they were before. Still, decent enough. **

• Scott Steiner vs. Goldberg. 02/22/99. Steiner is TV champ and he threatened to put Goldberg in the hospital so you get this Nitro match. Steiner has Buff with him. They get the stick and say they’ve searched high and low but Goldberg is nowhere to be found. Steiner starts calling out some fans. Steiner: “JUST LIKE W-SUCK-uh—WCW, YOU’RE ALL SCARED!” That brings out Goldberg who Buffer says is on an 18 match win streak since his loss to Nash. Steiner talks trash and puts his finger in Goldberg’s face. Goldberg shoves him and Steiner just takes it. Lockup takes them into the corner. Steiner with some rights and CLUBBINGBLOWS but Goldberg no sells. Steiner sends him into the turnbuckle but Goldberg no sells again and Steiner begs off. Steiner sends him into the corner but Goldberg gets the boot up and goes into the GnP. Goldberg with the BEAST GORILLA PRESS SLAM FOR REPS ON SCOTTY AS WE TAKE A COMMERCIAL! Back, Steiner begs off and wants a time out. Buff grabs Goldberg from behind and Goldberg races to the floor to chase him around and the place LOSES IT! Steiner of course cuts him off on the floor and sends him into the guardrail and the ring steps. Back in, Steiner with the BLATANTLOWBLOW punt. He poses and punches Goldberg more. They botch a fucking whip as Steiner doesn’t bring him back far enough and instead chokes him between the second and third ropes. ANYWAY, they fix it and Steiner clotheslines him down. Steiner kisses the elbow drop for 2. Steiner with a belly to belly complex and poses some more. HUH?! Buff removes the turnbuckle pad and waffles the ref. Goldberg reverses a whip and sends Steiner into it instead. Goldberg Spears Buff and the place goes wild. Buff and Scott try to take a walk but RICK STEINER HAS COME OUT! Rick takes them out but the n.W.o. B-Team is out and the ref calls for the bell at 4:53. Crowd was into it while it lasted but that was more because of how many times Scott and Buff were able to avoid ANY kind of retribution from faces. *

• Texas Tornado Four Way for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Hollywood Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg vs. Ric Flair (c). 04/05/99. Nash joining on commentary. Flair is a heel, Hogan is a face, DDP is face and Goldberg is face. Hogan goes right for Flair as Goldberg and DDP tumble to the floor in the lock up. Hogan backdrops Flair down and clotheslines him around like it’s 1992 and he’s determined to make him look like a chump even while winning the WWF title. Flair goes to the chops and Hogan no sells. DDP sends Goldberg into the stairs as Hogan is already Hulking up. Big Boot on Flair and he hits the Atomic Leg Drop of Doom but the camera misses it. DDP breaks up the pin anyway. DDP chokes Hogan now and hits a vertical suplex. Flair now tries to chop Goldberg and he takes his turn no selling and press slamming Flair back in. Hogan hits the fucking big boot on DDP as he seeks to squash half the match in the first minute. Flair attacks him from behind to end that nonsense. Hogan now pulls Goldberg to the floor and sends him into the guardrail. Flair flips off a whip and DDP clotheslines him on the apron. DDP hits the Diamond Cutter on Flair but Goldberg breaks that up. Hogan back in tries to gouge Flair’s eye but Flair gouges his instead. Flair heads up top and Hogan no sells and slams him off. Flair is getting trounced and made to look like a joke. Hogan, as a face, takes off the weight belt and lashes Flair with it a few times and scares off the ref. Hogan now chokes him with the weightbelt. Flair with a BLATANTLOWBLOW in front of the ref as the crowd chants for Sting. Flair now chops DDP in the corner as Hogan attacks Goldberg from behind. Hogan tries that karate shit on Goldberg and then clotheslines him down. Goldberg kicks out at 2. Hogan and Goldberg now go through a SMALL PACKAGE REVERSAL SEQUENCE! I have officially SEEN IT ALL! Flair with the Figure Four on DDP and of course that gets broken up. Goldberg press slams Flair into a Bulldog powerslam as Hogan shitcans DDP. Flair begs off only to poke Goldberg in the eye. Flair powders out and gets a chair. Goldberg and Hogan slug it out and Goldberg wins that one. DDP trips up Flair and tries to low blow him on the ringpost. Flair kicks him away but still loses the interaction as Hogan and Goldberg circle. You’d THINK they’d have a lot of crowd juice for that confrontation since one of the first times they have ever been alone together in a ring since the Georgia Dome title switch but not so much. The crowd has just been shocked and awed into apathy. Goldberg works an arm triangle on Hogan as DDP chokes Flair. Hogan with a back suplex on Goldberg for 2. Flair has gotten in three moves all match and two of them were eye pokes and the third was a low blow. They all brawl into the announce table as the crew bails, except for Nash. DDP with a vertical suplex on Goldberg for 2. Hogan chops Flair around like it’s 1994 and he just signed the sweetheart deal of all time with Ted Turner to make Flair his bitch for the rest of the year. Goldberg with a powerslam on DDP and covers for 2. Hogan waffles Goldberg from behind as DDP tosses Flair to the floor for more punishment. DDP slams him into the ring post. If anyone were keeping track of the ringside brawling on camera, they’d realize that Flair has taken more heat than Frankie Williams, famously of Columbus, Ohio did in his entire career. Hogan clotheslines Goldberg down but he no sells. Goldberg with the Career Killer on Hogan. DDP clotheslines Goldberg down. Goldberg comes back with a Jackhammer but Hogan breaks it up. Flair in and clips Hogan’s knee and finally gets in some offense. Goldberg Spears DDP and Flair and Hogan to complete the trifecta. Hogan kicks out of a Spear at 2. Only time I ever remember that happening. Goldberg Jackhammers Hogan and Hogan KICKS OUT OF IT! Er, well, yeah that’s technically true but only because Nash was too slow blowing the spot to break up the pin, therefore Hogan had to shit on Goldberg’s finisher that way. Anyway, Charles Robinson calls for the bell as Sting descends for the rafters at 11:00. Sting’s got a bat and points ominously around the arena and to the video monitors. We then get a video package announcing another 4-Way except with Sting instead of Goldberg and with Macho as special guest ref at the PPV.

