Goldberg Expresses Interest In TNA

[Enigma 0]

While appearing on Bubba the Love Sponge's Sirius radio show this afternoon, former WCW and WWE World champion Bill Goldberg commented on TNA saying that if Spike TV wanted to invest their money and effort to go against WWE, he would be interested in discussing it. He also noted that he's had conversations recently with Sting about TNA.

 

The only other wrestling-related notes were Goldberg commenting that WWE "blew it" with his Wrestlemania XX match against Brock Lesnar, and praised Hulk Hogan for helping him get his agent ("wrestling agent" Barry Bloom, who also represents Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Mick Foley).

[Downhome 0]

Just like I said in the "comments" thread (about PWInsider saying that Goldberg and TNA are now in talks):

 

If Sting raised the ratings, then I do not have a doubt in my mind that Goldberg could do the exact same. People would pay, or at least tune in, to see him take on JJ, Sting, Christian, Joe, Abyss, Monty etc... You wouldn't even need to really bother putting the title on him.

 

What I would do is work with these guys like Sting and Goldberg, and use them to help the company grow. I believe Sting had a hell of a lot to do with Spike giving TNA the primetime show (hell, they are paying for half of his contract aren't they?). Keep milking this high why they can, and hopefully get a two hour show out of it, keep pushing it until they get on Monday nights. The key to it is to keep on promoting their original TNA talent while all of this is going on. Make guys like Abyss and Joe look fantastic while these other guys are being brought in.

 

Talk Spike into giving them enough money to help pay for Goldberg also, and slowly build to a Goldberg/Joe match, with all of the hype from Goldberg's old streak compared to Joe's current streak, and do whatever needs to be done to have Joe go over Goldberg in the end. I'm the biggest Goldberg fan ever, but even I would want to see that happen.

 

If signing guys like Sting and Goldberg can help the company grow, I don't have a problem with them being brought in at all. They really dropped the ball with Sting though, and that horrible retirement angle they are trying to pull off. I'll never understand why they would cut such a hot thing so short to do something like that. The last thing we need is a slow build to a Sting/JJ title match.

 

I also believe that those involved in TNA have a much better understanding about how to book Goldberg. A lot more so than the guys in WWE who totally screwed up his run there.

[razazteca 0]

Goldberg could be used to help promote TNA house shows.

[Dangerous A 0]

Here's a hypothetical thrown at you guys...

 

Let's say hypothetically that Lesnar were to have his no compete thrown out and could participate with TNA and hypothetically TNA signs him.

 

Throw in Goldberg to the mix. Could TNA re-do Lesnar vs Goldberg and not have the crowd shit on it? Or is the stigma already attached to this particular matchup? Does TNA even have the moxy to properly book and promote a Lesnar/Goldberg rematch?

[razazteca 0]

It could work just have positive propaganda distributed on the net through blogs and various radio shows.

[Downhome 0]

I think there is a hell of a lot of money to be made in a Goldberg/Brock match. The entire situation surrounding their Wrestlemania match was just begging for it to be shit. It was well known that Brock was just up and leaving WWE to go to the NFL, and everyone also knew that Goldberg's contract was up. It was only natural for the fans to shit on that match.

 

If TNA booked it for a PPV, I could see it being huge, with the "correct" crowd reaction. Hell, I'd be interested in seeing them book it as face vs. face. Leave almost any storyline out of it, other than the back story about their other match. Have it be where both guys want to really go out there and have the match, this time for real, the "what could have been" come to life.

 

Do not involve a title either. That match would be so huge, no title would be needed.

[snuffbox 0]

If they get Goldberg...they need to spend at least a couple months worth of shows with him just squashing lower-card people. That was obviously the wwe's biggest problem. After that they have a pretty wide choice of dream singles and tag team matches.

 

I agree about him being able to help start house show business as well. Pay him to join a tour and either squash somebody in a feature match or particpate in a main event tag. It would sell plenty of tickets, and he might do it because hed be getting paid to win and work very little.

[Downhome 0]

Not to mention that it would allow him to promte his TV show.

