YMMV / Goldberg

• Americans Hate Tingle: Or rather Canadians are still sore about his botched mule kick that ended Bret Hart's career. Bret himself doesn't actually blame Bill for what happened — Goldberg, to him, was a nice enough guy. Who he really blames is the WCW Power Plant for not teaching him how to pull his punches. They'd gotten over it by 2016 when they cheered for Goldberg during his Survivor Series match against Lesnar. Ironically, Bret would later change his mind and rather famously start to criticize Goldberg for ending his in-ring career constantly in interviews.
• Awesome Music: "Invasion", the piece of production music that served as Goldberg's WCW theme; when his theme switched over to a song by Megadeth, fans considered it a step down. (His WWE theme, while sounding remarkably like "Invasion", is considered inferior to the original.)
• Base-Breaking Character: Badass unstoppable machine and biggest homegrown talent in WCW history? Or overhyped, painfully naive Creator's Pet who let his meteoric rise go to his head almost immediately?
  • This got turned up to eleven the moment he squashed big time IWC favorite Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane 2017. With his victory receiving a very mixed reception from what had been, up until that point, a very pro-Goldberg fanbase. Much of this stems from the perceived mindset that Goldberg didn't need the Universal Championship to begin with (in fact, some people thought having it as the prize detracted from his white-hot feud with Brock Lesnar, which should have remained simply about settling which of them is the bigger badass rather than fighting over a belt). And having a younger talent like Owens drop it to a part timer (and one who is well past his prime to be brutally honest) like Goldberg made no sense in the long run.^note The worst thing is, according to rumours this was apparently Lesnar's fault, as he only agreed to do the rubber match against Goldberg at WrestleMania if he got to win the Universal Championship there, knowing that Vince couldn't say no.
  • This would happen once again after defeating Ensemble Dark Horse "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship at Super ShowDown 2020. This mainly stems from the mindset that Goldberg, once again, didn't need the Universal Championship, as well as the belief that this was done by the company so that they can put the belt on Roman Reigns without backlash.^note Due to The Fiend's popularity, there was concern that Reigns would get backlash if he faced him, let alone defeat him for the title. Thus they had Goldberg defeat The Fiend to make him the Designated Villain so that Reigns could be the Designated Hero by defeating him. This has gotten worse when it was revealed that the idea of him winning the match didn't came from the company but from Goldberg himself, who used his Creative Control clause to go over The Fiend in a Squash Match, as he considered him a villain he couldn't go down against.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Goldberg came out for a PPV match against Perry Saturn having apparently not shaved his head for several days. Whether it was testing out a new look or just Goldberg choosing not to shave for whatever reason, he was back on Nitro the next day bald as usual.
  • On a random episode of WCW Pro, Goldberg worked heel and squashed a jobber named Manny Fernandez. Goldberg didn't use any of his explosive offense aside from the Jackhammer, instead just pummeling him for 3 and a half minutes. In a BLAM within a BLAM, the jobber was apparently given the name 'Manny Fernandez' by Dusty Rhodes, who held a grudge against the real Manny Fernandez.
• Broken Base: His squashing of Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016 where he pinned Lensar in less than a minute and a half. For some it was a legitimately shocking moment that finally made Lesnar look vulnerable after months of booking where he was made to look invincible to the point fans were getting sick of it, while making Goldberg look like an absolute beast upon his return (not to mention that with how badly their first encounter went, few people wanted to see another long match from the two and this was the best way to do it). Others though are less than pleased with getting treated to a squash match after the massive amount of hype it garnered leading up to the PPV, and believe that the entire stunt echoes dangerously Antonio Inoki's infamous booking style and has unnecessarily damaged Lesnar's aura, specially considering a near 50-year-old man with 12 years worth of ring rust has been the one to end Lesnar's dominant reign instead of a younger up-and-comer.
• Catharsis Factor: For those who are sick of Lesnar being booked as nigh-invincible, rarely losing and never losing cleanly Goldberg pinned him in about a minute after two spears and a Jackhammer.
