You got my money Brock?! WHERE'S MAH MONEY?!
Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with some wrestling talk. The year was 2004. The event was Wrestlemania 20; and the match was Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg. At the time, it was both men's final night in the WWE and the fans had completely turned on both men, not wanting to see the match and outraged, mainly at Brock, feeling like they were betrayed by Brock's leaving for MMA and felt he sold out.
Fast forward twelve years later to Survivor Series last night, Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg 2: the rematch no one really asked for. Goldberg's first pro wrestling match in over a decade, and it was a match with months of build up, spawning from Goldberg's WWE 2K17 commercial. And much to the shock of wrestling fans everywhere, the match was over in three minutes (at most) with Goldberg dominating Lesnar in a squash match. And in the 12 plus hours as of the time this post is up, the internet is split on this match: some thought it was great, while many others believed it to be a complete disgrace. Here in this post I'll give my very thoughts on the match and the build up surrounding it and see if I can decipher where both sides are coming from in regards to their feelings on the match.
When it comes to my feelings towards this match, and Goldberg's return to the WWE in general, I really enjoyed it. You see, around the time I started becoming a fan and frequent watcher of the WWE, I saw Goldberg spearing and jackhammer-ing guys to their doom on Raw, so getting to watch him make his entrance after all these years and whipping out another spear tickled my nostalgia bone oh so well. Not only that, but it seemed that in the 12 years he was gone, WWE finally understood would made Goldberg great, namely in his tenure in WCW, where he got his fame in the pro wrestling world: he was by no means a great wrestler, or even a good wrestler. But what he was was a scary, jacked up dude that would crush you in less than ten minutes. He sold very little in his matches and he didn't put on 20 minute clinics. He was the guy that when you heard his music, you heard the crowd chanting his name, and finally you saw walk down the ramp, your mind automatically thinks: "God help the poor soul who's stuck in the ring with that guy."
Goldberg coming back was a nostalgia trip. And with that in mind, the match with Lesnar last night exemplified exactly what made Goldberg so great: he sold very little, hit his spear and jackhammer and won in a very dominating fashion. It was much better than putting him in the ring after 12 years and telling him to have a 15 to 20 minute wrestling match with Brock Lesnar. Because heaven forbids that match would NOT have been as entertaining and people would've complained about how horrible it was.
But now here's where things get a little hairy; this is in regards to the length of the match and the implications surrounding it. This match main evented and closed out Survivor Series last night, one of the big 4 in regards to the biggest ppvs/events/shows the WWE has to offer; and once again, the match was only 2 minutes, leaving many wrestling fans angry.
I do not watch sports, especially combat sports. I only watch pro wrestling (cause it's still real to me damn it!) But from what I can tell from people I know that talk about, and people I hear on podcasts talking about it, a fighter getting a knockout or a submission in a minute or less is a pretty big deal. Not only does it get more people buzzing about the fighter that did it, but it gets people more invested, more people will pay to see said fighter get another quick knock out or submission and before you know it, that fighter has more stock in him. Ronda Rousey after her 14 second knockout in UFC 184 which pulled in 600,000 buys was able to draw 900,000 buys for UFC 190 and 1.1 mil. for UFC 193.
But here comes the disconnect (and keep in mind I'm also assuming most pro wrestling fans don't watch sports like I do), pro wrestling is fake. The length of the matches and the victors of said matches are all predetermined; and while there have been instances where matches end awfully short (look up Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus at Wrestlemania 28), it's been trained into the minds of most fans that a main event to a ppv show, especially one with the hype and build up as Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg, would go on for a good 20 minutes. So the way I see it, this match tried to go for a sense of realism that perhaps some fans didn't get. Then again, considering this is a match about a former UFC champion who's clearly only doing this for a paycheck fighting against a near 50 year old and clearly out of cardiovascular shape man, that argument might not have much leg to stand on. Perhaps if the match went on before the Team Raw vs Team Smackdown match, there wouldn't be as much hatred towards it.
The second and probably bigger concern for many people in regards to this match is the story it tells. That's right folks, pro wrestling is very much like a soap opera, except with more punching. Back at Wrestlemania 30, quite possibly the biggest shock ever in the world of pro wrestling happened when Lesnar beat the Undertaker, ending the Undertaker's then 21-0 undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. For many wrestling fans, Taker's Wrestlemania streak was greater than any championship and if a man ever broke it, he'd be a mega star and would pretty much have legitimacy for a title match for all eternity. That man happened to be Lesnar, and with Lesnar losing in a minute last night, that in turn makes Brock beating Taker at Mania seem worthless.
To those that think that, keep this in mind: In the 2 and a half years since Brock ended the streak, he has rarely, if ever, lost a single match cleanly. It was either through shenanigans involving the ref or outside interference that led to him losing, or in triple threat matches where the third guy in the match took the fall. The WWE has never successfully protected a guy like they had with Brock Lesnar after he beat the streak. And to those thinking him losing to Goldberg in dominate fashion lessens him beating the streak, remember what he did prior to that match: He won the WWE title from John Cena in after decimating him with 16 suplexes, he beat both Cena and Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble, coming back from getting smashed through the announce table like he's the terminator, and after losing his title without even being pinned at Wrestlemania and Rollins weaseling his way out of a rematch the next night, Brock proceeded to kill the entire commentary team and an innocent cameraman out of pure rage, earning him a suspension.
This isn't even counting him going on to beat the Undertaker again, even causing Taker to resort to cheating to beat him, beating Dean Ambrose at Wrestlemania 32, and literally leaving Randy Orton in a pool of his own blood, you know that match that made everyone say the WWE should just cut Lesnar? Even after losing to Goldberg, Brock is just as legit as he's ever been, on one night, he just lost to a much better man. Think of it like the start of Rocky 3, where Rocky's sitting on top of the world then Mr.T shows up and beats the ever loving crap out of him.
My biggest problem with Brock losing in such a dominant fashion is the fact that he WAS the one to be the one in what is now 23-1, Brock was on such a higher level above everyone else that you really could've made a star out of whoever you picked to beat him, someone like an Apollo Crews, or a Finn Balor, or a Sami Zayn could've benefited greatly off of a clean as a sheet victory over him, and while they still can, the first guy to do it was a 49-year-old man who's probably only going to wrestle two more times max.
Does this victory negate all that's been done with Brock in the last two years? No, of course not. To me, it gets wrestling fans buzzing, for better and for worse, and it brings intrigue for Raw. What will Paul Heyman say? Will Brock go on another rampage Ala post WM 31? And with eyes on him now, will Goldberg come back for another match because after what happened, many feel he has to now. And if you're one of those fans that doesn't care about all of that, then do what I do and just save NXT Takeover until after a main WWE PPV ends and watch it, you won't feel nowhere near as angry.
Speaking of which, til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation and I'm taking off to go watch NXT Takeover Toronto.
Haven't seen it, but the WWE YouTube channel uploaded clips from it. Bobby Roode's entrance is life goals.
Take Care...
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