Why the Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar Match Will Disappoint Us All

Much like other matches involving superstars of yesteryear, Goldberg’s return plays better in our minds than it will on television.

“Nostalgia – it’s delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, ‘nostalgia’ literally means ‘the pain from an old wound.’ It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.” – Don Draper

Why do we have such selective memories about some of our favorite superstars? We like to remember their great matches and forget the stinkers for fear of somehow tarnishing our versions of what their legacy should be. The simple fact is that every WWE superstar has more than a few matches they’d rather forget. It is reasonable to assume that Triple H would prefer to be remembered as “The Game” rather than “Terror Rising”.

Which brings us to the topic of the inevitable match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar for next month’s Survivor Series. As most of us already knew and more of you are now aware thanks to Paul Heyman’s always excellent mic work on RAW this past Monday, this would actually be the second meeting between the two men, the first of which took place 12 years ago at WrestleMania XX in 2004. It wasn’t the main event, but did feature Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee which was supposed to give it an epic feel. So did it live up to the hype?

The short answer is no. Ask someone what they remember about that match. Without using YouTube or the WWE Network, what sticks out to them? Do they remember that this was Goldberg’s last match in the WWE? Do they remember this was Lesnar’s last match until he returned 8 years later in 2012? Do they remember the chants of “boring”, “this match sucks”, or “you sold out” that reverberated loudly throughout the arena? The latter is what I remember.

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What was billed as a “dream match” was soundly rejected by the Madison Square Garden crowd because they knew ultimately it didn’t matter. It was widely known that both men would be leaving the WWE for different reasons, so the fans would not be treated to an on-going feud that could keep the momentum going post-WrestleMania. There was also a feeling of betrayl and rejection that seemed to overshadow the entire match. Goldberg ultimately got the pinfall but both men were on the receiving end of a Stone Cold Stunner which ended up being the silver living we had hoped to see.

While the WWE Universe may have felt underwhelmed by the Lesnar vs. Goldberg bout, the show itself would be redeemed by the Triple Threat match between Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, and Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This contest would go down in history as one of the greatest triple threat matches of all time and helped to cleanse our palette of the bad taste we suffered earlier in the program.

Now we find ourselves on the precipice of yet another match aiming to tug at our heartstrings in hopes that we forget the details. A rematch 12 years in the making is how it will be billed and it remains to be seen if Lesnar emerges as the victor in an effort to make the series a best 2 out of 3 culminating at WrestleMania 33. The smart money says he will.

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