[SuperJerk 0]

If they get Goldberg...they need to spend at least a couple months worth of shows with him just squashing lower-card people.

 

That's pretty much 75% of what we're getting now on Impact anyways.

[snuffbox 0]

Squashes have a lot more meaning when Goldberg is the monster.

[Downhome 0]

I do not think you need Goldberg coming into TNA squashing guys left and right. We already know what Goldberg is all about, we've been through that already. They have their on version of a Goldberg type character with a streak going on right now in Samoa Joe. If Goldberg shows up, sure, introduce him by have a couple of guys job to him really quickly, guys who are expendable (obviously expendable), but no more than that. Having Goldberg come in doing all of that to all of the TNA talent would do more harm than good long term.

 

He comes in, beats a few guys over the course of 3-4 weeks, while at the same time creating his first major storyline, and once that first main storyline gets going really good, you end any type of Goldberg squashes.

 

He can be booked succesfully, without having to do that all over again. There is more than enough talent in TNA to have him seriously work big time programs with.

 

And like I said before, the main one would be with Samoa Joe. That is a big time money match in the making.

[Guest El Satanico]

If he comes in with Sting's attitude and is all about helping TNA, then I'd be for it.

 

And that's coming from a Goldberg hater. However, I'd rather he look strong without a long streak of jobber squashes.

[snuffbox 0]

I dont think it worked too well when Goldberg went to the wwe and started working programs with already established guys. A lesson should have been learned there. It would be best to let Goldberg run with squashes for at least a months worth of programming, and a ppv squash of a decent guy before putting him into a serious feud.

[Downhome 0]

People need to stop thinking of TNA and WWE in the same way. It would have worked much better to have Goldberg go into TNA and do the squash thing for a while before hitting a major feud. He's a big time WCW guy coming into WWE, and no one would really think anything of him coming in doing the squash deal there, since it would be done to guys with a ton of exposure and TV time anyway. It's what they should have done with Goldberg, and one of the reasons they botched his entire run.

 

However, with TNA, you can't have this big time WCW star, one of the most popular guys of all time, march right in and start squashing their guys. It would make the entire TNA group look horrible.

 

If he does the squash thing in TNA, it should only be done to the most expendable guys that they have, and it shouldn't last any more than 3-4 weeks. After than, then move right on to major feuds.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

They should book Goldberg like they booked Samoa Joe. Same deal if they were to somehow get Lesnar. Have Goldberg/Lesnar beat all the heels, but not necessarily destroy them, and do the same with Joe against the faces, all the while teasing a Goldberg/Lesnar vs. Joe match. Then, when they've beaten everyone but each other, build towards the big showdown between the two monsters.

[Guest El Satanico]

The small TNA audiences may turn if Goldberg went on an WCWesque jobber squash streak for months.

 

Not a good turn...a Jarret turn

[Downhome 0]

I wouldn't have any problem with that, as long as they weren't all squashes. I think it's work a lot better with Goldberg/Joe also, just because of the history of Goldberg. Maybe do the big time Goldberg/Joe match, after that build like you said, then have Joe go over.

 

Then, after a short period of time goes by, have Brock enter TNA, and then build the big time Goldberg/Brock rematch, like I mentioned before.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

They don't have to be all squashes, just convincing and decisive wins. It can be done. Just look at Joe.

[razazteca 0]

The Florida fans seem to be eating up the whole jobber squash streak since TNA has what 3 or 4 people doing it at the same time on iMPACT....why would they shit on it if big name outsider does it too?

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

I don't think Goldburg squashing a bunch of guys is going to help him reignite his career.

 

The squashes lost all meaning in Dec 98 when the unbeatable Goldburg was beaten. He never recovered that momentum. 7 years have since passed.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Jericho lost his momentum in WCW. Then he showed up in the WWF and was over huge. It might have only lasted a few weeks until he had his legs cut out, but he was over huge.

[Downhome 0]

They don't have to be all squashes, just convincing and decisive wins. It can be done. Just look at Joe.

