Would Goldberg vs Brock at WrestleManiaXX Really Work?

[Perfection]

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Would Brock vs. Goldberg work?

TSN.ca Staff
1/6/2004

After a two-week hiatus (hey, we TSN staffers need to have a holiday season too) of eating candy canes, turkey and latkas (not all of us celebrate Christmas), wrestling is back on the plate as we begin 2004.

And nothing will be more special this year than March 14, when New York's Madison Square Garden hosts WrestleMania XX.

With just three months until the 'Granddaddy of them All,' and three weeks until the annual Royal Rumble, fans can now begin speculating as to who will headline the 20th edition of this great event. Regardless of what result the Rumble may bring, it may have already been decided two months ago at the 2003 Survivor Series.

It wasn't anything that transpired in a match, but something that happened in a simple backstage interview. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar talked about his team's loss to Kurt Angle's squad, saying it wasn't his fault they lost the match (though he tapped out to a Chris Benoit crossface) and that he was –and still is - WWE Champion. The fans started chanting 'You Tapped Out' to anger Brock, but were interrupted by a cool and surreal moment that stood out for this little wrestling writer. World Champion and former WCW monstrosity Goldberg walked up and introduced himself as the RAW Champion. Both men shook hands and Goldberg asked if Brock was going to wish him luck for his title defence against Triple H. Lesnar just stared coldly as Goldberg walked away laughing.

Worlds collided that night. For me, that special wrestling crossover moment ranked up there with Vince McMahon showing up on RAW and Nitro in 2001 and Vinnie Mac hugging former WCW boss Eric Bischoff. Heck, throw in Freddy vs. Jason and The Flintstones meeting The Jetsons! There wasn't a more blatant tease for a main event at WrestleMania than what we saw in Dallas that night.

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar.  Mmmmmm.

But will it sell? Sure, Brock-Goldberg has all the sex appeal of a Brittany Spears-Madonna kiss at the MTV Video Music Awards (went a bit off-topic there, but wasn't that great?), but making this match work – at least for me – is a great mystery that ranks up there with the crop circles, spontaneous combustion and the Caramilk secret.

In terms of building a marquee, fans couldn't ask for a better dream match. At one end, you have the superstar who was arguably the biggest star in World Championship Wrestling. This is the man who once won 173 straight matches, squashed Hollywood Hulk Hogan to capture the World Championship, and embodied the last shred of credibility that WCW had in its final years. This was also the man that squashed the Rock in his WWE pay-per-view debut, and captured the World Title from Triple H just six months later.

Not too shabby for six years of work by a former nose guard out of Georgia.

At the other end of the ring, you have World Wrestling Entertainment's poster boy for home-grown talent. This is the monster who made his debut wiping out Maven, Al Snow and Spike Dudley in front of a stunned, but impressed crowd in Montreal (and impressing fickle Montreal fans is no easy task), destroyed Hulk Hogan in his very first singles match against the WWE legend, and squashed The Rock at SummerSlam to become the youngest WWE Champion in company history.

But despite their credentials, most fair-weather fans have had a great deal of difficulty making a distinction between the two superstars. Like Goldberg five years earlier, Brock's 2002 WWE debut was kick-started by along series of victories and relatively easy beatings. His shows of strength and skill certainly grabbed the spotlight with feuds against veterans like The Undertaker, Big Show, and Kurt Angle, but it didn't take long for people to chant “Goldberg, Goldberg,” in almost every arena.

From a promotional perspective, this is the chance for WWE and Brock to shake off any lingering comparisons there may be between himself and Goldberg. When you see these two go at it in the ring, the differences between the two behemoths will stand out louder than The Big Show in a cruiserweights-only Battle Royal. Lesnar has all the skills and technical know-how to sell a proper wrestling match, much more than his counterpart on RAW. That's not necessarily a knock on Goldberg, who was rushed through WCW's Power Plant and developed a knack for overpowering his opponents in 10-minute squashes. It's always been his style, and it has won fans over to the point that he doesn't have to change it anytime soon.

Therein lays the problem of booking this big match in the ring. Where Brock vs. Goldberg looks fantastic on a Madison Square Garden billboard, it falls a bit short in terms of promoting actual wrestling. In a column I wrote in November, I recklessly envisioned the possibility of Goldberg and Brock working 40 minutes in the main event, and the fans took me out to slaughter. I can't say I blamed you, as everyone (except me when I wrote it) knows that the former WCW superstar couldn't work longer than 15 to 20 minutes in a match if his life depended on it.

