Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

[8.0] "This match was actually pretty good with some memorable moments like Goldbergs overhead press into the spear was cool. And it was just a really good match that didn't really have a bad point and having stone cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee was an extra bonus. Even though they where both on there way out I still thought they put on a solid match and a huge win for Goldberg even though he was also on his way out to. And then the cool moment at the end with both Brock lesnar and Goldberg eating a stone cold stunner from stone cold Steve Austin that made the crowd happy. This match was good."

[3.0] "Goldberg and Brock Lesnar are both leaving wrestling after this match, so the crowd does anything they can to shit on both guys. I guess they're angry they're getting dumped or something. Like a bitter ex-girlfriend. But I just wanted a competitive match. But it seemed like the two were just set on stinking up the place because they were getting booed. This was not nearly as bad as the rating would lead you to believe. But it wasn't great either."

[5.0] "Not as bad as I remembered, the crowd mostly rejects it, but the big moves still get large enough pops, the test of strength stuff was actually decent at first but it drags on too long like much of the Goldberg matches in WWE."

[1.0] "What a fascinating disaster of a car crash in the form of a pro wrestling match. When you get something like this, where no one involved (the participants, the crowd, possibly even the referee) seems to care at all, and everyone is fully aware of it, it creates an incredibly awkward situation, and that's exactly what happens here. This feels purely like a contractual obligation, but even then, they seem to do everything wrong. Despite having two of the biggest blockbuster attractions in wrestling, who could have easily gone all out in a short but intense match (something they thankfully do later on), and despite the crowd rejecting it from the very start, they go with an incredibly slow opening, dragging it out as much as possible. That only gives the crowd more time to turn on it, chant, and reject it even harder than they already were. By the time things pick up, it's far too late, and not particularly great anyway. Everyone involved feels completely checked out, possibly even annoyed by the crowd reaction, which only makes things worse. It's awkward like few matches I've seen, but that's also what makes it so fascinating."

[0.0] "Wow, this match really blows and this got to be the worst scenario possible for a wrestling match... Lesnar and Goldberg aren't bad wrestlers at all, but a number of factors made this a huge incident and one of the worst matches of all time. The matchup is of course intriguing in normal circumstances, it's the dominant beast of WWE against the dominant guy from WCW, a dream match one might say, but before the match the fans came to know BOTH Lesnar and Goldberg would be leaving the WWE, and the wild MSG crowd decided to completely hijack the match, booing everything and just preventing anything to look good. This is certainly one of the most embarrassing things I've ever watched in pro wrestling history, and the match was long, a terrible decision, should've been a squash, but they made the nonchalant fans watch this for nearly 15-minutes, and it's cringe as hell. The action was dull and boring, but I wonder how the same match would play it out with an excited crowd... shows how much the environment matters in this sport. Well, that's the definition of a flop, the rating can't be anything else. I don't know if it was planned or not, but props to Steve Austin for giving both the lads a stunner after the match, and at least give something to the fans - {DUD}"

[1.0] "The buildup for the match was actually quite good it's just a shame that the match was terrible. Both competitors were on their way out and the crowd knew it and hijacked the match. Then after the bell Austin stuns both competitors to send them on their way."

[4.0] "It's ok. It's not long enough to annoy me and the crowd shitting all over this match and Brock and Goldberg not giving a single fuck is hilarious. Some good power moves hit but they are so spread apart that it doesn't really excite for long. Austin couldn't save this match but at least the post match stunners were fun 2.5/5 far from the worse mania match ever"

[0.0] "The crowd outright rejects this match. Boos, you sold out, this match sucks, please go away, all these things among many others, were chanted from from the get-go. They don't even wrestle for the first couple minutes, which makes 0 sense with the build-up. When they finally do wrestling, it's lazy and boring. The crowd is so against it, it actually helps the match in a way. Cause this would not be memorable, or even watchable, without them."

[0.0] "Awful match. That should have been a five minute match with a double DQ ending after Austin hit both guys with a Stunner. Crowd hated it. It's not the crowd's fault that it sucked. The effort just didn't seem to be there and it appeared as though they just wanted to get through it so they could go home. The way the match was structured was pretty bad too. They ended up putting over the guy that they didn't want to stick around for another year instead of the guy that was quitting the company despite having a lucrative contract. I can't blame them for putting Goldberg over. It was the right call. Inserting Austin as the ref was a smart move because the fans weren't that supportive of either guy."

