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Worst in the World: Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX

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Special thanks to Jorge Dueñas for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.
It was doomed from the start. On paper, Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg was one of the most highly anticipated bouts on the WrestleMania XX. Both had been pushed to the moon since the beginning of their wrestling careers, with Lesnar becoming WWE Champion just four months after his debut and Goldberg becoming WCW World Heavyweight Champion in the midst of his 173-0 undefeated streak. Both were powerhouses with freakish athletic abilities. And with the story of Lesnar costing Goldberg the Royal Rumble match and Goldberg returning the favor by costing Lesnar his WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero, fans were ready for an intense, big ol' hoss match for the ages. Behind the scenes, however, the match would fall apart.
Goldberg had debuted in the WWE one-year prior, signing a one year deal, and following a shaky year that saw WWE use him against his strengths, he wasn't resigning now that his deal was up. Soon after, the news came out that Lesnar was done with WWE, as he was looking to pursue a career in the NFL. This would be both men's last matches in the company until Lesnar returned in 2012 and Goldberg returned in 2016. And the fans knew that going in. If this match is infamous for one thing, it's the crowd reaction, as it felt like there wasn't a single person in Madison Square Garden that night that didn't hate both men's guts. Even adding Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee couldn't save it. But that negative reaction could've been redeemed had the two put on a great match...but they didn't. With both men one foot out the door of WWE, Lesnar and Goldberg stank up the joint and put about as little effort as they could into this match. Let's get into it.
Austin's out first, followed by Lesnar. The crowd boos and a group of fans flip him the bird as he gets in the ring. Goldberg's out next, and he's a better but still lukewarm reaction and he earns middle fingers from those same fans. The bell rings and the two stare each other down, pacing around the ring as the crowd chants "YOU SOLD OUT!" This goes on for nearly three minutes. If this were an MMA fight, they'd be warned and threatened with timidity. The crowd starts the "NA NA NA NA HEY HEY HEY GOODBYE" chant as J.R. goes half-kayfabe, half-shoot by mentioning Lesnar leaving for the NFL but not Goldberg leaving. The crowd starts chanting for Austin as he tells them to engage, which they eventually do. The two finally lock up, 2:46 seconds after the bell rang. Jesus, Orange Cassidy acts like he cares more than these two did.
The two stay in a lock-up for over 40 seconds, testing each other's strength before breaking, neither getting a real advantage. The crowd boos this, rightfully so. Back to pacing and staring eachother down for 30 seconds before locking up again. They do the same test of strength only (thankfully) not as long, and once again neither gets the better of the other before they break. Yet another lock-up after more pacing and staring down, this time with Lesnar securing a headlock. Goldberg pushes off and Lesnar goes for a shoulder block, but Goldberg doesn't budge. Goldberg does the same, but Lesnar doesn't budge. The two go face to face before both going for a shoulder block, with both going down. The two do not interact again for almost a minute before Lesnar starts kicking Goldberg.
Goldberg fights back and hits a military press into a spinebuster, which makes the crowd pop for the first time in the match. Goldberg calls for the Spear, but Lesnar dodges it and sends him into the corner. As far as I know, this doesn't concuss Goldberg like it did in Saudi Arabia. Goldberg rolls out of the ring, where Lesnar throws him into the ring post as the crowd chants "GOLDBERG SUCKS!" Back in the ring, Lesnar goes for a suplex, but Goldberg blocks it twice, so Lesnar beats him down before suplexing him for a two count. Lesnar hits another suplex and before locking in a standing arm-triangle choke (pretty much Jake Hager's finisher, but worse) This goes on for over a minute before Goldberg breaks it with a hip toss, only for Lesnar to shoulder block him and go back to the submission. God this is boring. Goldberg breaks it again in half the time with another hip toss and goes for a clothesline, but Lesnar dodges it and hits an ugly clothesline of his own where the two bonk heads for a two fall. Lesnar strikes away at Goldberg as the crowd chants that the match sucks. They are not wrong.
Goldberg fights back and runs through Lesnar before hitting a swinging neckbreaker. Goldberg follows up with a Spear, but Lesnar kicks out at two. Goldberg gets in Austin's face, only to turn around into an F-5. Lesnar makes the cover, but Goldberg kicks out at two. Lesnar gets in Austin's face and calls for a Spear of his own, but Goldberg dodges it and sends Lesnar into the ring post. Goldberg hits another Spear and follows up with the Jackhammer for the three and the win. After the match, Lesnar flips off the crowd and Austin, earning him a Stunner for his troubles. Austin gets some beers and tosses Goldberg a few. The two each do a beer bash of their own, with Goldberg's earning him a chorus of boos. The two then share a beer, only for Austin to give Goldberg a Stunner. And thus, the first WWE runs of Brock Lesnar and Goldberg end with Stunners.

The Verdict

Just awful. It's painfully obvious neither of these men gave a single, solitary f*ck about putting on a good match. From the overly long stare-downs and pacing to the complete lack of action in the first half of the match to the long rest-holds to the complete and sudden transition to the finish, this match has nothing worth watching. I'd give them an A for effort, but they didn't try. How shocking is it that 12 years later, these two would put on better matches together than they did here when they were in their primes?

Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  3. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  4. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  5. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  6. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  7. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  8. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  9. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  10. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  11. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  12. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  13. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  14. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  15. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  16. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  17. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  18. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  19. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  20. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  21. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  22. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  23. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  24. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  25. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  26. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  27. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  28. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  29. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  30. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  31. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  32. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  33. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  34. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  35. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  36. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  37. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  38. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  39. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  40. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  41. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  42. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  43. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  44. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  45. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  46. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  47. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  48. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  49. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  50. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  51. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  52. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  53. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  54. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  55. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  56. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  57. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  58. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  59. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  60. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  61. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  62. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  63. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  64. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  65. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  66. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  67. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  68. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  69. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  70. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  71.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  72. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  73. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  74. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  75. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  76. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  77. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  78. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  79. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  80. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  81. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  82. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  83. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  84. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  85. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  86. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  87. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  88. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  89. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  90. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  91. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  92. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  93. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
  94. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  95. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  96. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  97. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  98. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  99. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  100. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  101. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  102. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  103. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  104. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  105. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  106. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  107. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  108. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  109. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  110. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  111. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  112. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  113. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  114. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  115. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  116. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  117. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  118. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  119. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  120. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
Thanks for reading. Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments below. Next week, I venture into the Undertaker's streak for the first time with (almost unarguably) the worst of his 21-straight wins on The Grandest Stage of them All. Until next time...

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