(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner – WCW Fall Brawl 2000

Few wrestlers were more alpha and badass than Goldberg and Steiner. They were two insanely strong monsters that lived up to the hype as larger-than-life monsters. But what also gave both of them appeal was the fact that both of them were grounded in realism. Goldberg was a straightforward wrecking ball that didn’t need all that much finesse or skill because the few things he knew how to do he did extremely well.

Meanwhile Steiner started off as an amateur standout that could throw people around effortlessly and then grew into becoming one of the most unintentionally exciting wrestlers of his day. Not because of anything planned for or around him but because he earned a reputation for being such an unpredictable powder keg who did whatever we want that fans genuinely wanted to see what he’d do next.

So when these two mammoths clashed, who would win?

The Story

After being a babyface for his entire main roster career, Goldberg turned heel at the Great American Bash 2000 and aligned himself with The New Blood. Steiner was also a member of TNB despite being one of the oldest and most tenured wrestlers on the roster. Despite being stablemates, Steiner and Goldberg had two big matches in the months ahead: first, Steiner helped Goldberg beat Kevin Nash at Bash At The Beach; and second, the three-way #1 contender’s match at New Blood Rising. That latter one is still remembered among fans for having one of the dumbest Russo-style ‘worked shoots’ in history with the whole ‘Goldberg refuses to go up for the Jackknife’ spot.

With each passing week Goldberg began losing his aura; no matter how despicable WCW tried to make him he didn’t translate into heel heat. He simply wasn’t cut out to be booed, not even when he Jackhammered Steiner’s girlfriend Midajah through a table backstage. And when Steiner got revenge and cut his typical Steiner promos, he, too didn’t come across as much of a babyface. It also didn’t help that Goldberg’s girlfriend sold being ‘held hostage’ by Steiner with as much enthusiasm as the average fan had for Russo-era WCW in general.

By the time this match came about Goldberg’s heel run was basically retconned and WCW panic-booked him into being the same babyface as before. His monster aura was rebuilt as he endured multi-man beat-downs, got revenge on Steiner with a lead pipe at one point, and even freed himself from being handcuffed to the front of a school bus.

So who would win: the unstoppable wrecking ball that was Goldberg, or the unchained and unpredictable genetic freak that was Scott Steiner?

The Match

This took place on September 17, 2000. It was rated ****1/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is a No-Disqualification match. Goldberg’s right arm is taped up while Steiner wrestles with a protective mask as part of his face is fractured. They lock-up and Steiner gets Goldberg in a corner. He lands some forearms and sends Goldberg off the ropes but Goldberg ducks a clothesline and hits a shoulderblock. Goldberg lifts Steiner overhead and drops him with a front powerslam with authority. He sends Steiner off the ropes but Steiner bails to ringside. Steiner reverses a whip into the barricade and then once in the ring hits a short-arm clothesline followed by an elbow drop for a two-count. He hits a strike barrage in a corner but then Goldberg gets his boot up. Goldberg lands a butterfly suplex and follows with mounted punches but stops due to Steiner’s mask being in the way. He shoots Steiner off the ropes but Steiner blocks a back body drop with a swinging neckbreaker.

Steiner lands a swinging belly-to-belly suplex for another two-count and lifts Goldberg up into the Tombstone position. But then Goldberg reverses and turns it into a Tombstone press powerslam for another two-count. Goldberg charges for a corner spear but Steiner sidesteps. Steiner goes for a diving attack but Goldberg catches him in midair and lands a swinging powerslam. Both men go down.

Steiner reverses a sudden Irish whip to send Goldberg into the ringsteps. Midajah comes out with a pipe as Steiner hits Goldberg with a chair. Goldberg’s bleeding from the head as he falls out of the tree of woe. Steiner trash-talks some fans who flip him off in return. He lands an Exploder suplex and does some push-ups, because Steiner. Then he lands a rib breaker and goes for a full nelson but Goldberg elbows out, only for Steiner to land an overhead belly-to-belly.

Midajah hands Steiner a lead pipe but turns around to Goldberg charging for a spear. Steiner instinctively puts the pipe in front of his body but it doesn’t stop Goldberg at all. Then Goldberg prepares for a Jackhammer…when VINCE RUSSO appears. Russo hits Goldberg with a (foam) baseball bat and gloats thinking he has accomplished something when Steiner covers but only gets a two-count.

Steiner shitcans Goldberg and attacks him from behind as he was distracted by Russo. He whips Goldberg into a barricade and then scoop slams him through a table. In the ring, Steiner applies his Steiner Recliner camel clutch and then Midajah kicks his hand off the ropes. Steiner moves towards the middle of the ring but Goldberg powers up and lifts himself up with Steiner on his shoulders. Goldberg drops him against the ropes but Steiner fires back with a clothesline. Goldberg stops a Super Frankensteiner but Midajah hits him with the pipe from behind. Steiner capitalizes with an avalanche belly-to-belly suplex but only gets two. Steiner reapplies the Recliner but Goldberg crawls to the ropes and uses them to launch Steiner to the floor.

Steiner grabs a chair but Goldberg ducks and lands a snap swinging neckbreaker. He prepares a spear but sees Russo trying to interfere and this time he catches the little weasel. He grabs Russo by the throat but Steiner this him with the pipe some more. Steiner reapplies the Recliner and this time Goldberg’s arm sinks down three times, leading to the bell being called.

Winner after 13:51: Scott Steiner

Review

This match was fine but doesn’t hold up that well. It started off promising but by the halfway mark it went downhill. The opening half was filled with impressive power moves and high-impact bombs that made this feel like the titanic clash it was sold to be. But once Midajah came down the match began to shift in another direction. In their quest to re-protect Goldberg WCW’s decision-makers turned this into an overbooked mess with more and more people getting involved and slowing things down. Midajah became a constant thorn in Goldberg’s side. Then Vince Russo, the second-least intimidating on-screen figure in modern wrestling history, came out and worsened things as Goldberg was forced to sell for him. And somehow, Russo’s attack came off as less impactful/more pathetic than Midajah’s, even though both of them were using weapons against Goldberg.

Once the interference became a constant the match slowed to a snail’s pace. The dead air between spots grew longer with each passing minute. Individual moves were executed more slowly and more sloppily. It became harder for the wrestlers to maintain the same sense of tension and drama. Goldberg as a babyface-in-peril overcoming the odds didn’t fit him and as a result that narrative hurt the match. The closing moments with Goldberg fighting against the combined elements of Steiner’s power (except with his weak-looking Recliner) and two pencil-thin non-wrestlers hitting him with “metal” objects just came across as cheesy and overbooked. So by the time the match actually ended it didn’t have the dramatic impact it should’ve had, even though the actual concept – a strong babyface fighting off multiple threats all at once – was a sound idea on paper.

Final Rating: ***

This could’ve been a great match had they kept it a straight No DQ match but without the interference. Even though there was a convoluted storyline behind it the fans cared more about seeing these two behemoths clash and throw each other around. They did that but once the nonsense began the match lost its special aura and became just another nonsensical LOLWCW disappointment. Though it was still better than most of that company’s output at the time it wasn’t all that special despite the company’s best efforts at convincing people otherwise.

It’s possible that, because of matches like this, fans are so vocal in their criticism. Fans who recognize certain patterns or see certain things can conclude with some accuracy that going down a certain path or making certain bad decisions could have serious negative consequences. So even though WCW has been dead for almost a quarter of a century, the mistakes it’s power-brokers made towards the end will serve as critical reminders of bad decision-making for decades to come.

Thanks for reading.