WCW Saturday Night - 01/02/1999
This is more of an essay, but stands as this week's write-up.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't look at the matches shown in today's special
look at Goldberg for quality. His work with Sting and DDP was solid, and one
could even make the case for his Hogan match being decent. Goldberg even looked
like a comer against Hugh Morrus, who useta be a good example of a big man with
heat. And obviously they didn't show Goldberg's epic clash with Regal.
Many people have had their hands in Goldberg's development as a worker. The
Power Plant folks, obviously. Fit Finlay, for giving him a fair amount of
lengthy development matches at house shows. Goldberg's superman comebacks came
out of nowhere in the context of the matches they were in, but fit perfectly
into the Hogan megaface tradition. And even though I don't see Goldberg as a
bad worker, and prefer his limited oeuvre to that of the current champeen,
there's still something missing.
Goldberg leaves me cold, in the way that Malenko or Smiley apparently leaves
some people cold. Whether he loses a match or not, I can't be arsed to care
much. It's like watching a Bulls game during the Jordan era; you always know
they're going to pull it out, because they're indomitable, and all that. It's
that very indomitability, that sort of worked excellence, that made me think
the Bulls were a team for neophytes who always wanted to back a winner and made
me a Knicks fan. The Knicks were as comforting as a rundown apartment. John
Starks bricking threes in the clutch was as comforting as a roach crawling in
through the sewer, and Ewing's brittleness and stoicalness throughout was as
attractive as scuffed hardwood.
In this context, Goldberg and the Bulls strike me as nothing so much as an
anonymous apartment in a new complex, where the women all have sunlamp tans and
people have their saggy-assed boats parked in a designated area of the parking
lot.
1998 was the year of Goldberg, a year bigger than any he might ever have
again. It remains to be seen whether or not he can sustain any heat after
taking a loss, as his schtick was that of the athlete who was just better than
anyone else, like Malamud's Natural without the essential humanness of
degrading, ennobling flaws, of Achilles Heels. It also remains to be seen
whether or not he'll be worked out of the main event mix he's been in for the
last year, and consigned to issues with roster fillers like Hennig or Steiner.
And what if he's injured, like Steve Austin?
There's a certain risk to building up a wrestler as an unstoppable force who
only talks in the ring. The Hogan mystique (Hogan being the most successful
superman persona in the PPV era) was built on the back of McMahon's storylines,
promos, et al; Goldberg lacks anything comparable. Goldberg's said nothing of
note; for better or worse, he's pure Workrate. And pure Workrate has obvious
flaws when it comes to establishing a legacy.
Part of the reason Ric Flair epitomizes the best professional wrestling
probably will ever be to me is his peerless knowledge that two conditions must
be in place to make a chunk of wrestling-related performance work: the promo
must kick ass, and the match that results must do something toward providing
the payoff. Flair's mic work is never merely serviceable; at its worst, as in
some of the more placeholding recent Horseman interviews, it at least
established his character and further added to his legacy, or mystique.
Goldberg doesn't have this skill as of yet. He lacks Arn's ability to make a
match with Tom Zenk seem vital. In fact, Goldberg lacks the ability to push
along his own storylines. For all of his overness, he's a passive character,
acted on by others.
Goldberg has been almost always defined by others. The announcers told us he
was something special. Dillon or someone mandated that he have title shots.
Even his upcoming Nitro rematch was proffered by the champion, Nash. Goldberg
perhaps is the perfect foil for the aging behemoths at the top of WCW, in that
he allows them to have more athletic Big Man matches while not sacrificing
their precious time on the stick.
In my view, Goldberg needs to take some steps back. He needs a Japan tour,
just so he can have the experience working a somewhat different style. He needs
to job. He needs to learn to work the sort of psychologically complex interview
that Foley, Anderson, Flair -- even Rhodes -- do as a matter of pride.
I'm pessimistic that any of this will happen. However, since Goldberg is this
week's WCWSN focal point, this is what you get.