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The Monday Night War Review: Episode Ten- ‘Who’s Next?’

October 22, 2014 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
Monday Night War WWE WCW Raw Nitro

The Monday Night War Review: Episode Ten- ‘Who’s Next?’

-Reports have been that there are 20 parts to this series, so I guess that means we have reached the half way point with this episode. Since we realized the series was just focusing on different parts of the War instead of going in chronological order a lot of people have been waiting for a Goldberg centered episode and it is upon. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.

-Opening: Awesome!

-We start with Bash at the Beach 96 and the Hogan heel turn that kicked off the n.W.o. By that point WCW had taken over the lead in the ratings battle and we are right back to Turner had an unlimited amount of money and he stole all the WWE’s Main Event stars. Punk says everyone who was on top was at one time a part of the WWE.

-Foley mentions that he accepted the fact that WCW had the better show during the start of the n.W.o angle. JR mentions the same, but also brings up that WCW threw money at a lot of WWE stars. Poor Vince had to create new stars and they show Goldust , Austin, HHH and a few others and nobody mentions that all three of those guys got their start in WCW. Now of course they weren’t Main Event stars in WCW, but again what WCW was no different than what Vince did in the 80s.

-They discuss how Goldberg stepped in right in the middle of the War. We actually get footage of Goldberg playing at Georgia and sacking a QB from Tennessee. They also show Goldberg, with a full head of hair, practicing with the Falcons. Goldberg mentions that once football was over he started to work out and train more to build his body and one of the places he went to a lot was a gym owned by Lex Luger. He didn’t want a real job so through contacts he called Bischoff and left a message that he wanted to be a wrestler, but didn’t want to be a jobber.

-He was signed to a developmental deal and Goldberg knew he had to go work and learn his craft. He admits he had no background to build on as he had no amateur skills, so he started off in the WCW Power Plant. DDP discusses how much the Plant helped and how guys were hungry because they knew they were on the bottom. Batista pops up to discuss the Plant and he calls it boot camp as I forgot that he was there for a stint before he was told he wouldn’t make it. To think they kind of passed on Batista when they had seemingly thousands of guys on the active roster getting paid to do nothing and they couldn’t take a chance on another muscle head guy.

-Goldberg says the plant helped him develop his character and he wanted to mix MMA with a football background. Stock footage of Bischoff as he says they knew they had something with Goldberg, but they weren’t sure what yet.

-While he was training, the WWE was gaining ground in the War behind Steve Austin. Oh, I can see where this is going. They drop Goldberg into the fray on Nitro and gave him Hugh Morrus as he first match. Sullivan says that he knew Hugh was perfect for him and Demott shows up and says he knew what his job was that night. Goldberg puts over the job Demott did for him and credits him for making him look good. Sullivan says he knew they had a diamond in the rough on their hands after the first match. Norman Smiley puts over his intensity and we see Goldberg after the match giving Gene the silent treatment.

-Now some clips of Goldberg murdering his way through the bottom guys on WCW’s roster and doing it in impressive fashion. JBL talks about the first time he saw Goldberg hit the spear he thought it was unbelievable. Now this is the stuff I want to hear. I want to hear what the other side thought of what was happening on the enemy’s show. Flair talks about how Bill never had a chance to learn the business, but he did what he was supposed to do. Orton talks about how Goldberg couldn’t give a 25 minute match to sell PPVs and Nash says the same.

-They bring up the Regal/Goldberg match from February and Regal says he was told to have a competitive 6 minute match with him that he had never had to that point. The exact words given to him were to have a physical match. Regal says that Goldberg froze and that he couldn’t hit himself so the match went down the way it did. The highlights they are showing here shows that it was a rather ugly match, but he gets the pin with the Jackhammer, and the talking heads talk about the style clash.

-WCW needed to find a way to overcome his limitations to turn him into a top star. His first few months were a success because WCW hid his weaknesses and played to his strengths. Fans paid money to see him mow threw people and that’s what they got. WCW also played up the entrance because they needed something else to go with the match.

