Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 105: Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg (Nitro 7/6/98)

This was, and still may be, the most famous match up on NITRO. It certainly may be a watershed moment, as the match that would have made millions on PPV given a build to Starcade in December was put together in one short week by Bischoff, mad to win a ratings battle he’d begun losing a few months earlier.

The match is not as good as I remember. That’s not to say that what I remembered was a miraculous classic, but I remember the match having a story. This had little in the way of flow or story. At eight minutes, it looked pretty thrown together with the idea of just getting to Goldberg’s big comeback/finish being the one thing laid out. The crowd, which is a big one in Goldberg’s hometown of Atlanta, isn’t hot for the match either. The pop at the end after he gets the spear/jackhammer win is good, but my memories made it something more. This match was a shame on a few levels. 2 and 4/10.