Gunther is the best choice to punctuate Goldberg’s career

Wrestling fans were captivated by two forces of nature in 1997-1998. If we were to hop into the time machine and travel back to that era, if you were watching WWF it was for Steve Austin, and if you watched WCW it was for Goldberg and his famed winning streak. And hey, maybe you even watched both. If you did so unironically, good for you.

There was always a comparison between the two as two bald fellows wearing black tights and gear, but those similarities were only ever cosmetic. Austin was always the better wrestler in-ring, and that was the case pre- and post-neck injury even though he had to change his style. Austin defined the “attitude” of the moment, and so much of his rise was story-driven counter-culture antagonism to the status quo that Vince McMahon represented.

Goldberg was different. His slow build as he cut through the ranks of WCW’s roster was deliberate and methodical in its pacing as his racked up win after win across house show, television and PPV events. That initial push all culminated with his U.S. title win over Raven. That win cemented the aura of Goldberg, and with his fan following of the moment, he was the perfect counter to Hollywood Hogan and the nWo.

When the company needed someone to get the big win to take the WCW title from Hogan’s clutches he was that guy. Goldberg was the closest WCW came to a “passing the torch” moment from Hogan to the undercard that should have been built to succeed him. We know how that ended by the end of the year though, don’t we? His winning streak and 174 day reign came to a shocking, stunning end and a finger poke 8 days later had the belt right back on Hogan.

Goldberg at the apex of his aura was peak WCW, and he never eclipsed that. They didn’t either. All they needed from the fan perspective was few power moves, spear, Jackhammer, and then 1-2-3 game over. Next! However as time wore on post-first reign, as a TV fixture Goldberg had less and less value. People tuned in for the streak and the trek to the inevitable end that was designed to dethrone Hogan. Yet without that, Goldberg was hollow as an entity.

Being frank, a lot the perception that comes from how we view Goldberg after he lost comes down to poor planning from the booking teams in WCW. We can fairly argue that WWE booked Goldberg in a fairer and more balanced way that found common ground between him being strong and seemingly unbeatable, with the reality that he’s just a man who relies on strength and speed. You could also argue that despite his World title run in WWE, if you revisit his matches and their results on Cagematch, his reign was a tad overbooked only to drop the title back to HHH in a triple threat match including Kane.

Other than that the final months of his 2003-2004 run were forgettable and ended with the atrocity that was his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 20. And aside from his return contests with Lesnar in 2016 and 2017, he’s been the guy who goes over in squashes and drops the titles to new champions. He’s the guy who beats the unbeatable Fiend, only to lose to Braun Strowman. He comes in to match up with Undertaker — a contest we’d all like to forget — and then crushes Dolph Ziggler/Nic Nemeth en route to the Fiend and Strowman in the aforementioned title switches. Beyond that, he’s only given the rub to the world champions and hasn’t won a match since defeating Wyatt in 2020. He’s more or less become a transitional waypoint for world titles.

If we account for that and combine it with the diminishing quality of his matches, what is the value in having Goldberg return one more time for a one-off bout he will surely not be winning. Right?

Right?

*Cue the Anakin Skywalker-Padme meme*

Gunther: A Monster from Another Perspective

The booking of Goldberg’s career as a holistic snapshot is a cautionary tale against booking unbeatable monsters, and it’s something present day WWE has done very well with Gunther. Goldberg’s aura was built off an undefeated streak and invincibility, but when you strip that away little is particularly interesting about him character-wise. Dominance is a vehicle but that’s pointless without the destination in clear view, and once that’s resolved, what is there?

The issue with Goldberg is that when you take that into account, then balance that against his match quality, the modern myth of Goldberg carrying any weight is not believable. Why should we take him as seriously in 2025 at the age of 58 (turning 59 in December) as we did when he was in his prime from 1997-1998?

Contrasting both vintage and modern Goldberg against present day Gunther, WWE has solved the riddle of how you book someone to be a powerhouse and seemingly unbeatable juggernaut, but still believably maintain an opening for their potential loss and downfall.

Coming into WWE Gunther — then Walter — had built a reputation as a dominating presence that was to be feared. Once he arrived and began his trek toward the NXT UK title, he too seemed invincible as he reigned for 870 days before falling to Ilja Dragunov. The same was true once he hit the main roster and secured the Intercontinental title; he held that for 666 days before dropping it to Sami Zayn. And then most recently he held the WWE World Heavyweight championship for a modest 259 days before dropping that title to Jey Uso.

