The Magnificent Seven 6.25.13: Who Should Have Ended Goldberg’s Streak?

Hi. My name is Wakefield. This is my debut writing with 411Mania for my weekly column – The Magnificent Seven

Short introduction: WWF and WCW wrestling are my first memories as a child and I was born in 1989 so most of these columns will be a top seven list of various topics in the wrestling world of the 1990’s and 2000’s. I religiously watched WWF and WCW with as much ECW as I could have before the latter two went out of business. Since then, I have seen just about everything in TNA, while being a massive fan of independent wrestling – mostly ROH and PWG. Most of the columns will focus on interesting things that happened in the late 90’s I don’t view it as the “Attitude Era” as much as the “Monday Night War” era. The coolest thing to me was the back and forth between the two companies which led to many options. The inclusion of ECW into the mainstream-wrestling world added even more options, ideas and all around creativity. Hopefully some of that will be showcased in my columns.

For my debut list, I felt the inkling to tackle a subject I have debated with many of my friends over the year – Who should have ended the undefeated streak of Bill Goldberg? While 99% of you reading this are familiar with the story, here is a quick summary. Goldberg debuted in 1997 and destroyed his opponents to become a sensation. Looking to be unique while being simple enough to relate to, he mastered an art or caught lightning in a bottle, whichever way you look at it, and skyrocketed to become the WCW champion. The win streak lived to be 173-0. It ended at Starrcade 1998 when Kevin Nash with the help of Scott Hall and some ridiculous things (Which was more ridiculous – the cattle prod or Disco Inferno?) only to lead to the “finger poke of doom” spot on Nitro where Nash laid down for Hulk Hogan giving Hogan the title a few weeks later. Many deem the night Mick Foley won the title on Raw the turning point in the Monday Night Wars where WWF never looked back and WCW never looked forward. Forgotten on that night, the Nash/Hogan finger poke took place on that episode’s Nitro. Viewed as one of the biggest mistakes in wrestling history, let’s dive into who should have ended the streak. Here we go….

7. Diamond Dallas Page
Yes, DDP was already old and already over. What would he have gained from ending the streak compared to a younger guy who gets instantly elevated in stature with one win? Well the moment would have been glorious. One of the many overlooked scenarios in WCW was missing the boat on a great or significant moment. Not to pull gimmick infringement on the term “The People’s Champ” but Page was the champion of the people for a good year or two in WCW. It should have been a special moment when DDP finally won the WCW title yet it happened in a very forgettable 4-way match in 1999. Side note is that Page never really got his moment of glory in WCW. In 1998, he feuded with Hulk Hogan for a few months that led to Dennis Rodman and Jay Leno getting victories. Sure he won War Games to get a title shot but that match was so convoluted and he pinned Stevie Ray of all people to win it. Factor in that Dallas after winning the title shot, had the best match of Goldberg’s career at Halloween Havoc 1998 and is arguably the best WCW title match of the Monday Night Wars era. A great match + great moment will usually = success.

6. Billy Kidman
Another one that is out there but Kidman was incredible for a good stretch of time in WCW and WCW clearly loved Billy Kidman. The idea of Kidman becoming a star in feuding with Hulk Hogan did not work out as planned and whatever they envisioned would have worked out better with Bill Goldberg’s streak on the line. In general, whoever ended the streak would have been a large gamble so it may as well have been a young, talented guy with worlds of potential and a fair chance of getting to run with the ball. Basically I’m saying please remember WCW Billy Kidman and do not hold shorthaired WWE Kidman against me! If you can imagine Kidman hitting a Shooting Star Press on Goldberg and wrapping the WCW title around his wife beater and jorts without smiling, we can’t be friends.

5. Scott Steiner
Most people would say the best part of WCW shows in the dying days was Scott Steiner. 2013’s Scott Steiner is insane in the best way possible but we’re used to it. Back then, this was brand new and spectacular. Possibly the only heel who you could have had beat Goldberg clean and make it look legitimate. In general, Steiner seemed to have a bit of magic in WCW. In the short-term shelf life of WCW after Goldberg’s streak ended, Steiner was one of the new wrestlers in the main event scene. In addition, it ended up being one of Goldberg’s few memorable feuds post streak ending with Scott Steiner. They had a cool dynamic that should have led to more between the two and this would have been a jaw dropping way to start it. Before WCW started to become less and less popular, making Steiner the guy much earlier could have helped benefit the future. In making this list, I’d say this option was one of the more fun “what if” scenarios.