• What a mess this was. It was three guys getting in their stuff and Flair selling or put another way it was FOUR guys getting in their stuff, it just so happens that one guy’s stuff is almost all comedy heel spots in between getting his ass kicked. Too much ego, not enough story, even for a Nitro main event. *1/4

• Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg. Spring Stampede 99. This is of course Goldberg’s revenge match. Nash has Luger and Miss Elizabeth with him. Nash despite laying down for Hogan and re-turning heel back in January is back to being a tweener leaning face. Schiavone rambles on for a while about an Entertainment Weekly cover story on pro wrestling and how it was “in” at the time. Brain tries to explain why wrestling was over: “They don’t allow run-ins in golf and they don’t let their fans cheer at bowling.”

• Nash, a master of stalling, waits for the bell to ring and THEN gets the stick to cut a promo. Well, the stick wasn’t plugged in to the PPV audio so I can’t hear any of it. Crowd is LIVELY at the beginning. Lockup goes into the corner so Nash can get some hip checks. Schiavone wants to show off his anatomy knowledge: “Drives the knees to the solar plexus, to the pectoralis major, to the chest, TO THE STERNUM!” SHADES OF MONSOON! Goldberg sells for the hip checks more than he did the entire first 6 months of his career. Nash chokes in the corner and hits the Director’s Cut elbow and tells Goldberg to suck it. Nash goes back to the choke. This is slow as shit. Miss Elizabeth gets on the apron so Nash can low blow Goldberg and yet the crowd doesn’t really care. Nash with a short arm clothesline for 2. We’re 5 minutes in and Goldberg has hit NOTHING. Nash sends him across and Goldberg stumbles out for the sideslam but Nash whiffs so they do it again. Nash covers for 2. Nash with a Bossman attack and Goldberg is toast. Nash and Goldberg must have had one of those “pep talks” – booker to worker – about how to do business that did Goldberg so much good (exhibit A, his non-feud with Jericho that went nowhere because of who Goldberg was listening to) because someone clearly got in Goldberg’s ear about selling Nash’s stuff big time. Goldberg avoids a big boot and hits a flying shoulderblock. Goldberg with a vertical suplex and goes to the rights to the body. Goldberg hits the Career Killer. He wants the Spear but Nash leap frogs him(!) and Goldberg takes out the ref. CAT-LIKE QUICKNESS BY THE BIG MAN! Luger waffles Goldberg with a chair. Nash drops the straps and wants the Jackknife but Goldberg gives him a low blow. Schiavone: “Nash for the Jack– uh oh… JACK THIS!” Goldberg then with the testicular claw. Luger in and Goldberg swats him down. Goldberg Spears Nash and follows it up with the Jackhammer. Goldberg takes it at 7:54.

• Strange match. Nash dominates and then Goldberg wins what would seem to be a declarative victory but it feels half-assed. It’s the first match I ever remember Goldberg having to “cheat” via low blow to beat someone else, even with all the odds stacked against him. What happened with Goldberg post-streak is similar to what happened to Sting post-Starrcade 97: yes he won a lot but it was almost irrelevant because of HOW he won and how little follow up to the victories there was. Case in point, the following month, Nash as a face would win the world title from DDP. Then he would hot potato it to Macho a couple months later only for Hogan to take it and then Nash still as a face mind you, would take on Hogan (also face) in one of those epic clashes for the ages that drew nothing at Road Wild. All the while, Goldberg stayed firmly entrenched in mid card, upper mid card feuds over nothing. *