All three reigns share similarities. In each he was dominant, seemingly unbeatable and overwhelmingly physical with his opponents. The throughline running through them all was his arrogance and hubris. For as dominant and overwhelming as he is, the longer he reigns the more arrogant his character becomes. In effect Gunther is a victim of his own success because he defeats himself when he takes his eye off the ball. He defeats himself when he believes himself to be above his opponents concurrent to a relaxation of his work ethic. Basically he stops seriously trying, coasts and loses.

While he still appears dominant in those loses, the commonality between Dragunov, Zayn and Uso is that they are smaller, are more tenacious because they have something to prove to themselves, and that tenacity fuels a resurgence that overwhelms Gunther. This is true to the point where he simply falls a part and wilts, or in Uso’s case, gets choked out. However, then if we look at his reclamation of the WWE world title, that is him in his purest form with something to prove to the degree that he turned around and choked Uso out.

Gunther is a prime of example of how to book someone who’s dominant as a champion while also making them appear human. That was not the case with Goldberg in WCW and WWE, and Vince McMahon more recently booked the company into the same corner with The Fiend character. Bray Wyatt was so dominant as his alter ago that WWE booked itself into a hole and had nowhere to go with him after winning the Universal title. And so, as it went down, as Fiend became too power creeped, the only solution to deal with him was to enlist an equally dominant force to overwhelm him to cancel Wyatt out. From there WWE used Goldberg to put over Strowman who was being booked as a monster because that was believable.

In effect, WWE went from booking a dominant heel champion that was too far over the top, to using a past dominant champion to defeat him, and then used a straight-up big strong dude to overwhelm Goldberg. The lineal nature of it makes sense, but it highlights the issues with booking someone to being strong and undefeatable simply for the sake of booking a dominant champion. Strength for strength’s sake is not an end to itself and it’s a poor story device. That’s why there’s value in pointing out the contrast between how Goldberg was booked at his height, and how Gunther/Walter has been booked since he arrived in NXT/WWE.

Gunther is the perfect opponent for Goldberg’s last match

When you think about it he truly is. Given how giving we have seen Gunther be to last three people who took titles from him in WWE, considering Goldberg’s limitations and the likelihood this match won’t last more than 5-8 minutes, we can conceivably assume Goldberg will hit Gunther with everything he has right from the beginning.

In the past Gunther has shown he’s willing to take an offensive barrage from his opponents, especially as the matches wind down and his opponents are on the verge winning. It’s rare for someone to be booked so dominantly, possess this degree of aura and positioned so highly on the card to be that selfless. The list I can drum up in my head is not that long. For that reason I don’t think there’s a better wrestler on the WWE roster to pit against Goldberg. Gunther is someone who can take Goldberg’s best, make him look strong despite his physical limitations and as much the powerhouse he was in WCW, and still realistically weather it, win the match to retain his championship, and send Goldberg off into retirement in a way that makes the hall of famer still look legitimate.

We should expect the Braun Strowman template from this match. Goldberg will more than likely gain the upper hand very quickly and threaten to dethrone Gunther in the opening moments. The value in choosing Gunther for this match is that he is physically imposing and realistic enough that you believe he can take that salvo and still have enough in the tank to kick out and dish that punishment right back to Goldberg. This will be a physical contest that will last mere minutes and Goldberg will look like he’s about to turn back the clock against someone 20 years younger than him. He will give it his best against someone able and willing to look vulnerable in a potential blowout situation, and lose in a way that he can leave with his held high despite a Gunther retainment.

Goldberg is not Sting, nor are their stories similar. Goldberg’s conclusion needs to be his own. Where Sting ended things “balls-to-the-wall” doing stunts people 30 years his junior wouldn’t try, Goldberg’s career when it had purpose was rather Hobbesian — it was nasty, brutish, and short. He goes for the knockout, or gets knocked out. This match will be what it is, and I don’t think either looks necessarily weaker on the other side.

Win or lose Goldberg will go out strong against someone capable of making him look good despite his age. That is the reason for the ending of Uso’s reign; he and Gunther are/were two different types of champions. Gunther’s track record checks the boxes for what you’ve needed in a Goldberg opponent since his 2016 return. Goldberg’s relevance has veered toward a nostalgia act and his value is tremendously diminished as a main event threat. Gunther is simply the right choice to help send Goldberg into retirement the right way.