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Worst in the World: Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020

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It's been almost a year since I covered the infamous Hell in a Cell match between Seth Rollins and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. In that review, I called the booking terrible, specifically in regards to how negatively this could've affected The Fiend, who was arguably the hottest act going in WWE at the time. Thankfully, this disaster of a match didn't kill The Fiend, as he eventually won the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel that same year. The borderline character assassination attempt failed. But of course, this is the WWE. They have a knack for fucking things up one way or another. That brings us to Super ShowDown 2020. After his disaster of a match at the last Super ShowDown, Goldberg had returned to the ring and somewhat redeemed himself with a fun match at SummerSlam against Dolph Ziggler. Goldberg then set his sights on getting the Universal Championship rematch he never got. A simple story that would be a huge win for Bray Wyatt. Beating a WWE Hall of Famer known for being one of the most dominant of the 90s would be a huge rub. Unfortunately, creative had other ideas. Let's get into this.
During the entrances, we get a look at The Fiend's custom Universal Championship and...
I don't really know how to feel about it. It's just The Fiend's mask, which is awesome, but it really doesn't even look like a title belt. It would be cool to own as a collectible...if it didn't cost you $6,500. The bell rings and the two go face to face, only for Goldberg to hit a Spear as Wyatt is taking off his jacket. That's rude. Goldberg makes the cover, but Wyatt kicks out at 1. Wyatt quickly sits up and locks in the Mandible Claw, taking Goldberg down to one knee, but Goldberg breaks it and hits a second Spear. Goldberg follows up with a third...then a fourth...and makes the cover, but Wyatt kicks out again. Wyatt sits up again and locks in another Mandible Claw, getting Goldberg down to his knee again, but Goldberg breaks it with a headbutt and a few knees before hitting the worst Jackhammer I've ever seen.
Say what you will about the one he hit on the Undertaker, but at least he got Taker up for that.
Goldberg makes the cover and gets the three for the win, and the Universal Championship. Just awful. And what makes it worse is why this title change happened. Apparently, Wyatt was supposed to win this match, or at least keep the title, but Goldberg lobbied for creative control and to win because kids see him as a superhero and they needed to see him beat a monster like The Fiend to keep that mystique alive. That's...really dumb logic. Maybe I'm just too old to get it, but I just don't agree with sacrificing the hottest act in the company so Goldberg can be a superhero for kids who only know him from this run, not when he was an asskicker in WCW.
Thankfully, they had the real title at ringside so Goldberg didn't have to celebrate with Wyatt's weird version.
As Goldberg celebrates, the Fiend gets back to his feet...only for the lights to go out and for him to disappear. What? Goldberg stands tall to close the show.

The Verdict

So...the match is pretty much what I was expecting. Goldberg's whole thing is that he has short, explosive matches. The Fiend's whole thing is that he's basically impervious to pain and can endure finisher after finisher and keep getting back up. Put those two schticks together and you get this match to a T. The match doesn't even go three minutes, but it has four Spears, two Mandible Claws, and a Jackhammer. It's exactly what you'd expect. I honestly think that if Wyatt had gone over and kept the championship, then this match wouldn't be as reviled as it is today. The outcome is truly the worst part of the match.
But of course, the outcome did happen, and it was a terrible decision. There was absolutely no reason for Goldberg to beat the Fiend or to win the title. He's going to be over regardless, he didn't need to walk into WrestleMania with the title. All this match did was kill off a lot of the momentum Bray Wyatt had as The Fiend, just to stroke a past his prime, 53-year-old wrestler's ego. This was character assassination attempt #2 for The Fiend. After being booked as an unstoppable monster you could barely be kept down for a two count, and survived a dozen finishers just a couple of months ago at Hell in a Cell, he gets squashed and beaten with a few signatures and a finisher. I really thought this was it for the Fiend. I genuinely thought there wasn't any recovering from this burial. But thankfully, we ended up getting the Firefly Funhouse match, and it basically revived the mystique of the Fiend. But anyways, fuck this match.

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. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  4. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
  5. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  6. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  7. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  8. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  9. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  10. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  11. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  12. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  13. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  14. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  15. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  16. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
  17. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  18. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  19. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  20. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  21. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  22. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  23. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  24. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  25. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
  26. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  27. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  28. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  29. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  30. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  31. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  32. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  33. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  34. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  35. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  36. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  37. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  38. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
  39. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  40. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  41. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
  42. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  43. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  44. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  45. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  46. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  47. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  48. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  49. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  50. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  51. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  52. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  53. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  54. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
  55. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  56. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  57. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  58. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  59. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  60. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  61. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  62. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  63. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
  64. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
  65. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  66. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  67. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  68. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  69. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  70. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  71. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  72. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  73. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  74. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  75. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  76. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  77. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  78. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  79. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  80. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  81. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  82. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  83. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  84. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  85. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  86. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  87.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  88. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  89. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  90. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  91. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  92. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  93. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  94. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  95. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  96. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  97. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  98. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  99. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  100. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  101. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  102. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  103. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  104. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  105. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  106. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  107. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  108. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  109. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  110. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  111. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
  112. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  113. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
  114. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  115. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  116. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  117. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  118. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  119. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  120. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  121. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  122. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  123. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
  124. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  125. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  126. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  127. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  128. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  129. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  130. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  131. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  132. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  133. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  134. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  135. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  136. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  137. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  138. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  139. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  140. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  141. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  142. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  143. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  144. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  145. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  146. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Until next time...
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Comments

  1. Otter EmpireMarch 29, 2021 at 4:39 PM

    I think The Great Antonio vs Antonio Inoki and Nailz vs El Gigante have avoided this list for far too long

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleMarch 29, 2021 at 5:21 PM

      Thanks for the suggestions! And yes, both of those are more than deserving of getting their own posts. I've got one already written for next Saturday, but I'll get right to does after that.

      Delete

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