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page (c). 04/19/99. So DDP won the belt and then turned heel at the other four way at Spring Stampede and well Goldberg wanted a shot and DDP was too much of a hothead to turn him down. They talk smack and then shove the ref away so they can go face to face. Goldberg shoves DDP into the corner a couple times and on the third, DDP slides under with a nice armdrag. DDP grabs a headlock and gets sent off and then bumps like hell off a shoulderblock and careens out of the ring. Man, these two have some great chemistry together obviously given then HH match and it’s just a shame this is another free TV tease that went nowhere. DDP goes to the surges and wants the Diamond Cutter but Goldberg shoves him out of the ring. More unbelievable bumping from DDP on just a casual shove by Goldberg. DDP rolls through a wristlock and grabs a headlock. Goldberg counters out with an armdrag so DDP TRIPS HIM AND COVERS FOR 1! FEEL THE CATCH AS CATCH CAN BREWING! Goldberg fireman’s carries him over into the armbar but DDP gets the ropes. DDP gets sent off as they botch a shoulderblock and then re-do it. DDP wants another so Goldberg Spears him. Goldberg moves in for the kill but DDP pulls him into the turnbuckle to counter. DDP with a swinging neckbreaker for 2. DDP sends him into the turnbuckle and hits a belly to belly suplex for 2. DDP hooks him in a front facelock to slow things down. Crowd chants for Goldberg as he punches his way free and catches DDP in that half nelson suplex for 2. Goldberg with a side slam and TROLL YELL! DDP cuts him off with a back elbow and WANTS THE DIAMOND CUTTER! Goldberg shoves him away and hits a Bulldog powerslam. Another nice little touch by DDP to try and cut him off only to bump like hell again. Cover gets 2. Goldberg sends him off but DDP comes back with a FLYING HEADSCISSORS! DDP with a big boot and a Cactus clothesline takes them over the top. Back in, DDP with a flying clothesline off the top for another 2 count. Goldberg comes back with a jawbreaker. Goldberg catches the boot and spins him around so DDP can try the DISCUS LARIATO! But Goldberg ducks and a Career Killer sends Page into the corner. Nice chain stuff there. Goldberg wants the Spear and Page just stands there waiting. But Goldberg isn’t falling for it this time like he did at Havoc. This is NICE stuff. DDP though plays more possum and suckers him in again and DDP uses the ropes to lunge out of the way and Goldberg eats turnbuckle on the Spear attempt. DDP now hits the DIAMOND CUTTER! He covers but Goldberg POWERS OUT AT 2! DDP bumps the ref and gets the loaded knucks. Goldberg wants the Spear but DDP pulls the ref in the way so Goldberg plows through both. Goldberg suplexes DDP from the apron and turns it into a JACKHAMMER! HE COVERS… but the ref is out. NO! Page waffles Goldberg with the knucks and then boots him to the floor. More shots with the knucks from DDP. He brings the steps over and then gives a few chairshots on Goldberg’s leg on the stairs. DDP to the fans: “BOO ME NOW!” They do so he gives Goldberg MORE chairshots on the leg to punish them! YES! Another ref comes out and DDP throws him into the guardrail. DDP now goes to give Goldberg the RING POST FIGURE FOUR! NOOOOO! BUT KEVIN NASH HAS COME OUT! He saves Goldberg only to get waffled by DDP with the belt as well. DDP poses with the belt and shouts, “SUCK ON THIS JACKOFF!” to the crowd and he loves to a swarm of boos as Goldberg sells the leg and is unable to get revenge. No bell but we’ll call it a no contest at 11:07.

• This match is a minor work of art. DDP is such an underrated performer and quite the magician when it comes to working with Goldberg’s limited but very effective skill set. The only negative of this is that it was part of a underreported and underconsidered trend that lead to Goldberg losing some overness with the fans. WCW used Goldberg too much as a championship decoy on many a Nitro after the streak was over. He’d dominate the match but never win the belt like Joe in TNA or like Giant in WCW or whoever. Obviously, he can’t win every world title match but they shouldn’t have booked him in a million if it was just always going to come off as a 5 minute tease to spike the overrun when it hurts his credibility as a challenger. The beauty of the match against Hogan was that it was his first championship match and his biggest match of his career and the streak was on the line and n.W.o Hogan had been notorious for squirming out of stuff like that, but on that night there was no bait and switches to swerve people or get their hopes up. Everything that should have happened went exactly according to plan on that night; it’s just a shame it didn’t happen more. By the way, if you’re going to have a competitive championship match, tease a title change, only to have a screwjob to protect the champ on free TV, this is how you do it. ****