[6.0] "Honestly I was surprisingly here for this. The crowd were everything, and had me laughing throughout the match. I'd much rather watch an entertaining car crash like this, than a bunch of boring finisher spam which is what I was expecting. This had genuine heat between Lesnar and Goldberg, that modified Spear was great, and Stone Cold topped it all off with stunners for everyone! It's just a shame that Lesnar went out like this; watching all these old PPVs back, he was one of the MVPs of 2003 for me and more talented than his WWE swan song would suggest"

[5.0] "I went into re-watching this expecting an awful match and was pleasantly surprised, I actually enjoyed it. Yes there were some slow moments that could have been shortened especially Lesnars restholds, but the press slam and the spears were good and it felt like a hoss fight. Without the angry fans this would have been much better and if they cut it to 7 minutes ish. They could of worked harder and had a better match, but really why should they have done it with that hostility? for what it was, i had fun watching it."

[4.0] "It's both not as bad as some people act and a completely forgetable snoozefest. What you end up getting is a 5 minute match that's dragged out to a 13 minute match that the crowd doesn't do anything but crap on. It takes them about 5 minutes to even get going and when they do they never get out of first gear."

[1.0] "Shameful way to make a departure of both of these guys. Two third of it was just a clueless staredown and sluggish grapples or headlocks. Such a disappointment."

[6.0] "Crowd has to hand their heads in shame here unfortunately. Match wasn't fantastic however this was an uphill battle from the getgo"

[0.0] "Lol. Lmao, even. I can't even say Austin was a saving grace for this match. This was just the drizzling shits. Actually, that's disrespectful. Shit is more impactful and worthy than this match. DUD"

[2.0] "Like it or not, this is what wrestling should be. Two large men being paid a lot of money to do very little, pissing off everyone in attendance, back office and in the stands. The only people worse than customers is management, this match runs against the wishes of either. Yeah you could have had their rematch from a decade in the future, where they work hard and have a traditional "good" match. Or, and hear me out here, you don't. You just don't. I have used the term anti-wrestling once or twice on Cagematch reviews, but this isn't anti-wrestling. Anti-wrestling is when you do something so heinous it poisons the industry. Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg is maybe the most wrestling a match can possibly be while having the least actual wrestling. Wrestling is fleecing those goddamn marks out of every red cent, it's being a carny motherfucker, it's taking a photo with a fan then asking for $20 for it after. Standing around for half the match without locking up, just walking around in a circle, and getting paid for it? This is the dream that Lou Thesz died for. When Brock grabs the rest hold after a minimal amount of offence, just drains the clock down further, George Hackenshmidt looks down from rassleheaven and smiles. "There you go big guy", he says, "Really get that bicep in there and you can hold it for at least the next two minutes." Beautiful stuff."

[0.0] "Wow, this was an absolute disaster of a match. Brock Lesnar and Goldberg didn't even try to win the crowd back win this match. The crowd knew this would be both men's last match in the company, and even with that, instead of actually giving the fans a good match, they did the opposite. Brock didn't care, Goldberg didn't care, and the crowd couldn't care."

"This gets a better rating from me than from most on here simply for Austin's contribution! It's not as bad as it gets credit for, but not good enough all the same. It feels very much like some in the crowd start the match unaware of the exits of both men as there are some early chants for Goldberg, but I assume others in the crowd smarten them up and then it's just all out rebellion. What they do isn't the problem, it's that they simply don't do enough of it."

[1.0] "Just as bad as I remembered lmao. Both guys phoning it in to comical degrees while the crowd knew they were both leaving. As someone that's always strongly disliked Goldberg and doesn't care for Brock as a person, I can't help but find it funny. The 1 point is solely for Austin's role in this match, he was quite good, at the very least."

[4.0] "Honestly, very funny match, I think this is a must view. The actual action is, as everyone knows, horrible, and you can tell they are beyond checked out, but the pure hatred of the match the crowd has from the onset, makes it just a fascinating watch. Crowds turning on matches, especially to this extent, especially especially, as a hyped up Wrestlemania match, was really unprecedented, and no one knows how to react. The shots of Austin laughing when he's the only one getting cheered, Brock swearing nonstop at the opening, and just the constant rejection is really something. I couldn't ever hate this match."

