Bill Goldberg replied to a fan who tweeted a question about his interest in returning for one more match to cap his career: “I would be interested.” A follow-up question: would we be interested?
From the sounds during any Ryback match, on TV or a house show, the answer would seem to be “yes.” All you hear when Ryback wrestles, back to his days as a face, is “Goldberg! Goldberg! Goldberg!” as if it was 1998.
But is that anything more than taunting directed at Ryback himself or at WWE creative for so obviously ripping off a character from the not-too-distant past?
There could be some desire to see Goldberg on the part of fans, no question. But it’s not like Goldberg was an actual in-ring superstar. He was a gimmick, a top-of-the-line gimmick, but a gimmick that couldn’t do much in the ring other than work stiff and not sell.
He had a great look, a great ring entrance, a solid catchphrase, but once the long winning streak was over, he was, basically, Ryback.
Would the hairs stand on the back of our necks once we heard the music hit, the security go back to tell Goldberg his match was up, we saw him walk the corridors toward the TitanTron, he came out through the fireworks, and made his way down to ringside? No question. Then 90 seconds later, after he squashed Ryback or whoever else was “next,” or in this case, “last,” we’d feel like we feel when we eat a donut for breakfast: empty and hollow.
Let’s leave our memories of Goldberg to the DVDs.
– Column by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
