The more things change, the more they stay the same.
As much as some of the modern pundits want to write off or dismiss the fundamental philosophy of professional wrestling, regardless of if it was Vince McMahon’s tireless attempts to only be known as sports entertainment, or Dave Meltzer’s claims that 87 stars translate into a better show even if it doesn’t draw better money, the building blocks are still the same.
Those building blocks encompass everything from psychology to the presentation to the marketing of the product. Along with that, many of the same tactics within the competition of the industry are still there even decades later.
When Jim Crockett Promotions attempted to put Starrcade on pay-per-view throughout the pro wrestling boom of the 80s, Vince McMahon eventually told cable providers that if they wanted the ability to sell his signature Wrestlemania show, they couldn’t offer Crockett events to their customers. When the majority of providers dropped the NWA from their line-ups, Crockett put the first Clash of The Champions, headlined by Ric Flair vs. Sting for the world title, on free television to go head-to-head with Wrestlemania IV on pay-per-view.
Of course, after Ted Turner bought Crockett Promotions, both organizations opted against those pay-per-view tactics, especially after those same cable providers discouraged the attempts to disrupt their revenue streams. Of course, the cable companies were getting a piece of each pie so it was quite literally in their interest to see some level of PPV peace so that more money overall could be generated.
As much as the media landscape has changed, with pay-per-view shifting mostly to streaming platforms, counter programming resurfaced as a part of the industry nearly four decades later.
With All Elite Wrestling positioning its biggest event of the year at All In Texas set for a stadium in Arlington on July 12, the TKO corporation isn’t going to let the show be unopposed, especially when the publicly-traded company looks to maximize every revenue stream possible with the surge in momentum the brand had during the past few years. Ownership might’ve changed, but similar to Vince McMahon, the TKO executives know that limiting the potential market share for All Elite puts them in a position to dominate the industry even more than they are right now.
With the way that the combination of the merger with the UFC and the Netflix deal has truly globalized the WWE brand, the TKO suites are going to maximize every opportunity to garner every dollar possible. It sounds harsh, but corporations aren’t worth billions because they leave money on the table, especially when they have to answer to shareholders during the conference calls.
We found out on Raw this past week what card WWE brass is going to play against AEW’s pay-per-view in a stadium, Bill Goldberg vs. Gunther for the world heavyweight title in what many anticipate will be Goldberg’s retirement match in his hometown of Atlanta for free on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Truth be told, I’m not sure the counter programming aspect is going to make a major difference in the buyrate of All In one way or the other. The diehard All Elite demographic of around 100,000 fans that usually order their PPVs aren’t the audience that are going to be swayed or drawn to Bill Goldberg’s retirement match. Quite simply, the viewer that is willing to pay to see Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW world title would have minimal interest in watching an aging Goldberg against Gunther.
That’s why the bigger question is probably, is there a demand for another Goldberg bout, and should it be something that takes place even if there is a demand for it?
I have to be honest, while the former WCW champion’s return in 2016 and subsequent title reign was great stuff because it was so unexpected and most fans wanted to see him get a chance to conclude his career in a proper fashion, more or less everything else since that time has yielded mixed results at best. The disastrous match with The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia in 2018 more or less tarnished the shine from another Goldberg run. Sure, he had a pair of decent matches against Bobby Lashley in 2021, but his bouts against The Fiend and Braun Strowman the year before were subpar. His matches against Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns were so brief that they almost sent the message that there wasn’t any more steam left for the Goldberg experiment.
All things considered, Bill Goldberg should’ve hung up his boots after he dropped the title back to Brock Lesnar in 2017. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame him for taking seven figures to work a match against The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia, most of the fans can conveniently forget that it happened, similar to the collective decision for everyone to move on after Shawn Micheals returned for his own train wreck in Saudi, but aside from that, there wasn’t really anything left for him to offer. That’s not meant as a knock, Goldberg is a legitimate legend and only needed a few prime years in the industry to accomplish it, but he was working with a limited skill set to begin with so after the 2016 comeback, there just wasn’t realistically any new ground to cover in any way, shape, or form.
The fans that wanted to see the WCW legend get his final run and credit for his accomplishments had the chance to see it. Anything after The Undertaker match in 2018 was a retread just for the sake of a retread. On the surface, someone of his caliber should get a retirement match, but as mentioned, he essentially already had that final run when he could’ve retired after a main event feud with Lesnar.
I understand that it’s a nice occasion for him to officially end his career in Atlanta, but is it the smart choice in 2025? At 58, Goldberg seemed to walk with a slight limp on his way to the ring to confront Gunther. It wouldn’t be shocking if the aging legend was injured training for the retirement bout, as that’s what happened to Ric Flair when he infamously had his last match a few years ago. Granted, Gunther is a true pro and will take care of Goldberg in the ring, but again all things considered, is a bout against one of the most physical performers on the roster a good choice for another Goldberg contest?
Aside from a potential injury, given the circumstances, this might be a situation where a letdown might be unavoidable. The reason being, Goldberg isn’t going to beat Gunther for the championship, and at his age, he isn’t going to be able to work a match longer than just a few minutes so how is a short bout that he loses going to be a proper retirement segment for him?
The only possible solution that I can see as a realistic possibility is that there’s some type of fluke scenario where Gunther beats Goldberg, but then the former WCW champion lands a spear after the match to allow him for a celebration to conclude the show. Either way, as much as Bill Goldberg the real-life guy wants a retirement match in his hometown, I can’t see it as a wise decision to put Goldberg the wrestler in the ring at his age, especially after he looked to be potentially injured on Raw this week.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