[0.0] "This match is worth every bit of hate it gets and then some. You have two guys that are leaving and don't care, so they don't even attempt to have a decent match. And New York City shits all over the entire thing. These fans at the Garden weren't happy that both these guys were leaving as it was, but giving them an abomination of a match on top of that is putting a bullseye on yourself for NYC to shoot at. I remember watching this match live. I hated both of them with a passion at the time, and while I appreciate Brock slightly more as I've gotten older, I still hate Goldberg and I'm not a Brock fan. But in my youth watching this, I remember laughing hysterically, because this match was so bad, and the crowd was doing to both of them what I'd been doing in my home to both of them separately for a year. I only bring this up to point out that, even when I was young, I knew this match was the drizzling shits. This was one of the first matches I EVER saw that I actively knew was bowling shoe ugly. They couldn't even make KIDS feel like this was a decent bout. Honestly, Brock seems to be phoning it in even more than Goldberg. This match features roughly 5 slams, a few finishers at the end of the match, and a whooooooooole lot of rest holds and collar and elbow tie ups. The crowd hates it, the commentary team is trying desperately to find something to call and salvage, and Austin looks disgusted. He's the only reason to even glance at this match. I don't give out 0's lightly, but this one deserves it. There's nothing remotely salvable, watchable, or decent about this match. It might very well be the worst Wrestlemania match of all time, and might even rank up there was being one of the worst PPV matches of all time."

[2.0] "Hmm. Well, after you get past the first 48 minutes of stalling so unashamed that Larry Zbyszko is in the corner blushing himself inside out... it's not so bad. But first you have to get past the four hundred and seventy three hours of stalling. I've been to DMV trips that got to the exciting part quicker than this. Oh yah, and the fans... LOL. Not so much a match as much as a case study. 1.5"

[2.0] "This has a slow start but then Goldberg nails a military press and they start actually throwing each other around. This match would be halfway decent without the hostile crowd, but so much of the type of the match they wrestle depends on crowd interaction, so it's pretty rough. It isn't that bad though, and it goes by relatively quickly. Austin as referee doesn't play into the matchup at all, which also detracts from its score. I guess he's around to stun both guys after then match is over."

[1.0] "This was a terrible match, just so so boring and the crowd didnt care for either because they were both leaving, not even Stone Cold Steve Austin could save this."

[0.0] "[DUD] After watching their awesome 4-min WrestleMania 33 bout, I tried to give this shit a watch and man, this is bad. Slow, boring, long, and actually sad to see. Thank God they were able to do something better afterwards because this stinks, lmao."

[0.0] "This had potential to be incredible with both dominant and prime Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, but when word got out that they'll both be leaving WWE after this match, the crowd with their abandonment issues turned on this match entirely, both men put in the bare minimum to make this match somewhat work and event Stone Cold helped make it work. One of, if not, the worst WrestleMania match ever."

[7.0] "We will be focusing on the pure match quality. The crowd will not count towards the review. We see Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, and Goldberg make their entrances. The entrances are well coordinated. As soon as the bell rings we see Brock and Goldberg pace around the ring. While this is normal for powerhouse or imposing wrestlers to play mind games. However one problem to note that they seem to be doing it excessively. The walking pace slightly changes to a more relaxed pacing throughout the last minutes of this moment, which to me comes off as going through the motions without investment. After this, we see the collar and elbow tie-up, and its execution is good, they execute it in a manner that could be compared to two bulls colliding into each other. However we see both wrestlers release the grappling abruptly. Brock makes a mocking gesture and the pacing resumes. The cycle of chain wrestling, abrupt releases and methodical pacing goes on approximately 3 times before the pace picks up with both men rebounding off opposite sides of the ropes and ramming into each other. This is a great spot, but the pacing could been trimmed. (1.6 points). Both men stand up and the pacing resumes. This isnt as long as the other pacing moments but it still couldve been trimmed. Brock starts lunging at Goldberg with gut kicks and performs a Irish whip before Goldberg grabs Brock for a milltary press spinebuster. Goldberg goes for the spear but rams into the ring post as brock moved away. (2.9 points). The military press spinebuster has excellent execution, but going for the spear early in the match may downplayed the significance of Goldbergs finisher being a decisive end. After both men reeenter the ring, Brock delivers blows before attempting a snap suplex. Goldberg is stoic leading to brock delivering more blows before doing a snap suplex. (2.1 points). The blows helped to elevate the storytelling of the match, showing that these men will do whatever it takes to get the decisive advantage. Brock goes for the pin before Goldberg kicks out and Brock repeats the suplex spot. Brock then transitions into a standing arm trapped headlock. However I felt like this manuevor went excessive. Couldve been trimmed. (1.3 points). Brock leans on the ropes before tackling Goldberg with a standing shoulder tackle. The headlock spot returns and the same overhead hip throw reversal by Goldberg reappears. Brock rebounds off ropes and dodges Goldberg before doing another shoulder tackle. Brock falls with Goldberg before going for the pin. Goldberg kicks out. (0.6 points), while Brock falling may emphasised the resilience and determination, the fall came off as unnecessary and awkward. The repetition of the headlock and reversal looked to be space fillers rather than emphasising. Brock stands and delivers blows and clubs. Brock corners Goldberg into the top left rim where he drives his head horizontally into Goldbergs chest. Brock is Irish whipped into the bottom right edge before Brock walks into two clotheslines, gut kick, and an arm trapped snap swinging Neckbreaker. Goldberg delivers the spear and Brock kicks out at two. (2.4 points). While this spot is well coordinated and structured, some aspects, like the almost casual walking into Goldbergs clotheslines could been revamped. Additionally, the spear in this spot couldve been a highlight, if Goldberg havent attempted this at the opening spots. Goldberg gets into Steve Austins face and argues the pin. Goldberg walks into a F5 by Brock Lesnar. Goldberg kicks out. Brock Lesnar also engages in arguing with Steve Austin. He attempts the spear to Goldberg before ramming into ring post and Goldberg setups and executes another spear. Goldberg does a Jackhammer and goes for the pin. Goldberg wins. (0.5 points). The constant and rapid exchange of finishers and arguments undermines the integrity of the concept of finishers and the uniqueness of these spots. BONUS ANALYSIS Goldberg gets his arm raised by Steve Austin and heads on middle turnbuckle to gesture and signalise his victory. Brock Lesnar and Steve Austin remain in the ring. Brock decides to flip off the crowd that has been criticising the match all the way throughout and at Steve Austin himself. Steve responds with a Stunner. Steve kicks out Brock and celebrates with beer. Goldberg reenters the ring and looks confused. Steve tosses a beer can at Goldberg and Goldberg mutually clashes his can with Austin. Austin responds with stunner. (5.0 points) Total points including bonus: 16.4 points Total points excluding bonus: 11.4 points (or 10 points including rounding) Optimised point: 11.4/16.4 = 0.695 or 7/10"