• No Disqualification, Fatal Four Way for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg vs. Sting (c). 04/26/99. A week after the above match, DDP would take on Sting for the belt and lose it. For some reason, WCW would then book this 4-way the same night as the Sting title change. Tony says Nash is in the match because he re-turned face AGAIN by helping Goldberg when he was attacked last week by DDP although of course there’s no explanation for why Nash re-turned but he’s bookerman so go with it. Nash went from heel to face to heel to face within 6 months. We’re JIP as Goldberg and Sting pound down Nash in the corner. DDP pulls the Raven/Jake the Snake routine of letting the others do his dirty work. Now, Nash and Sting team up on Goldberg. He pounds them away rather awkwardly as they can’t tell when to bump. Nash looks like he tears a damn quad flopping for one. Goldberg with a vertical suplex but Sting breaks up the cover. Nash continues to lay around selling his leg as Goldberg hits a Bulldog powerslam on Sting for 2. Goldberg preps a Spear but DDP jumps him from behind with a swinging neckbreaker. Nash breaks up that cover. Sting tries to attack DDP but Nash wants him. Goldberg now with his swinging neckbreaker on DDP. Sting hits a series of rights and Stinger Splashes on all of them. Nash waffles him from behind and then hits a big boot on Goldberg and DDP and another on Sting. Nash wants the Jackknife but Goldberg breaks it up. Goldberg goes to a BLATANTCHOKE on DDP and dumps him. DDP chokes Goldberg from the apron as Sting mounts Nash in the corner. Goldberg with some headbutts on DDP and a World’s Strongest Slam. Nash now covers DDP for 2. Sting with a Stinger Splash on Goldberg. Nash covers him but Sting breaks it up. Nash with a side slam for 2. DDP goes for the Discus clothesline but Goldberg ducks and gives him the Career Killer. They all fight for various implausible covers for 2. Nash chokes Sting in the corner. Sting ducks as Nash comically goes for the slowest big boot ever and then crotches himself on the top turnbuckle. Sting wants the Scorpion Deathlock. Goldberg Spears DDP and then Sting to pops. Goldberg with the Jackhammer but MACHO MAN HAS COME OUT! HE BREAKS UP THE PIN! Macho clotheslines him to the floor and tosses the brass knucks to DDP. DDP waffles Nash and hits him with a Diamond Cutter to regain the belt about an hour later at 7:46. This match somehow managed to be worse than the one from a few weeks before, because DDP switched from playing DDP to playing Flair and that left no one to sell. At least in that other match, someone was selling and trying to get the match over. 3/4*

• Sting vs. Goldberg. Slamboree 99. This was a feud over who was WCW’s “franchise” when they as a promotion tried to clumsily steal the nickname Shane Douglas had been using for a while. Goldberg beats Nash after low blows, interference and a chair shot. Goldberg gets Sting for a nickname and Nash gets DDP for the belt. They go eye to eye to start. Sting is wearing some white boots with his normal black attire now that he’s out of the Wolfpac. Goldberg with a knee to start and sends Sting off. He tries a press slam but Sting looks to escape and whatever it is, they botch it. Sting’s awesome and was off his feet, so I’m blaming Goldberg. Sure enough, they go to do it again and Goldberg press slams him into a Bulldog powerslam. Goldberg then clotheslines him to the floor and Sting regroups. Back in, Sting ducks a boot and dropkicks Goldberg down to a POP. Sting then clotheslines him over the top and now he takes a breather. Back in, Goldberg blocks a hiptoss and takes Sting down into an armbar but he gets the ropes. Sting wants a test of strength in one of the more stupid decisions he’s ever made other than trusting Luger or trusting Flair or trusting Hogan those 9 million times he was double-crossed. Anyway, Sting says fuck that and hits a facebuster. He sends Goldberg off and clips the knee with the huge knee brace. Sting drops an elbow a couple times on it for good measure. Sting rolls him over into a Boston Crab but Goldberg powers out and Sting takes a breather. Sting kicks the leg in rather uninspired fashion and now goes to a… lying side headlock? Strange choice for a resthold at this point. Sting tries a vertical suplex and Goldberg no sells and suplexes him over instead for 2. Sting stands around and waits for Goldberg’s swinging neckbreaker for 2. Goldberg goes for the Spear but Sting avoids and Goldberg eats turnbuckle and the place loses it briefly. You’d think they’d never seen that spot before. Sting heads up top and hits a burrito. Sting with a Stinger Splash and hits another. He tries one more but Goldberg catches him in a SPEAR! NICE! BUT WAIT! BRET HART HAS COME OUT! Tenay wants to know what he’s doing here because he claims that Bret Hart “quit” which if you don’t know anything about that Bret’s book can shed some light (essentially it was a ruse concocted by Bischoff to work the smarts and some of the boys even that Bret was going to sign with WWF again). Anyway, Bret blasts Goldberg with the chair and starts working over the leg for the DQ at 8:23. Now, the Steiners come out to attack both for a reason I don’t remember. This was what it was but their timing and communication was shit for most of the match. Their Nitro encounter is much better. *1/2

