Goldberg Destroys Lesnar in Two Minutes… What Happened?
Sam’s Spiel on Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg Round II
They did the unthinkable. Let’s analyse what just happened; Goldberg, a man that hasn’t wrestled in 12 years, just beat Brock Lesnar, a man that hasn’t been pinned clean in three years.
Brock Lesnar has ended the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, demolished the unbeatable John Cena, remained unpinned since 2013, and has destroyed almost every competitor he’s faced. Goldberg fell over whilst trying to fight Rusev. Brock Lesnar competed at a UFC event whilst under a WWE-exclusive contract. Goldberg injured his shoulder throwing around security guards.
Saying all of that… Lesnar executed one move during the match; Goldberg executed three… and won in a minute and a half. The shock is still in. The pay-per-view had half an hour left before it was supposed to end.
I think the thing that baffles me the most about all of this is the build-up to the match. 12 years ago, everyone hated the match itself, and it became a cornerstone of the WWE’s Hall of Infamy. Both men were leaving the product after the bell rang, and not even Steve Austin could save it from a terrible fate.
Now, Goldberg falls over during an in-ring segment with Rusev, and reportedly injures his shoulder during a confrontation on Raw, with Goldberg being quoted as “feeling awful” in the lead-up to the match. Brock Lesnar’s aforementioned dominance as the WWE’s final boss says it all… the last thing anyone expected was for the match to end in less than two minutes, with Goldberg being the one to conquer the conqueror.
WHAT!?!???!??!??? #Goldberg #SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/AkZbDdBP2p
— WWE 2K17 (@WWEgames) November 21, 2016
Was everything we’d been led to believe in the run-up to this match a lie? Was the fall planned? Did Goldberg even injure himself? Taking off the tinfoil hats for a second, take a look outside your window. You might notice that every wrestling fan with an opinion about this match hated the outcome, and is very very angry with the result… except for me.
I have my reasons. The first being; I don’t like Brock Lesnar. Sure, it was fun watching him destroy John Cena, and it definitely gave him a free pass. People seemed to enjoy his rivalry with Rollins, with myself included, and the matches he had with Undertaker in 2015 were high-quality. But ever since Lesnar faced Ambrose at WrestleMania, he’s been catching a lot of flak. The words “lazy”, “boring” and “asshole” come to mind.
With this staleness in mind, perhaps this is the best thing that could have happened to Lesnar. His dynamic has changed, now. Nothing is the same as it was before Survivor Series. And I do hear the criticisms; what about the streak? Lesnar defeated the Undertaker at ‘Mania, the only man to do so, and everyone is up in arms that they didn’t give the rub to somebody else…
Let’s be honest; no matter who they would have picked, nobody would have been satisfied. They wouldn’t have given the rub to someone bred in the independents like Ambrose, Owens, or Joe. Shinsuke Nakamura might have had a fighting chance, and even then; who’s to say those two would even end up in the same ring before either inevitably leaves the company?
A SPEAR BY @GOLDBERG has the #BeastIncarnate reeling!! #SurvivorSeries #WWE2K17 pic.twitter.com/AYkU1DHg9d
— WWE (@WWE) November 21, 2016
Another complaint is that Goldberg is an old man that has no business stepping foot into a ring. Age is a common reason for wrestlers to gain heat from the fans; see the careers of Big Show and Kane for an example. But when you appear to be in good physical condition, and have an entire career based on squash matches (just under 200, to be more specific)… what do you expect? An argument could be made that they squashed the wrong guy. And that argument might have some ground to it… but it entirely depends on where they go after this.
Finally, some people are saying that the anticipation of the rematch 12 years in the making was just ruined, and served as a slap in the face to those looking forward to it. Well, from my perspective, I have definitely seen more groans and concerns and unnecessary criticisms thrown at this rematch, more than I have genuine excitement.
And that’s not to say that this match was perfect. The match was a main-event to a big PPV, following a 52 minute storyline-filled blockbuster between Team Raw and Team SmackDown. The swerve of this squash match lasting less than two minutes, regardless of who won, is a valid complaint. This should have gone on before the elimination match… however, looking at the reception, that wasn’t going to happen.
IT'S OVER!!!! @Goldberg has just done the unthinkable and DEFEATED @BrockLesnar with the #Jackhammer! #SurvivorSeries #BrockvsGoldberg pic.twitter.com/IvXaZGUWIM
— WWE (@WWE) November 21, 2016
Not to mention that the two men in the ring are definitely part-timers, and that Goldberg alluded to this match being his last… what if Goldberg isn’t around to impart this impressive victory to anyone else? If nobody else could beat Brock Lesnar, who in their right body would be able to defeat the guy that squashed the guy that nobody could beat?
A lot of problems remain in this match… but I don’t care. It was shocking enough to the point that my adrenaline spiked, and is making me type a near 1,000 word article at 4:30am, because this match shocked the world. Having never seen a Goldberg match before now, I am happy that I was able to capture the essence of one of WCW’s flagship stars in my current time.
Nevertheless, there are always going to be critics, and they’ll always be mad, and you’ll always be wrong to disagree with what they say. The only reason why I’m throwing this ramble out there is to provide a break from the chorus of hate and anger, to a different perspective.
As with a majority of wrestling’s storylines… time will tell where this shall go in the future. I think the worst part about all of this is that we still don’t know if Goldberg can wrestle a legitimate match. See the previous sentence to get the answer to that question, though.
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