• Common Knowledge: Similar to Hulk Hogan, everyone "knows" that Goldberg can't wrestle, can't work any match longer than a few minutes, and has no moves other than "Spear, Jackhammer, pin". Goldberg actually performed a considerable number of different moves over the years, constantly trying out new things that you wouldn't expect like the Dragon Screw Leg Whip, Corkscrew Dropkick, a couple of submission moves and almost every variety of slam under the sun, as can be seen in his top move compilation video (which compiles 35 recognised moves, plus 3 bonus moves). And as to not being able to work any match longer than a couple of minutes, anyone who claims that should rewatch his classic match against Diamond Dallas Page at Halloween Havoc '98 (generally regarded as the best match of his career) and think again.
• Critical Backlash: Despite the Hype Backlash entry below, Goldberg wasn't as one-dimensional as his detractors would claim. While it's true that Goldberg was never one for matwork or high-spots, he at least tried to bust out new moves in his matches and while they weren't textbook perfect, they were effective nonetheless. And it's not like he injured Bret Hart on purpose.
  • Also, while his regular move set wasn’t especially varied, he always managed to use energy and enthusiasm to make them look powerful. During his match with the Rock, he delivers a powerful version of the Rock Bottom that many fans have said looked more impressive than any Rock Bottom that the Rock had done in his career.
• Designated Villain: In 2000 WCW tried turning him heel as part of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo's New Blood crew in their feud against the likes of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash. Except this was terrible short-lived because there was NO WAY people were gonna start booing Goldberg in favor of the very same guys who spearheaded the nWo.
• Fan Nickname: Dollar Bill, in regards to his Money, Dear Boy involvement in wrestling.
• Fridge Brilliance: The first time Goldberg took a sledgehammer shot from Triple H, he went down for a 3; but he kicked out the next time it happened. Makes a lot of sense, when you remember the first one happened as he tried to spear Triple H.
• Funny Moments: Headbutted a door on the January 23, 2017 episode of Raw on his way out of the locker room in an attempt to look more badass, but ended up busting his head open and dazing himself. Even funnier if you knew that CM Punk quit WWE in that exact same office. Maybe it's cursed?
• Hype Backlash: Many newer fans, as well as those who were around but never cared for him to begin with are baffled at the thought that a guy with little desire for wrestling, little actual wrestling ability, no mic skills, a basic look that was barely short of ripping off another wrestler and no defined character could get so popular just by squashing everyone put in front of him. Case in point, WWE tried the same thing with Ryback, and fans were largely indifferent to him.
• Memetic Badass: "Goldberg's security is actually not to protect him, but to protect everyone else from him" is just one of many jokes about his unreal power.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • GORG.^Explanation When Goldberg came out for his match against Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam 2021, his name appeared on the wide screen at the top of the Allegiant Stadium, but then the middle of the screen switched to displaying the video of his signature march to the ring◊, resulting in his name appearing as "GOLDBERG", which instantly resulted in him gaining a new nickname among the IWC.
  • Disrespecting legends ^Explanation  The whole crux for his feud with Drew McIntrye in 2021 was that McIntrye had been "disrespecting legends", despite Drew doing nothing of the sort. This was quickly turned into a meme because many saw it as an Excuse Plot that was pretty much better suited for a feud with Randy Orton (one of his monikers is "The Legend Killer" after all). It's now become a Running Gag in the r/GreatnessOfWrestling subreddit that whenever a legend is "disrespected", Goldberg will immediately come to their aid.
  • In 1999, Goldberg accidentally ended the career of Bret Hart when he gave Bret a severe concussion with a misplaced mule kick during a match. Bret’s tendency to bring it up unprompted in interviews even when discussing subjects that have nothing to do with Goldberg has achieved memetic status.