• Goldberg vs. Rick Steiner. Road Wild 99. This is CnPed from my original review. This was set up by Rick setting up Goldberg in a couple of beatdowns with Sid’s help. Goldberg challenged him: “Steiner, bring your ASS to Sturgis and put it on the line!” So if Goldberg wins, he gets Rick’s ass which I’m assuming doesn’t mean Scott. Tony says this match has “all the makings of a classic.” Goldberg is coming out to that epically inferior Megadeath song. Crowd revs and then chants for Goldberg. Slugfest to start and Rick wins that one but Goldberg gets a clothesline to even the score. Goldberg tries another but Rick gets a back elbow which Goldberg no sells and gets up BEFORE Rick. Goldberg with a superkick out of the corner and Rick bails. Tenay says Goldberg has been really training his submissions lately which they were saying since he debuted but I digress. Rick back in shoves the ref into Goldberg and then gets a BLATANTLOWBLOW! Rick then takes the brace off Goldberg’s knee and waffles him with it. Rick puts it on his arm for the Jax effect and drops an elbow. That’s actually a good idea if he can do it without shitting on the whole match by doing it in front of the ref. Rick hits a clothesline with the brace and then goes into the Recliner using it. Ref counts to five and then pulls Rick away. Tony: “Mickey Jay very lenient with the rules and I suppose rightfully so. This is not an illegal object. This is not a so called ‘foreign’ object. It’s something Goldberg wore to the ring and it’s completely legal.” WHAT? WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT? That’s just… well yeah. Moving on, Rick continues waffling Goldberg with it and then flips off the crowd with both hands and on camera yells FUCK YOU! And then grabs his stuff to pantomime for the crowd and complete the 8th grade trashtalking trifecta because he’s about to lose his ass and wants to reassert his manhood. This sucks. Rick with a belly to belly for 2 and then more brace damage. Rick with a DDT for another 2. Goldberg blocks some shots and hits some rights and a press slam into a badass Bulldog powerslam. Goldberg hits the Spear and Rick actually jumps INTO it. Goldberg hits the Jackhammer and Rick is toast at 5:39. It’s a good thing they took the belt off him six months ago to free him up for midcard squashes. Pathetically lazy cheating by Steiner. If they’d gone ahead and made it No DQ or something at least he’d have an excuse but as is it’s just SO artless. 1/4*

• Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg. Fall Brawl 99. Alright, DDP is still a dick who goes around throwing up the vagina symbol. He lost the belt but gained two Jersey Shore pals to form the Triad. Goldberg is back to his regular theme after a couple months helping shill Megadeath. DDP cuts a pre-match promo talking about showing Goldberg who the boss is and making him feel the bang. Mickey Jay checks both guys and actually FINDS A CHAIN ON DDP! I LOVE IT! DDP shoves the ref and in the melee drops a roll of quarters. My Hero. DDP says fuck it and he’ll go it without the weapons. He tries to slug it out with Goldberg so Goldberg gives him a haymaker and DDP bumps out of the ring. Tenay: “So much for that strategy. Where do you go now that they’ve found the chain and the roll of quarters.” Brain: “Back to the hardware store.” Tony: “Not a bad point, maybe he’s got more than those two items on him.” Brain: “He weighed in tonight at over 800 lbs.” Back in, Goldberg grabs a headlock. DDP sends him off but Goldberg lays him out with a shoulderblock. DDP with some shoulder surges and tries a wristlock and Goldberg easily throws him down. DDP is LIVID. He talks smack to the front row and then a light bulb goes on and he says he’s got it and now knows how to take down Goldberg. Apparently, DDP’s plan was a lot like the first because Goldberg shakes off the headlock and then hits another shoulderblock and DDP again flies out of the ring like he’s Perfect. DDP regroups and gets the stick: “IF YOU DON’T SHUT THE HELL UP AND STOP CHANTING, ‘GOLDBERG,’ I’M OUTTA HERE!” DDP tries to take a walk through the fans now and Goldberg brings him back and tosses him over the guardrail. Back in, DDP tries some CLUBBINGBLOWS. He slides out of a slam attempt and wants the DiamondCutter but Goldberg shoves him away and catches him in a Bulldog powerslam. DDP recoups on the ropes and low blows Goldberg but the ref doesn’t see it, mainly because DDP also pokes the ref in the eyes. DDP pulls some knucks out of the tights and waffles Goldberg to major boos. He calls for the DiamondCutter again. Mickey Jay recovers but doesn’t DQ him and the announcers play it like he never knew what hit him. This is quite the display of offensive heel work from DDP. He goes to the BLATANTCHOKE and then preens for the fans WITH RELISH! More choking from DDP and then tells the fans to I Spy his vagina. DDP gouges the eyes as the fans chant for Goldberg. DDP claims he was hit in the eye and uses the ref distraction to waffle Goldberg again with the knucks. DDP drops an elbow for 2 and goes to the chinlock. DDP now goes to the feet on the ropes gambit but the ref doesn’t see it. They do the arm raise but because Goldberg isn’t Steamboat, he gets the arm up on 2. Goldberg Goldbergs up and big boots DDP into next week. DDP with the MAIVIA HURRICANE! He covers for 2. Goldberg with the half nelson suplex for 2. That brings out Bigelow and Kanyon from the Triad. Kanyon waffles Goldberg with a plate and DDP hits him with the uranage. Goldberg kicks out at 2 and DDP can’t believe it. He argues with the ref while the Triad storms the ring and then gets shoulderblocked by Goldberg. Goldberg Spears DDP and Jackhammer wins it at 9:04. Another solid outing if obviously the weakest of their bunch. What I find interesting in watching each of the three in close proximity is how DDP’s character had changed. In the first match, he was full face; by the second match, he was a nearly turned heel who still wanted to do it the right way before THEN resorting to heel tactics only at the 11th hour. In the third match, DDP is more evil and has abandoned all pretenses of doing it the right way to adopt a more telelogical approach to his matches. Anyway, to be such a blatant bastard and the match not drift into comic absurdity but instead walk that fine line between entertaining and joke on the right side is another credit to DDP. *** but keep your expectations in check.

• WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg vs. Sid Vicious (c). Halloween Havoc 99. This PPV is quite the mindfuck. This is either Russo and Ferrera’s first night with the company or the night BEFORE their first night with the company. Either way, everyone knew they were in-coming and it put a strange mood over the whole show. Alex Wright as Berlyn was squashed after having Hacksaw Jim Duggan of all people torpedo his push. Sting turned heel the previous month to beat a then face, red and yellow Hogan for the belt. At this PPV, Hogan would lay down for Sting in one of those crash TV, worked shoots. On top of that, you’ve got this match and one more we’ll get to in a bit.

• Sid was attacked earlier in the night and has a cut over his left eye. That will be relevant later. This was one of the only feuds WCW built well for Goldberg and had fans WANTING to see the match after the Streak was over. The other of course was with Scott Steiner. Maybe, Bam Bam Bigelow as well. Hall and Nash jump Goldberg in the aisle on his way to the ring. If only Goldberg had an army of local cops to protect him from such travesties happening. The Outsiders take him out with a big boot and some crotch chops. Sid comes out to join the party and send Goldberg into the guardrail several times. Goldberg fights back with rights as Sid decides to get a headstart and takes himself out by tumbling over the guardrail before Goldberg can shove him. Goldberg sends him into the stairs a few times as Brain calls them two of the biggest names in the history of the sport. Goldberg now begins to work the cut with a bunch of right hands. Sid’s cut is re-opened. He tries no selling and hitting some rights but Goldberg ignores them. Sid might have the worst punches in the history of the business. Sid goes to Sheamus’s serious of CLUBBING BLOWS to the chest and hits a big boot. Tony: “UNBELIEVEABLE!” Sid goes to the Camel Clutch and Mickey Jay doesn’t even notice that Goldberg is under the ropes. Sid: “RING THE DAMN BELL!” Goldberg no sells and stands up out of it with an Electric Chair for 2. Goldberg with a neck wrench and punches the cut some more. Tony and crew put over Sid’s heroism like he’s overcoming polio even though the cut isn’t that bad (yet). Goldberg clotheslines Sid down for 2. Sid’s got a crimson mask again but this is MAYBE 0.5 on the Muta Scale. Sid fights back but Goldberg trips him up and clotheslines down again. Sid no sells some more and goes to the eye gouge. SELL FOR ME! NO, FUCK YOU, YOU SELL FOR ME! I SELL FOR NO ONE! IT’S MY GIMMICK TO NO SELL! MINE TOO! Tony is really giving this the hard sell as the overcoming adversity story of all time. Sid finally goes down in a heap as the blood loss is too much and Mickey Jay has seen enough and declares Goldberg the winner at 7:12. The story, in theory at least, is good but the execution isn’t the best. It’s almost like they tried to do Bret-Austin WMXIII with Goldberg as Bret and Sid as Austin except without trying to turn either guy. Here is Sid as a heel and he’s trying like hell (not very gracefully but that’s irrelevant to the story) to fight back through the pain and the blood and yet he cheats and doesn’t turn face. Here is Goldberg as a face egging on the fans in their bloodlust and thrist for violence yet he plays the match fair and doesn’t become a bad guy in overexploiting the cut or using weapons. Also, the pre-match attack by the Outsiders is completely superfluous and just muddies the water further. *3/4 more for the blade job and avant-garde aspects to the match than for any quality wrestling.

• Goldberg vs. Sting. Halloween Havoc 99. That brings us to this. Hogan lays down for Sting, Goldberg beats Sid via ref’s decision. The PPV is OVER, yet Sting comes out and gets the stick. He says he didn’t come out to Las Vegas for a night off. Instead, he’s calling out the entire locker room to come take their shot with an open challenge. Goldberg decides to answer the call. Cleverly (see: bullshit copout), Sting never said the belt was on the line even though that was the implication. Brain plays up the possibility that Goldberg could hold the US and World belts at the same time forgetting that he DID THAT EXACT THING back in 98. Tony: “Sting and Goldberg. World Heavyweight Title.. [to someone off camera] IT’S NOT?! … It’s for no title? … [In disgust] Thanks for telling us.” It takes them a minute to get a ref out before Charles Robinson comes running out.