-The Goldberg chant gets brought up and Anderson says it played in perfectly with the entrance as it had a rhythm with the music. He brings up that Goldberg didn’t need the security, but it added to the presentation. Jimmy Hart discusses the entrance, and Beth Phoenix brings up the pyro and how he looked like a fire breathing dragon. Just a bad ass entrance that was perfect!

-Bischoff again as he would like to take credit for everything with Goldberg, but he can’t because Goldberg came along at the perfect time with everything aligned. Cena calls him awesome and says it was like unleashing the Kraken! Nice!

-Back to the WWE gaining momentum because of Austin. Now we bring up how Goldberg looked like Austin and Sullivan says it was no coincidence. Jimmy Hart says he was their answer to Austin and Punk says he wasn’t fooled, but does say that Goldberg turned organically into his own character. Thankfully other talking heads mention that he was not an Austin clone and was something completely different.

-Goldberg says he was all business and wanted to be successful, but he never wanted to be the next Steve Austin. He was never comparing himself to anyone else and just wanted to do the best he could. Sullivan says he didn’t let him talk because he couldn’t talk like Austin, and instead decided he could just feed him victim after victim.

-The Streak is discussed and Goldberg mentions that it wasn’t something planned from the start. Miz talks about how the number kept jumping and you wondered how it jumped so fast, but he believed it.

-Goldberg helped keep WCW in the lead, and Orton mentions how he would go a friend’s house, drink beer, and watch Goldberg spear people. You can tell from listening to them that Cena and Orton were big fans.

-They discuss how it was a slow build and Goldberg wasn’t forced down their throats. He spent months smashing jobbers and then got the US Title. Soon though The WWF finally caught WCW and beat them in the ratings for the first time in nearly 2 years. WCW turned to their new superstar to turn the tide back and we get stock footage of Eric from 2002 discussing how he got a call from Hogan who pitched the idea of letting Goldberg beat him for the WCW Title on Nitro. Hogan now and he tells the same story as he knew Goldberg was the hottest thing in wrestling. So on Thunder it is announced that Hogan has to defend the WCW Title on Monday against Goldberg in the Georgia Dome.

-The show drew over 40,000 fans and Goldberg compares it to WrestleMania. The talking heads discuss how it was everything perfect about the business and it drew a massive crowd. Daniel Bryan didn’t think Hogan’s ego would allow Goldberg to win the match. Schiavone now and he talks about how the crowd was 100% Goldberg and were waiting for the coronation. Goldberg says he was scared shitless, but realized he was in a good situation as he was following the lead of the best guy in the business. He credits Hogan for making him look like a million dollars. That just proves that when he wants to Hogan can make anyone in this business, but if it happened all the time it wouldn’t be as important. Sadly, Starrcade 97 called for something similar and we know how that one ended, but also shows what Hogan must have thought of Goldberg to push the idea and then let Goldberg beat him so convincingly. Heyman compares the reaction to a soccer game as you didn’t know if the fans were going to riot out of happiness or just have an orgy of happiness.

-Goldberg won the title that night and everyone talks about how he was made from that point. Nitro won the ratings battle that night for the first time in 11 weeks. Hogan says looking back now he isn’t sure if it was the right call as people have asked him why it wasn’t saved for a PPV. Goldberg brings up the same fact and thinks they could have drawn nearly a 100,000 people. Some feel that it being on Nitro meant more people would see it. Schiavone calls it the closest thing they ever had to WrestleMania. DDP says he can see both sides as they drew a big rating, but also burned away some money that could have gotten from PPV. I am more old school and feel it should have been saved for PPV. Now nobody doubts the end result though as all agree Goldberg should have been carrying the title over Hogan.

-Talk shifts to the WWF’s answer: Gillberg. Russo says it was just another cheap shot they took, but it was an entertaining one. Nitro reclaimed ratings supremacy after Goldberg’s title win, and Miz mentions he never liked WCW, but he loved Goldberg and would watch.