[3.0] "A very lackluster match where it seems like the first half is just a lockup. Not a whole lot to write about here, and the crowd absolutely trashed it and you can't blame them. 2 stars at best."

[2.0] "It was fun at first watching both guys' reactions to the crowd's chants, but it wasn't long until they got completely quiet and the work inside the ring depended almost completely on the fans' reactions which were non-existent. And to make things worse these dimwits decided that going to a long hold will somehow work. Awful match - they could have expected the reception and at least shorten it or hot shot it."

[0.0] "My first WrestleMania, and of the worst Wrestlemania matches ever, despite the high profile it had. This match had a young, prime Brock Lesnar, a legendary powerhouse wrestler in Bill Goldberg, and an iconic brawler as the special guest referee in SCSA, but sadly this didn't even come close to the hype. Goldberg is a charisma machine but not a great wrestler, and Brock didn't seem to want to be there. This match took forever to start and when it did there was hardly any action. As a kid watching this match for the first time I was only left confused and disappointed, at a time where I barely even understood wrestling."

[2.0] "* . Sad end for Brocks amazing first run, but he needed to leave. This is a 2.5 minute match stretched over 15 minutes. Work is fine, but is supremely underwhelming and illogically agented, but who knows what might've been planned that they just didnt execute."

[0.0] "There's nothing to say about this. It's terrible. Looking at the superstars involved, worst WM match ever. I remember discovering about this match thanks to WWE 2K14 and thinking "Wow, that is really cool! " but I was soooooo wrong. I know they were leaving and didn't want to pleasure a crowd that booed them for 15 minutes, but damn this was a theft of time. I want my 13 minutes back."

[2.0] "With all the backstage stories going into it, you know this wasn't going to be a crowd-pleaser no matter what. Stone Cold Steve Austin is your special guest referee here, and thank god he was there because I don't even know how they will come out of this without him. Both men were booed even before the match began! They went on to have a dreadfully mediocre contest, with nothing of note to generate interest and incredibly unmotivating performances from the two. It was definitely memorable, though, but for all the wrong reasons. Goldberg won the bout with a Jackhammer after a bizarre thirteen minutes. Steve Austin was inarguably the best part of this huge mess, and he (and the crowd) made it somewhat amusing enough to escape the DUD territory. After the bell, Stone Cold gave both Bill and Brock a Stunner each, earning the only positive reaction to this and giving the crowd a good time. [*]"

[1.0] "Instead of the finisher match we were expecting, they try to do 10 minutes of holds and technical dumb stuff, while the crowd destroys them, as both were leaving"

[3.0] "It's long and slow, really boring to watch. Fortunately the public was there to set the mood even if it wasn't in the best way. A match to listen to but not to watch. (1*1/2)"

[0.0] "One of the worst matches of all time. This is where I would write about anything that happened in the match if there was anything that happened in this match. It was over five minutes before anyone even did a move."

