#3 Goldberg
The year was 2004. The contracts of Bill Golberg and Brock Lesnar were set to expire at the same time. Goldberg was the unbeatable monster from WCW, Lesnar was the equivalent to Vince McMahon’s empire. With “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as the guest referee, at the 20th WrestleMania PPV, on paper it was a big money match made in heaven. It could have been one of the biggest draws ever, if the “powers that be” in WWE wanted to invest in Goldberg the same way they invested in Triple H, and the Evolution faction. The reality was the match sucked – one of the worst, most disappointing ever.
During the same period of time, The Undertaker mysteriously came back from the dead to take on his brother, Kane, after being “buried alive” the previous year. It was a mediocre program, and a match we’d seen several times before, including at WrestleMania XIV.
The Undertaker was 11-0 at WrestleMania, and his winning streak had turned into a full blown legend. If WWE had any booking sense, they would have brought Goldberg in from WCW, and never booked him to lose a single match. He would have defeated Triple H in their program to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. And if after his year-long contract was up he didn’t want to sign a new deal, he puts his title on the line against The Deadman’s undefeated streak.
Now, if you’re doing the math, WrestleMania XX was the night Chris Benoit defeated Shawn Michaels and Triple H to win the title. So reality doesn’t exactly match up with our fantasy booking.
