Numerous WWE locker room sources have told me that Bill Goldberg, again, is not at all happy with how he is being used by WWE and he has let it be known to the top level of people in the company. The immediate assumption to make is that Goldberg was not happy to drop the title to Triple H on Sunday, but from what I have been told that is not the case or the bone of contention. Instead, as he has in the past, he reportedly continues to believe that his character is being poorly booked by WWE and not been presented in the best way to get him over.
In WCW, Goldberg was booked as a monster whose power overwhelmed opponents. He was booked to be almost superhuman. In WWE, he has been portrayed more as a guy who is always being beaten down and sometimes makes a comeback in the end. In the past, one shot from Goldberg put a guy on his butt. Now, he can hit a guy numerous times and not even knock him down.
From what I have been told, Goldberg felt that kind of booking was hurting his character. The reports I have been getting are that he doesn’t feel the creative team is using him properly, which, frankly, is a feeling that a lot of his fellow wrestlers share about their own characters. Goldberg has pretty much felt that way since his first day in the company and it came to a head at the PPV.
According to numerous sources, this led to Goldberg meeting with Vince McMahon after Armageddon on Sunday night and explaining to the WWE owner that he isn’t happy with how he has been used. The meeting, at least in part, led to Raw being rewritten many times yesterday, with the final version of the show not being put to bed until very late in the afternoon. Originally, as was stated on Raw last night, Goldberg was scheduled to be in a six man tag match with Rob Van Dam and Shawn Michaels, against Evolution, but the angle with La Resistance was later booked as a concession to Goldberg yesterday afternoon.
This latest story comes on the heels of reports that Goldberg has not been happy with the fact that he is “just” being paid his downside deal (said to be in the $1.5 million a year range) when he expected to also make merchandise money and PPV bonuses when he signed with WWE. Of course, money is down for the wrestlers across the board and the bonuses for those with downside deals 1/10 of what Goldberg gets are not what they were. It will be interesting to see how all of this affects WWE’s relationship with the former champion when his contract expires early next year.