• Goldberg for some knees in the corner. They botch a whip reversal and collide, so Goldberg just clubs him into the ropes. Goldberg with more right hands and Sting takes a breather at 40 seconds in. Goldberg sends him into the announce table and then the guardrail. When did Goldberg become Jeff Jarrett? Sting suckers him in and sends him into the ringpost. Sting drops an elbow and heads up top. He hits a splash for 2. Sting Spears him but Goldberg no sells and gives him the Career Killer. Goldberg goes for the Spear but Sting moves and Goldberg eats turnbuckle. Sting with a couple Stinger Splashes and a third. Goldberg goes down in a heap. He no sells all of it and leap frogs a charging Sting and Spears him. Jackhammer and Goldberg takes it at 3:08. Post-match, Charles Robinson gives him the belt and the ring announcer says he’s the “NEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!” Brain and Tony have NO idea what the fuck he’s on about, so they try to roll with it. Your world champion loses clean in a few minutes in an unadvertised match to end a PPV and the guy that pins him isn’t even sure if he’s champ. Beautiful. Goldberg would end up NOT being champion because it wasn’t an officially sanctioned bout and Sting would then be stripped because he attacked Charles Robinson after the match (but more due to his heel turn taking a nose dive). ANYWAY, match is 3 minutes of nothing and the first 2 minutes of that aren’t even a Goldberg match but more like a Hogan special as a heel. DUD

• WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart vs. Goldberg (c). 10/25/99. So, after Goldberg essentially beat Sting for the belt and the thing was vacated, they set a tournament to declare a new champ. This is the next night after HH and is round one of the tournament. Bret has a worked ankle injury and is face. This is a good 6 months after the steel plate/spear incident in Toronto that was not followed up on. That one wasn’t WCW’s fault though; after Owen’s death, Bret understandably took some time off. Bret is majorly favoring the leg on the way to the ring.

• Lockup takes them into the corner but Goldberg gives a clean break. Goldberg with some knees to the gut and takes down Bret with a clothesline to mild boos. Goldberg with a press slam into a Bulldog powerslam and Bret can barely make it to his feet. They slug it out and Goldberg goes to the leg grapevine but Bret makes the ropes immediately. Bret takes a breather to get some feeling back in the legs. Goldberg works the leg with a whip and Bret tries to fight Goldberg off. Goldberg pulls him back down by the leg and Goldberg wants the ref to see if he wants to quit but in friendly concern for his health. Goldberg goes back to the leg grapevine. Bret won’t quit so Goldberg releases the hold and asks the ref to stop again. Mickey Jay: “Bret, I’m going to have to stop it.” Bret: “YOU’RE NOT STOPPING ANYTHING! OWWW!” Goldberg sends him across and Bret’s knee buckles and he can’t even run the ropes. Goldberg with a head of steam but Bret manages to get the good leg up to a pop! Bret goes for a sleeper but Goldberg rams him back into the corner to boos. Bret reapplies and Goldberg snapmares him over to counter but they take out the ref in the process. Goldberg clotheslines Bret to the floor. That brings out the Outsiders and Sid. The numbers game is too much as Goldberg gets taken down by a big boot. Nash hits him with a side slam and Sid powerbombs him and they leave. Bret slides back in unaware of the attack and drapes the arm for the 3 and Goldberg’s second ever loss at 7:55. Bret as always is the man because he was able to get people to legitimately feel sympathy for him despite Goldberg still being the alpha-male face of the promotion. Nice little match even if it’s all story and the ending is less than satisfying. **1/2

• Fatal Four Way Ladder Match for the WCW United States Championship: Sid Vicious vs. Scott Hall vs. Goldberg vs. Bret Hart (c). There’s a mystery guest ref that isn’t out there yet as Sid and Hall are out first and just start brawling. Bret not wanting to miss the party limps out as fast as he can with no music. Bret in and now he and Hall put the boots to Sid. Bret decides now to cooperate with Hall and Sid jumps him from behind. Goldberg now trots out with no music. Sid and Goldberg pair off as Hall and Bret fight. Sid goes to a shitty camel clutch as Bret hits a Russian leg sweep and a clothesline on Hall. MY GOODNESS, IT’S KEVIN NASH! Nash is the special guest ref. He’s bringing the ladder and is surrounded by riot cops. Goldberg gets the ladder and blasts Hall a couple times as Nash threatens to toss him. Tony practically interrupts the match for an announcement that he says he’s been waiting hours for: The “Powers That Be” have signed David Flair and Kimberly Page for the Mayhem PPV. Brain has lost it because he HAS to see that. He’s so anxious about the “weeks of mind games” that Flair will play on her. This is when even I began to check out on the promotion. Goldberg gives Sid a few ladder shots as Sid can’t decide if he wants to counterattack or brace himself to protect. Sid waffles Goldberg from behind and he goes down in a heap. Crowd chants for Goldberg as Sid tries to climb the ladder right in front of everyone. BUT WAIT! RICK STEINER HAS COME OUT! He’s not in the match but he’s looking for Sid. Sid sets up the ladder but Rick hits the top rope bulldog. Goldberg and Rick Steiner slug it out as Tony blames this all on Nash because he didn’t DQ whoever the hell he’s supposed to DQ. Bret climbs the ladder and grabs the belt but Nash waffles him from behind with a bat. OH, THE TRAVESTY! Nash gives the belt to Hall and it’s over at 4:46. That’s the worst ladder match I’ve ever seen in a major promotion. As you can see, Goldberg as another title decoy, not much better treatment for Bret but he’s written a 1000 page tome all about that. This is around the time when even I couldn’t take it anymore. Even if most of 99 for WCW had a lot of problems, there was enough enjoyment for me at least to keep it going. There was a glimmer of hope when Russo was coming in (in hindsight that sounds ridiculous but it was true), but that was practically gone after a month. -**