4. Chris Jericho
Likely the most popular choice in the aforementioned conversations about this topic with friends and fellow wrestling fans over the years. Monday Night Jericho’s promos about Goldberg in WCW were probably the first time someone looked strong in any regard while in a program with Goldberg. Sadly the program was canceled shortly as Goldberg refused to go with Jericho’s plans and squashed him before the feud ended without much of an ending. Jericho’s charisma was rarely allowed to be showcased in WCW until this Goldberg program which opened a lot of eyes. Some rumors said the promos exhibited in the Jericho vs. Goldberg feud put Jericho higher on the WWE radar which of course led to Chris Jericho becoming a star in WWE for many years to come. Years later they ended up having a fun little program in WWE as well as some less fun backstage encounters. Jericho may have blossomed into the star he did with WWE for WCW if he got the win or even just some shine in a match with Goldberg. Another fascinating what if scenario that has Chris Jericho as #4 on the “Who Should Have Ended Goldberg’s Streak” Magnificent Seven.

3. No one
Out of the box thinking and wacky selection time! No, this is not my WWE level code words for Chris Benoit. Side note – Yes, Benoit probably should have been on this list but decided there were enough worthy options to exclude him. Maybe it would have been best to not end the streak any time soon (relevant to December 1998) and just let it go on. The people still loved and believed in Goldberg. Maybe take a wait and see approach and pick someone debuting or defecting and go from there. However with WCW not in great shape, who knows how long it would have lasted? We’re running the “what if” chances WCW goes out of business or is bought out by WWE with Goldberg’s streak intact and getting no conclusion from it. While I compute the aftermath scenarios for that scenario, I see Triple H ending the streak which no one wants. Shades of WWE 2003.

2. Booker T
In my book, the most sure-fire option to go with. Booker was supremely more talented than Stevie Ray and you could tell he was going to break out sooner or later. His legendary series of matches with Benoit showed that off and he was basically Mr. WCW in terms of the middle tier guys WCW fans gravitated towards. The road from tag team success to mid card success to being ready to be the world champion is a journey that the avid wrestling fans believe in and relate to most. Any story of a wrestler fighting his way to the top of the card over the years is one that will come off beautiful IF the audience wants it and they sure did with Booker. The crowd would have exploded whenever he got his chance and won the WCW title as it happened on that infamous night defeating Jeff Jarrett. He developed into the last true top WCW face and it would have kick-started (no relation to Wrestling Revolution Project – I’m not trying to scam your reading time. I promise) his elevation into the top tier of WCW instantly and more meaningful. Booker T ended up becoming one of the few guys to get a clean win over Goldberg and while it wasn’t the same, it still showed a small glimpse on how cool a moment it would have been as seen in this video above.

1. Rey Mysterio Jr.
The ultimate underdog pulling an upset and being the man to end the streak of the unstoppable machine that was Goldberg would have been a moment for the ages. Mysterio went on and became arguably the biggest star WCW missed the boat on. Unbelievable to see Rey accomplish all he did in WWE while never really getting the “superstar” shine of what they had under their nose in WCW. For a substantial time frame in WCW, Rey was as must see as any wrestler in the world and consistently always performed up to par even when he was forced to foolishly unmask and wrestle without it. Similar to the Booker aspect of having a crowd see you grow, Rey Mysterio would have delivered the same. From Mexico to the US, wrestling the roster up and down, Rey was as respected as anyone in the industry. To this day he still is. When Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Edge and many others are asked who their favorite opponent to work with is, they chose Rey Rey. A great moment, a great story, a young wrestler with potential getting the ball and creating a changing of the guard where a new era of WCW could begin would have been the best and most intriguing way to go.

Thanks for reading the first edition of the Magnificent Seven. I hope to keep column as fun as possible going forward and welcome any suggestions or feedback. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with the subject title “411MANIA.” You can also follow me on Twitter.

-Jonas Wakefield