 

As long as they were all hard fought contests, I doubt the fans would turn on it. Many TNA fans are more than likely Goldberg fans already. The way Goldberg is overall, his character and everything, people expect him to kick ass more often than not, so seeing him win would more than likely be what they would want to see. As long as he didn't start squashing guys, just beating the hell out of everyone from the opening bell to the decision, it would be fine. The first few can be squashes, but after that, no.

 

You have to admit though, it would take TNA creative to actually use their heads, week after week. Maybe build someone up as a really cocky heel in the midcard to the point that they want to see him get destroyed. Something like that could be a sort of squash and it wouldn't hurt anybody.

 

I wouldn't even start all of that though if they don't think their team can book it the way it should be done. Is that something that we could trust TNA creative with?

 

EDIT:

 

TNA should keep their eyes and ears open as well. You see what this has all of us doing right now? We're already talking about it, and it isn't even able to actually happen yet. That's what they need to do, get people talking, then follow through with it.

[UZI Suicide 0]

The Universal Studios crowd is too smarky for Goldberg. They'd turn on him from day 1.

[razazteca 0]

What are they going to do start chanting "SELL OUT!" the second he enters the ring?

[Downhome 0]

That Universal Studios TNA crowd isn't a smark crowd. Hell, I don't even think they know what the fuck they are.

[Guest Coffey]

If Goldberg were to debut in TNA and squash Jeff Jarrett, for the title, in typical Goldberg thirty second fashion, I wouldn't complain.

 

That being said, it'd be really hard for anyone on the TNA roster outside of maybe Joe, Abyss and Sting to believably go over Goldberg so putting the title on him probably isn't the best decision.

 

WWE messed up Goldberg but there were still some signs of good TV thrown in there too. I REALLY wanted to see Goldberg end the Rodney Mack "white boy challenge" and when he did, I was happy. I just thought WWE did a lot of things that people didn't want to see...like Goldberg and Austin being friends instead of enemies. Little things like that do matter in the end.

[Magus 0]

Goldberg could help TNA in a lot of ways, but I'd like us to note the BAD things this could mean:

 

1) Goldberg isn't the most humble guy on earth, last I checked. Maybe he'd cooperate just to spite WWE. But for "only" half a mil, he might just remain his normal asshole self. If Goldberg doesn't want to put over Samoa Joe, Abyss, or AJ, then its not going to happen. He's not worth it if he won't put TNA guys over. Hell, it's been three years, I'm still not sure that ANY of TNA's homegrown guys are going to get over as legit main eventers EVER.

 

2) Adding Goldberg to an already volitile roster needs to be handled delicately, and TNA's booking has never been very ingenius. Especially with Jarrett at the helm. I can't see them coming up with anything terribly entertaining for Goldberg to do. He'll fued with Jarrett, of course. He might even LOSE to Jarrett.

 

3) Pushing Goldberg means depushing more homegrown TNA guys. There are guys in TNA who should've gotten their chance to lead the pack, but haven't because of name wrestlers coming in. Hell, Styles and Truth were mishandled in the ME just from inept booking. Guys like Abyss and Monty keep getting put on the back burner because TNA has to push Rhino, Christian, and even Shannon Moore. They tell us that these guys are the future, that their time will come. But they keep pushing that time back, and bringing in Goldberg will push it back even further. Keep pushing and soon they won't have any heat left.

 

 

I understand that TNA needs the names, but more than that, they need to keep themselves from becoming the next WCW. Lots of stars and throwing money around with no creativity is exactly where that'll lead them.

[Adam 0]

I doubt Goldberg would lose to Jarrett. Goldberg wouldn't sign a contract without major creative control.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I doubt Goldberg would lose to Jarrett. Goldberg wouldn't sign a contract without major creative control.

Exactly.

 

The only reason that Goldberg would be willing to work for the good of the company - instead of the good of himself - would be to screw with Vince & the WWE. The guy has done nothing to give me the impression that he'd be willing to be put over Joe, Abyss, Rhino, Christian, etc.

[dubq 0]

Goldberg could be used to help promote TNA house shows.

 

Like he'd ever work a house show schedule..