-By November WWF had regained the ratings lead due to their depth. The talk shifts back to Hogan and how he was planning to get this title back. Behind the scenes some in WCW were pissed Goldberg had not paid his dues. Dusty brings up Hogan and Nash and how they couldn’t wait to end the streak. Nash was the chosen one I guess as he faced Goldberg at Starrcade 98. Regal says egos and jealousy got in the way and they killed the monster star they had. CM Punk says same thing as it was another case of WCW shooting themselves in the foot. Nash ends the streak and while unpopular now, just listen to the crowd erupt when Goldberg is pinned.

-Goldberg says he didn’t know if it was time to end the streak as that was someone else’s call, but it wasn’t done in a way he thought was right. Sullivan calls it a horseshit ending and DDP mentions that at some point you have to lose, but the follow up is key.

-Heyman buries how Nash won the title and then discusses the Finger Poke of Doom (as even Heyman calls it). He then says that was the nail in the coffin for WCW. Goldberg says that it was Nash and Hogan playing games. We get Nash’s counter as he says the goal was to reform the n.W.o and have Goldberg march through each one for 8 months or so and build towards Hogan/Goldberg II on PPV. He says he didn’t start the thing, but instead was trying to make the pieces work.

-At the start of 1999 the n.W.o was reformed and the talking heads discuss how it was just a rehash. Heyman says that WCW drove their fans away and gave them a reason to watch the WWF. Nash talks about how they would pipe in the Goldberg chant and you would hear “Goldberg Sucks” chants around that time in the arena as well.

-They skip way ahead (a year or so) and bring up Goldberg’s injury. He says he was pissed at Hall and decided to take things out on a limo during a segment and ended up severing ligament when he smashed out a window. That put him on the shelf for months and Gene says it hurt the company, but really by that point they were screwed.

-Goldberg returns in late May of 2000 to a thunderous reaction, but as I mentioned RAW was killing Nitro so it didn’t matter. By that point RAW was hitting ratings around 6.0-6.4 and WCW was in the low 3 range. They discuss how fans had moved on from Goldberg and Booker T talks about how he wasn’t the same person. Heyman says he was part of the glory days of WCW and those days were over.

-Nash talks about how the gimmick of being unbeaten has a short shelf life because you may as well retire once you lose. Damn! Cena talks about how it became stale to see him just kicking ass week after week. Super Cena! Booker T brings up how Goldberg told him only person he would lose to was God. Goldberg says he would lose, but it had to make sense.

-They gloss over the heel turn and instead bury Goldberg for not being a wrestling fan. They discuss how Goldberg failed to live up to his promise and now they bury WCW for the way they failed to build new stars. JR says Goldberg should have been their Hogan.

-We wrap things up on a positive note as JR calls him the real deal. Anderson calls him as hot as any person in the history of the business as he was on the level of Hogan, Rock, and Austin if just for a brief time. Jericho calls him a huge part of the War and a massive part of WCW’s success. Goldberg says he was honored to part of that era, and Booker says what he did will always be a part of the history of wrestling.

Extra Thoughts: Kind of knew the Austin clone stuff would get tossed in there, but thankfully they did cover both sides of that one. It is still getting tiring hearing how WCW only became successful because they stole WWE’s talent, though they finally admit here they did something right with someone not from the WWE. I found this episode to be one of the better ones just because there was a lot of fresh stuff here that wasn’t reused from old DVD releases. I wish we could have gotten Hogan’s thoughts on fact people were burying him for conspiring to get the title off Goldberg. The Nash stuff was same stuff he said on the n.W.o Legend’s Table, so nothing new there. I do think still funny they skip all of 1998 and just from the Finger Poke of Doom to Goldberg’s run in with the limo a year later. All told one of the better episodes because again it is fun to hear what guys on both sides of the war during that era have to say about the competition. I need more of that and then toss in some of the stuff with the current stars who grew up fans during that period. I also know wasn’t during the Monday Night Wars, but they could have shown his WWE run and how they didn’t know how to use him properly, but guess not the place for that here.