The same can't be said for Brock who, at 6-foot-4 and almost 300 pounds, can twist, bend and fly with the best of them. The big guy embodies speed, agility and discipline rarely seen for performers of his size, making him a rare individual in this business. That being said, can Brock go 15-20 minutes carrying Goldberg? Perhaps, but let's remember that this is WrestleMania XX. It's a good bet that more fans will be watching this event than any other in WWE history, and they aren't naive enough to buy into a 'one-man show' for a main event of this magnitude.

That leaves us to yet another challenge of booking a main event at WrestleMania - storytelling. There is nothing I hate more than a main event that is booked and built in just three or four weeks leading into the big night. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan in 2002 certainly comes to mind, as does 2003's Booker T vs. Triple H (Booker earned a title shot by winning a Battle Royal booked out of nowhere the night after No Way Out). The great part about a Goldberg-Brock match-up is that you already have all the necessary elements - non-fictional at that - in place for a great story to be told. From Goldberg's perspective, you could be simply looking at the veteran star that boasts that Brock has a ways to go before he reaches such a legendary status (somewhat justified, as fans give him a huge pop wherever he performs) as his own. From Brock's perspective, you could be looking at the antithesis of this story. The WWE Champion could make a great argument by ranting about the unfair - but real - Goldberg comparisons that fans have made about him. Imagine the sort of heat you could build as fans chant Goldberg, Goldberg instead of You tapped out?

The final piece of the storytelling puzzle would be the X-Factor: WrestleMania XIX. We all remembered Brock preparing for what was supposed to be the biggest athletic payoff of his career - The Shooting Star Press to defeat Kurt Angle for the WWE Title. But as we all know, Angle's body was positioned too far out and Brock lost his footing on the top rope to come down crashing on his neck. It was a scary moment for wrestling fans, as many wondered if Brock would ever pull it off again. With the exception of those who have seen him do this incredible move in OVW, no one has ever witnessed the giant hitting the Shooting Star Press under the mainstream spotlight. Therein is the payoff that could sell this match - whether or not Brock can do this eye-popping manoeuvre, and whether he can do it on a star like Goldberg.

But as well as these elements would contribute to the storytelling, there is one more challenge that rears its ugly head – the ending. If you were Vince McMahon and the writing team in WWE, who wins this high profile, once-in-a-lifetime match?

Knowing the amount of pride (and ego) that drives a promoter like McMahon, it's hard to believe that he's going to allow a former high-priced WCW star topple a talent that he has personally groomed and pushed out of the ground. (Remember Booker T last March?) Fair enough, especially if WrestleMania becomes Goldberg's swan song in a very short stint with WWE.

The problem, however, could lie with the fact that Brock is being pushed hard as a heel right now. Granted, heels have won main events at WrestleMania before, but it always leaves a bad taste in one's mouth, especially when the 'Granddaddy of them All' is supposed to be the wrap-up of almost every storyline for the year. Just what sort of message would WWE send if Brock defeats Goldberg before he exits stage left? The antagonist reigns victorious, while the hero of the story walks out and never returns. Not a good payoff for a guy with a marquee name as bright as Goldberg's. They could have Brock win clean and give a respectful hug to his Bizarro counterpart at the end of the match, but was already done last year. Whatever the result is, it has to look good. Very good.

That being said, the challenge of properly booking and selling a match between Goldberg and Brock is, for lack of a better word, a monstrous one at that. But then again, this is WrestleMania, the ultimate showcase where every individual - in or out of the ring - should be at their best.

And if Brock vs. Goldberg becomes a reality this March, we will settle for nothing less.

For TSN.ca/wrestling, I'm K-Dogg from the Spanish Announce Table.

[Bramsterdam (see ya)]

i'd go for goldberg if that ever happened..

It'd be a sweet match to see  

[The Watcher]

there is a very high chance that Goldberg will be gone right after WrestleMania, so Brock will have it in the bag

[eS El Duque]

K-Dawg? isn't that the dude from WCW  

[ARYC]

I would hate to see Goldberg VS Brock Lesnar at wrestlemania 20....Goldberg doesn't deserve to main event the biggest wrestling show in the history of wrestling because :
-he can't wrestle
-he doesn't respect wrestling like most the WWE wrestlers do .... so i would rather see any of them main event wm 20

I'd like to see Brock Lesnar VS Goldberg at like No way out or something

[Perfection]

Goldberg is most likely leaving the WWE after WrestleManiaXX because Vince is tried of his attitude towards the business and Goldberg wanting to do everything his way, which was the WCW way of Goldberg destorying everyone and not selling to anybody.