[3.0] "Infamously bad match, but probably not as bad as it's reputation. The crowds reactions as well as Austin looking legitimately pissed off whenever he is on camera as well as Lawler and JR not really hiding their disappointment with the match on commentary while still trying to big up the Raw vs Smackdown rivalry honestly does make the match kinda hilarious to watch. The problem with the match (besides the crowd) was Lesnar and Goldberg completely half-ass it and look as though they just do not care about the match or entertaining the fans and that only made things further heated. When it actually got going and they started hitting the big power moves and finishers, it's not that bad but when you're seeing them having long lock-ups and doing nothing for long periods of time it's just frustrating. Austin doesn't really do anything important as referee either and only gets to stunner both of them after the match."

[2.0] "This match isn't a complete dud for many reasons, I don't think this match is good at all but this is one of the funniest matches in WM history. The crowd went from chanting Goldberg to then booing him/Lesnar and also hijacked their match. These two then proceed to just stand in the ring and do nothing before just randomly locking up. When they actually started doing stuff at the end this was boring, but the start with the electric crowd both guys not doing shit, and Lawler/Ross commentary this was very entertaining. These guys made Stone Cold Steve Austin as guest referee feel insignificant. That's really impressive and deserves some points."

[4.0] "This match is not as bad as people make it out to be. Considering the circumstances of the crowd reaction, which turned this into a heel vs heel match, Brock and Goldberg were not given much to work with. It definitely hurts the match, but it is not so much worse than their future WrestleMania match which is much more appreciated and higher rated."

[3.0] "This was so bad. The crowd made it worse coz they were never into it and were pissed at the fact that these two are leaving."

[0.0] "God this was so bad. Like I can't blame Brock Lesnar for wanting to leave wrestling, but he could have at least had an average match on the way out. I don't know what Goldberg's problem is besides just being terrible in general. The beginning of this match was the two wrestlers circling each other bs except no one wanted to see this at all, and the crowd hijacked the match and that's probably the most interesting thing about this match. Stone Cold stuns them after the match, but it was too late we already had to watch the match, thanks for that Steve."

[0.0] "No it's not ­''that's wasn't all THAT bad'', it was THAT bad. It was two mega-stars pushed by a good storyline that just giving a f*** at all. And it shows. It's the less professional match ever, even worse than Jeff Hardy vs. Sting because both suck as well and they have no drug issue to excuse them. They were willing to put effort at Wrestlemania. A black-eye to the show, as big as the Hulk Hogan's one at IX, in every sense."

[2.0] "Honestly? its not THAT bad. Almost wanted to give it a ten just because of Austin's post-match antics which - really - is what we all came to see. All seriousness, its pretty bad work by two guys that I never really liked. At least play the hits when you're in that spot."

[1.0] "This was incredibly disappointing at the time, and kind of an amazing spectacle to watch two guys on the way out just completely phone it in, especially after it became clear the crowd was not going to play along. It gets a point just because it is entertaining for what a disaster it is, but this is a real dud."

[0.0] "This match is near 14 minutes long and there's probably less than 5 bumps between it. Fun. You know it's telling that the loudest pop for this caravan of garbage was AFTER the match when Stone Cold stunnered both Goldie and Brock before celebrating with a beer bash, as if he had just won the main event hahaha."

[1.0] "The only entertaining part of this match was the crowd shitting all over it. They spent the entire match doing absolutely nothing until the final minute and a half where they lazily went through the motions of the finishing sequence."

[0.0] "Crowd hijacked it, no one liked Brock or goldberg, and aside from 2 spears, there was nothing cool in this match. Stone cold hitting Brock with a stunner after the bell was cool, but man. Very few matches are this bad. Total DUD."

[0.0] "This was so shit. Lesnar phoned it in doing nothing but a shoulder block and a poorly done neck hold. Goldberg did a few cool moves but that's it. 1/2*"

[2.0] "For a match in which barely anything happens, I think it still ends up feeling shorter than it actually was. It's not a good match - it's an incredibly basic one - but it's no Orton vs Edge Last Man Standing when it comes to being bad. The crowd and the expressions of all three guys in the ring makes this kind of entertaining, so it doesn't commit the most fatal crime of being boring to me (well, I've seen worse). It's also pretty entertaining to hear the spin from Lawler and Ross."

[1.0] "This might be the most boring high profile match in WrestleMania history. At least Austin was there."