• I Quit Match: Sid Vicious vs. Goldberg. Mayhem 99. This is a rematch from last month because Sid never quit even though he lost. Sid jumps him on the apron and sends him off but Goldberg comes back with a Bulldog powerslam. Sid no sells so Goldberg clotheslines him to the floor. Sid tries fighting back so Goldberg sends him into the guardrail. Back in, Sid kicks the ropes back into Goldberg for a low blow and Sid hits a Cobra Clutch slam. Sid clotheslines him down and goes to the BLATANTCHOKE! Sid with those wretched right hands and now chokes Goldberg with the boot. Goldberg with a head of steam but Sid catches him in the Chokeslam. Sid wants another and hits it. Back to the BLATANTCHOKE. Sid: ASK HIM! ASK HIM! Goldberg counters to the armbar to BOOS! That’s odd. Sid gets the ropes and Mickey Jay demands a break in an I Quit match no less. Goldberg with some short arm clotheslines and stays on the arm to chain them together. Again to boos. Sid is favoring the arm as Goldberg pounds him down. Goldberg hooks in a Cobra Clutch and combines it with a body triangle and Mickey Jay calls for the bell at 5:32?????? It’s a damn I QUIT MATCH! If you can’t get the gimmick right, don’t do it. They didn’t even use a mic to tease or draw out the drama. Fuck this match. -*

• No Disqualification Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg vs. Bret Hart (c). Starrcade 99. Bret beat Benoit in the finals of the tournament at Mayhem for the belt. Fresh off beating Sid, Bret decided to give Goldberg a chance at the belt. They then did the whole uncooperative tag champs gimmick because they won the belts and then the Outsiders played them against each other to win the belts back.

• They shake hands at the bell for a good, clean fight. Lockup takes them into the corner and we get a clean break. Another lockup and Goldberg throws him across the gym and Bret takes a breather. Back in, Bret grabs a side headlock with a takeover. It’s apparently the Cliff’s Notes version than the full Dickensian because Goldberg sends him off and takes him down with a shoulderblock. Goldberg sends him off and press slams him into a Bulldog powerslam. Brain wants Goldberg to finish him now. Bret tries reversing a whip so Goldberg just shoulderblocks him down. Goldberg with another clothesline. Goldberg rolls through into the kneebar but Bret gets to his feet and WANTS THE SHARPSHOOTER! Goldberg powers out and Bret rolls to the floor again. On the floor, Bret tries to send him into the guardrail and the ref gets bumped in the process at 3 minutes in. Goldberg sends Bret into the announce table and luckily there’s another ref at ringside for just such a special occasion. Goldberg drops him on the guardrail which is indicative of another trend. Sometime in the middle of 1999, Goldberg drifted slightly heel in his moveset and started incorporating the more lazy heelish tendencies of some of his counterparts including chokes, shots into the guardrail and ring steps – things you didn’t see at all his entire first year. Back in, Goldberg with a big boot and gets a half nelson suplex and that takes out Charlies Robinson in the process. Goldberg wants the Spear but Bret moves and Goldberg eats ringpost. The other ref has now recovered from the bump and he’s up as Bret smells the blood in the water. He IMMEDIATELY goes to the deadly RING POST FIGURE FOUR! Goldberg doesn’t quite catch him and Bret looks to legit knock himself out cranking it. Goldberg manages to mostly break the hold but he’s still selling it decently as Bret rolls around. Crowd chants for Goldberg as Bret drags him in to go to work on the knee and NOW WE GOT TO SCHOOL, DUNGEON STYLE! Bret wraps it around the ropes as he’s completely gone heel. Bret now applies the regular Figure Four as the crowd chants for Goldberg. Goldberg turns it over way too quick without milking the spot but anyway he counters and Bret gets the ropes. Goldberg punches Bret away but he comes back. Bret wraps it back around the ropes. Goldberg goozles him and goes to the gutshot. Goldberg shouts the ref away so Bret clips the knee and accidentally bumps the ref in the process. Goldberg sends him off and hits him with the original superkick Career Killer that gave Bret a concussion and changed the fate of modern wrestling. Bret gets up right into a Spear. ROWDY RODDY PIPER AS A REF HAS COME OUT! Bret clips Goldberg’s knee from behind and applies the Sharpshooter and Piper unenthusiastically calls for the bell at 12:11. Oh, great, another fucking Montreal clone. Bret’s shocked about the whole proceeding as Piper takes the belt and leaves with it. Bret chases him down in disgust before Piper hands over the belt and the show goes off the air. WE’RE OUTTA TIME! TUNE IN TO NITRO!

• Another weird dynamic with Bret and Goldberg both all over the place as faces and heels in terms of character, moveset, and story. It wasn’t great before that finish that would have killed Flair-Steamboat in the 59th minute of a classic, much less an underwhelming main event of your marquee show. *1/2