Nobody’s expecting the proverbial “5 star classic” out of Brock Lesnar and Goldberg at Survivor Series later this month. The bar seems to generally be set at “hope it’s better than their WrestleMania XX match” - and even that comes with caveats about both men being older, Brock being a part-timer and others.
One of those “others” is the span of time it’s been since Goldberg’s wrestled an actual match. Opinions vary on how seriously we should consider the couple of spots he was involved in on the Oct. 31 Raw in thinking about what might happen in Toronto on Nov. 20, but I haven’t seen anybody saying the jackhammer on Rusev or spear to Paul Heyman left them thinking the WCW legend is ready to rumble right now.
Including Bill G. himself:
Ring rust...it happens. RT @WWE: .@Goldberg kicks off #RAW with a #Jackhammer to @RusevBUL, and a ... https://t.co/DJWZ9QOTqz
— Bill Goldberg (@Goldberg) November 1, 2016
And that “ring rust” makes sense when you hear his comments from the latest esisode of Booker T’s podcast, Heated Conversations:
I haven't been in the ring yet. That's the one thing after those 12 years that is probably the most important to reacquaint yourself with, but I'm going in for one match. I'm not going to get into the ring for 20 days straight to reacclimate myself to hitting the ropes because, hopefully, the only thing that will be hitting is my fist hitting Brock's face and him hitting the mat, so the reality is I'm going to be taken to Suplex City. I'm going to take some suplexes in this thing. Yeah, but it is what it is. It ain't like I didn't play in the NFL, dude. I may be old, but I know what I'm getting myself into.
Another thing fans and critics have expressed concern about is the 49 year old’s ability to take Lesnar’s signature move - especially since Brock’s matches of late have consisted of at least 10 - 20 suplexes - so it’s good to hear he’s prepping for that. Even though he’s not running the ropes, Goldberg had a few words for the doubters:
If people don't think that I know how to prepare for athletic competition at its highest level, then they've got something seriously wrong with them because I take this crap very seriously.
He also described his workout regiment, “muay thai kickboxing... cross-training, a lot of footwork, a lot of boxing work,” and reiterated his goal of presenting a superhero for kids when he works what could be his last pro wrestling date in Toronto.
What do you think, Cagesiders? Did what you saw last night, or read here, change your mind about Survivor Series?