Jim Ross believes Vince McMahon’s unfamiliarity with Goldberg played a significant role in WWE’s hesitation to make the former WCW star World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam 2003.
Ross revisited Goldberg’s first WWE run in a video published by the Grilling JR channel, discussing the transitional period the company faced following Steve Austin’s retirement and The Rock’s move into Hollywood.
According to Ross, WWE knew how to present Goldberg effectively, but McMahon had not developed the same relationship with him that he had with stars who rose through WWE.
“But Vince didn’t know Goldberg that way. And he knew he wouldn’t get the chance to really build that relationship as Bill was on a one-year deal. The thing was in 2003, we knew how to book a guy like Goldberg. We knew how to get an ass-kicking, bald, no-nonsense guy over. But Bill was not a Vince McMahon creation like Austin was. So even though he was under contract and officially a WWE Superstar, there was a little hesitation to pull the trigger on him.”
Goldberg challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship inside the Elimination Chamber at SummerSlam 2003. He eliminated three opponents before Triple H used a sledgehammer supplied by Ric Flair to defeat him.
While the finish protected Goldberg from suffering a clean loss, Ross believes it demonstrated McMahon’s reluctance to fully commit to him at that point.
“Now, I’m not saying it was right or wrong, just that in booking the finish of the match, it was clear McMahon was reluctant to push his chips all in on a character he did not create.”
Goldberg eventually defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship the following month at Unforgiven. However, Ross believes WWE had already interrupted the momentum Goldberg generated at SummerSlam.
“Vince saw enough in Goldberg to make him look strong against his world champion. But hadn’t seen enough yet to allow him to beat his world champion. And I guess if you’re going to get screwed over by a pair of dastardly heels, then there’s no shame at all in losing to a hammer to the head. Vince didn’t yet know who was going to be his leading man going forward, but he did know who wasn’t. And this kind of booking just showed that the boss wanted to reserve the right to change his mind. And that meant beating Goldberg, but not cleanly. It was a foot in, foot out kind of decision that left WWE’s options open going forward. But the momentum and excitement for Goldberg were hard to recreate again during that run.”
Ross has previously rejected the suggestion that Triple H was deliberately holding Goldberg down during his 2003 WWE run. His latest comments instead place the focus on McMahon’s hesitation to fully build around a major star he had not created himself.
