Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection (Disc 2)

Disc 2 focuses on Goldberg’s time in the WWE, along with some Blu-ray exclusive matches.

~Disc 2 Match Results and Star Ratings (Running time 02:41:25)~

1. WWE Backlash, 4/27/03: Goldberg defeated The Rock at 15:00. **
2. WWE RAW, 5/12/03: Goldberg defeated Christian in a Steel Cage Match at 6:47. **½
3. WWE Bad Blood, 6/15/03: Goldberg defeated Chris Jericho at 11:00. ***¼
4. WWE SummerSlam, 8/24/03: World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Kevin Nash at 19:16 in the Elimination Chamber to retain the title. ***½
5. WWE Unforgiven, 9/21/03: Goldberg defeated World Heavyweight Champion Triple H at 14:42 to win the title. *¾
6. WWE RAW, 10/6/03: World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg defeated Mark Henry by disqualification in a non-title match at 5:10. *½
7. WWE RAW, 11/10/03: World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg and Batista wrestled to a no-contest at 2:17 in a non-title match. ¾*
8. WWE Survivor Series, 11/16/03: World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg defeated Triple H at 11:45 to retain the title. *½
9. WWE WrestleMania XX, 3/14/04: Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar at 13:48. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was the special referee. DUD

Disc 2 opens with Goldberg’s debut in WWE, when he faced The Rock at Backlash 2003. They immediately asked Goldberg to work a 15-minute WWE-style main event, and that’s not something he was really equipped to do. Goldberg was, however, well-equipped to destroy Christian in a Steel Cage match a few weeks later on RAW. Christian takes one of the all-time best Spears in this one. The next month, Goldberg tied up a loose end from WCW, finally facing Chris Jericho. They had a pretty good match, in between the length of the Christian match and the Rock match, which seemed like it could be the sweet spot for Goldberg at this time.

Then it was time for Goldberg to go up against Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. That began with the Elimination Chamber match at SummerSlam 2003, which was the shortest Chamber match until WWE brought the bout to Saudi Arabia in 2022. Goldberg was the last man to enter the Chamber, and he ripped through everybody (except Nash, who had already been eliminated). Triple H ended up pinning Goldberg after hitting  him with the Sledgehammer – which angered people to no end at this time. I kind of have to defend the choice though. It was the days of split-brand pay-per-views, with the next one after this a RAW exclusive. You can figure that SummerSlam would draw based on all their top stars being there, plus the Chamber. But if you have Goldberg winning the title from HHH the next month at Unforgiven, you likely draw a bigger buy for that show. I absolutely see why they did it this way. They added a bloody beat-down on Goldberg after the match, further juicing the next month’s show.

Speaking of Unforgiven 2003, Goldberg did defeat Triple H in a one-on-one math to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, HHH did not play to Goldberg’s strengths the way Jericho and Christian did, and the match was a plodding bore. Before the rematch with Triple H, Goldberg faced both Mark Henry and Batista in non-title matches. Both were instances of trying to cash in a $100,000 bounty that HHH had placed on Goldberg, and both matches were really short with unsatisfying finishes. Did Mark Henry really need protecting in 2003? Having Batista return by earning the $100,000 bounty was a good way to bring him back, and it makes more sense to do a non-finish with him because he just returned and was a member of Evolution. Goldberg then beat Triple H one more time at Survivor Series 2003. Triple H was still in his lazy biker shorts days, so the match, much like their prior effort, was not so good.

They skip over Goldberg losing the title back to Triple H in a three-way match with Kane at Armageddon 2003 and go right to his final match in WWE for the next 12-plus years – the unique encounter with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX. Both men were leaving the company after the match, and the crowd knew it and didn’t care for it. The crowd let these guys have it, chanting “you sold out,” “boring,” and “this match sucks,” and singing the “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” song. Indeed, the match is awful, but it’s a fun watch to hear the crowd completely rejecting what was in front of them. Special referee Stone Cold Steve Austin hit both men with Stunners to send them packing.

Much like the first disc, this one was a pretty good summation of his time in WWE. It covers his title win and major feuds, plus adds matches with Christian, Mark Henry, and Batista. I think he wrestled Kane a couple of times, but this set doesn’t suffer for their absence.

~Blu-ray Exclusive Matches (Running time 01:09:57)~

1. WCW/nWo Road Wild, 8/8/98: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg defeated The Giant, Lex Luger, Scott Norton, Sting, Curt Hennig, Konnan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall at 7:58 in a Battle Royal to retain the title. *½
2. WCW SuperBrawl IX, 2/21/99: Goldberg defeated Bam Bam Bigelow at 11:39. ***
3. WCW Monday NITRO, 11/8/99: Goldberg defeated Sting at 2:13. ½*
4. WCW Starrcade, 12/19/99: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Goldberg at 12:30 to retain the title. **¼
5. WWE RAW, 10/20/03: World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg and Shawn Michaels wrestled to a no-contest at 6:03. **½

Since this is the Blu-ray version, there are a handful of exclusive matches. The first is an idiotic battle royal that saw WCW burn through weeks or maybe even months of tile matches by having Goldberg essentially beat eight guys. It was a weak battle royal besides, but Goldberg did give The Giant the Jackhammer, and that’s impressive. After Goldberg lost the title, Bam Bam Bigelow returned to give him his next big challenge. They fought at SuperBrawl IX and had a pretty entertaining brawl / power match. They included a two-minute match with Sting that doesn’t appear to have any historical significance, and there’s already a good Sting match on Disc 1, so I wonder why they did that.

The set officially ends with matches against two of the greatest wrestlers of all-time: Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. First is the match that would end Bret’s career, when he defended the WCW Championship against Goldberg and Starrcade 1999. Remember when Bret and Goldberg were Tag Team Champions for a few days? The match itself was mostly fine, but the finish was beyond awful. Rowdy Roddy Piper came out in a referee shirt because reasons, and as soon as Bret put Goldberg in the Sharpshooter, Piper called for the bell. Piper then took the belt and walked away. Yes, they booked this finish on a show we HAD TO PAY FOR. The Shawn Michaels match was similar to the Mark Henry and Bastista bouts on the main program – short, and with an unsatisfying finish. But Michaels is better than those guys, and it had the urgency of being a title match, so it was at least a better outing than the Henry and Batista matches.

The Blu-ray exclusives add a couple of neat historical curiosities, but outside of the Michaels match, they make sense to be Blu-ray exclusive and not part of the DVD set.