
Wrestling discourse has been running wild recently with people dropping their GWE100 or 100 Greatest Wrestlers Ever list & there has been the usual discourse and arguments from the consensus, discourse about Bryan Danielson, Shawn Michaels, Kenny Omega & Kurt Angle & why you shouldn’t speak on the sport if theyโre not in your top 10, Im not here to speak on that but rather im here to speak on Goldberg & how he made MY #GWE100.

Objectivity
Well first off there is none, Wrestling is an artform that unlike sports cant be analyzed with objectivity, there are no stats or arguments that make wrestler X objectively better than wrestler Y but thats where the fun happens, don’t only look at the take or the statement but rather look at the argument and have a conversation on your tastes and preferences and why you value x over y and what makes this guy cooler to you and this girl lame to you, its just that simple.

WCW Struck Gold
I am not here to argue or try to convince you that Goldberg is good, if you don’t like him that’s fine, I’m here to try to explain to you why i think he’s great and what makes him a top 100 wrestler to me, firstly i think his biggest case for top 100 for me is, he is one of the best TV wrestlers ever, Goldberg found his niche and perfected it, he is by far in my opinion the best squash match wrestler ever, his sheer mention at his peak guaranteed you great TV, its simple his presence and the magnitude he adds to matches alone is all time great level, you pair this with a formula that amplify his strengths athletically and you get one of the greatest acts wrestling TV has seen. There was a vibe he brought to TV unlike no other, for 10 minutes (including his cool ass entrance) a week, there was a vibe like we were in a coliseum and the worlds greatest gladiator on earth is taking on a new foe, this alone puts him the convo for best tv wrestlers ever. Stylistically, have we seen wrestlers like him before? yes. Can they do what he did? i don’t think so, there was something so bizarre and unreal about a 6’4, 285 pound man showing off his sambo experience and going for take downs and leg locks for the first 30 seconds of the match and then ripping someone apart with a spear and jackhammer, week by week wrestlers made attempts and had different approaches on trying to stop Goldberg, limb work, matching power with power, trying to tire him out, heel tactics, everything and anything they could. Stylistically, this is one of the easiest wrestlers to mesh with, its simple try to take down this behemoth before he gets angry and break your neck. What im getting at is, this man has the highest floor of any act on TV maybe ever and definitely today, do you know how much value someone like Goldberg will add to a product or wrestling company today?

Unreal Highs
Goldberg & his sheer presence gave you the ability to work some of the greatest matches ever, yes theyre 15 sec-3 minutes long but who cares, matches like
- vs La Parka 6/1/98
- vs Ray Traylor 3/30/98
- vs Disco Inferno 2/7/98
- vs Steve Regal 2/9/98
- vs Brad Armstrong 1/26/98
- vs Dolph Ziggler 8/11/19
- vs Chavo Guerrero 6/6/98
- vs The Giant 11/23/98
- vs Brock Lesnar 11/20/16
- vs Brock Lesnar 4/2/17
encapsulate his brilliance, are these 30 minute epics? no & that’s alright these matches know their niche, they know what they’re set out to do and they execute it perfectly, these matches tell their story in a way that doesn’t need to go 30 minutes, matches like the LA Park are in conversation for greatest tv matches ever. There are criticisms or arguments i can see and acknowledge, “Goldberg cant grab a hold” yea why would you wanna see that. “Goldberg cant go past 5 minutes” i think he can but even then, if he gets his job done better than most in FIVE minutes who cares? is he fundamentally sound, no he’s not a grappler, he’s not a technical savant, he’s not brilliant on the mat, โhe doesn’t do more than 5 movesโ, these arguments to me just don’t matter, there are wrestlers for that and if it wasn’t obvious that’s not who Goldberg was. Wrestling is simple, heel gets heat and makes the babyface work for the shine or hope spot & Goldberg does this to a tea & in such a short time so who cares if he doesn’t go 30 minutes in a drawn out “epic” that ends in finisher spams, counters and kickouts.
Closing Statement
I tried to make this quick, there is a lot that goes into wrestling & Goldberg used the simple things & made them feel like the biggest things in the world, there are better wrestlers obviously, wrestlers who blow him out the water fundamentally or mechanically but they donโt bring what goldberg brought & itโs always nice to have variety on your GWE100.


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