Smark Out Moment

On this 21st edition of SUPERSTAR SCORES, we take a look at one of the most dominant stars in professional wrestling history who went on an unprecedented undefeated streak of 160-0, BILL GOLDBERG.

If you're unfamiliar with how the segment works, here is a quick breakdown: Each edition, a wrestler will be put under the spotlight and rated on a 0-100 scale based on 10 categories that have been broken up into 5 umbrella sections: In the Ring Skills, On the Mic Skills, Appearance, Behavior, and Crowd Reaction. The rating scale is as basic as you can get: 0-1-2-3-4 | 5 | 6-7-8-9-10. It follows the Three-Count Critique method of green being the good, yellow being in the middle, and red being the bad. A perfect 100 is the goal.


Update: On March 20, 2020, we did a recalibration of points for a 25th episode special. In that episode, nearly every wrestler saw some adjustments. Below, you'll see the original scores on the left and then the updated score on the right, with the original description for the original score underneath. For explanation on the updated points, check out the 25th edition podcast.

IN THE RING SKILLS

Athleticism: Does the person have a good signature moveset and finisher? Can they perform a wide variety of moves on a regular basis and not botch them?

My Rating = 6
Goldberg was always doing a power game where he didn't need to jump around doing cruiserweight moves, but he also was pretty nimble at times for a guy his size, catching people, tossing them around and such. Sure, his spears sometimes were odd, but everyone has their bad spears from time to time.

Psychology: The wrestler's ability to tell a story in the ring. Do they make you believe it's real or do they forget to sell their injuries properly? Can they make a long match stay interesting and not get boring?

My Rating = 6
Just with the Athleticism category, Goldberg's matches were built around the concept of him being dominant more than anything else. Very rarely was he booked to do anything other than destroy his opponents, and he understood how to have a fun match doing the same thing over and over again. People ate it up for 160+ matches even though they knew it would just basically be a few slams, a spear and a Jackhammer.

ON THE MIC SKILLS

Charisma: If they get a mic, can they cut a promo without stuttering? Are they repetitive or do they keep things fresh?

My Rating = 4 / 5
Goldberg was never a talker, at all. He's pretty bad on the mic. "You're next" was about the best he could muster up and even then, it felt a bit awkward.

Character: Is their gimmick(s) interesting? Can they pull off being both a heel and a face?

My Rating = 5
I have a problem giving him both a negative and a positive score here, because his gimmick was just "guy who wins" and that's not really good, nor bad. He was normally a babyface, but only because he went up against heels most of the time, so it isn't really a character as much as it is an alignment.

APPEARANCE

Physique: Are they in the proper shape for their gimmick or are they out of shape? (note: someone like Mabel isn't supposed to look like John Morrison, but Matt Hardy gaining weight deducts his points).

My Rating = 10
Just look at him. The dude is tall, muscular, and not weird looking.

Entrance: Their music, the pyro if they have any, whatever taunts or actions they do to make it interesting.

My Rating = 10
I love his WCW theme, his pyro was awesome, and his entrance coming through the back is iconic.

BEHAVIOR

Backstage Professionalism: Are they a locker room leader or do they cause problems behind the scenes? Are they bogged down in politics? Do they put other people over or screw people over?

My Rating = 6
He's had his problems over the years, complaining about not being used properly, getting into the fight with Chris Jericho and so on. However, I don't remember hearing tons of things that seemed too outrageous.

Public Relations: Does this wrestler project a bad image onto the company with arrests and such, or are they someone that promotes the company well, does charities, talk shows, etc?

My Rating = 7
He's involved with the ASPCA, started Combat Crate, and even though he's talked some negative stuff about WWE in the past, he doesn't completely trash them like others, which made it easier for him to make his return. I don't recall him ever getting arrested or anything like that, either.

CROWD REACTION

Popularity: How loud are the cheers and boos for them? Do they sell merchandise? Are ratings up or down when they're on screen? How many Twitter and Facebook followers do they have?

My Rating = 9
If we were doing this score in 1998, he'd be a 10, but his popularity waned a bit over the years. Still, he's one of the biggest stars in WCW history and he was still a big deal in WWE when he came over. Now that he's main eventing Survivor Series against Brock Lesnar, his stock has risen once more.

Credibility: Is this person someone you would see as a main eventer and a future legend or are they doomed to forever be a jobber?

My Rating = 10
The dude had a 160 match winning streak and only lost it due to a stun gun and interference. Even after that, he very rarely lost and only really due to odd circumstances. He's one of the most protected wrestlers in the history of sports entertainment and a former 2x United States champion, 1x tag champion, 2x world champion and a Triple Crown winner due to that. This guy is the epitome of credible.

TOTAL SCORE: 73/100 - 74/100

FINAL THOUGHTS: This is a damn good score for someone who is a one-trick pony and had a short career. He's one of the biggest stars to ever exist in the business and that helps him a lot, along with being the right guy in the right place at the right time, but whatever the formula consisted of, it worked for what it was supposed to do.