• Mis-blamed:
  • Critics have been hard on him in hindsight; pointing to his lack of ring skill and short matches. However, this was largely because he was rushed through the WCW Power Plant and hot-shotted to a main event level very quickly (He won the world title only ten months after his TV debut). Even Goldberg has admitted that he probably should have been in training longer, but once Bischoff set the plan in motion there was no turning back. Most of the people in the business usually say he was a great guy, but he got pushed beyond his ability and let it go to his head. But most of them blame Bischoff and the WCW brass for his shortcomings, especially since the WCW Power Plant has a reputation for having been a shitty training center.
  • Regarding the incident cited under X-Pac Heat below where the fans turned on Goldberg after he beat Kevin Owens for the Universal Champion, according to reports that was Brock Lesnar's fault, as he refused to have the rematch against Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 unless he won a top championship from it.^note While that would have left him permanently down 0-2 against Goldberg, Brock knew perfectly well that Vince would never call his bluff on this.
• Never Live It Down:
  • His backstage fight with Chris Jericho (which Jericho basically won no less), to the point where it's become sort of an Old Shame to Jericho, as both men would like to put the ordeal behind them. Goldberg would later appear on Jericho's podcast and the two were able to laugh it off, with Goldberg freely admitting that Jericho got the better of him.
  • That time he wrecked his hand by punching through a limo window, putting himself on the shelf and killing his momentum, widely regarded as one of the dumbest ways any wrestler has ever sabotaged their own career.
  • That one scene on Raw when Goldust puts a wig on Goldberg. Goldberg took it out immediately, but an image of it has been known to be used in endless debates on certain wrestling forums about everything that went wrong with his 2003–04 WWE run.
  • His match against Lord Steven Regal in February 1998 will be forever known as the match that exposed him as a two-trick pony who couldn't actually wrestle. Even though Goldberg would go on to have longer and better competitive matches down the road, such as against DDP at Halloween Havoc of that same year.
  • Ending Bret Hart's career. Many fans haven't forgiven him. For a time, Bret said he had. However, when speaking on The Broken Skull Sessions in March 2020 he seemingly reversed field. He chastized Goldberg as "the most unprofessional wrestler in the world" and expressed shock that Goldberg was in the Hall of Fame because he, "...hurt everyone he ever wrestled." It is worth noting that on this occasion, Bret spoke with more vitriol about Bill Goldberg than he did when talking about the Montreal Screwjob in the same interview.
• Older Than They Think: He may have been the one to name the Jackhammer, but he didn't invent it. The earliest example of it could be found in the Athol Foley^note Real name Bernie Wright, uncle of WCW's Alex Wright, and the kayfabe "son" of heel manager JR Foley, real name John Foley, no relation to those other guys v. Wendi Richter match from Stampede Wrestling in June 1983. Jaguar Yokota used it on Lioness Asuka during their match on August 22, 1985. Dean Malenko used it on Gedo during their match at the Super J Cup 1994.
• Shocking Moments:
  • His Jackhammer on The Giant, as detailed in the Awesome section.
  • Squashing Brock Lesnar.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel:
  • Even though it only lasted a minute and Lesnar got almost no offense in, the Brock vs. Goldberg match at Survivor Series 2016 was still way better than their match at WrestleMania XX.
  • Their match at WrestleMania 33 was even better. It went for about five minutes this time, and the match was filled with nonstop action.
• X-Pac Heat:
  • He was originally beloved during his triumphant return to WWE in 2016, with his subsequent thrashings against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016, and Royal Rumble 2017 endearing him to the crowd more than ever before. Than came Fastlane 2017, where he delivered the same treatment to major Ensemble Dark Horse Kevin Owens. From that moment onwards whatever fan support he'd garnered all but vanished. As his victory over Owens drew a very noticeable mixed reaction from the live crowd. It got so bad that fans actually cheered for Brock Lesnar (the same man they wanted to see Goldberg demolish just a few months ago) over him at WrestleMania 33.
  • The fans' dissension towards him was all but cemented on the Raw after WrestleMania 33, where Brock Lesnar received a hero's ovation for vanquishing him the previous night. And when Paul Heyman announced in a heel promo that they shouldn't expect to see Goldberg anytime soon, this was received with cheers instead of the expected boos.