One thing about the brand split back in 2004 was that interpromotional feuds were more exciting when it involved marquee names. The biggest example of this was the feud between Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar.
Having a conversation in the locker room during the Royal Rumble pay per view, Lesnar decided to show his frustration by interfering in the match and costing Goldberg a world championship opportunity.
Interestingly, Goldberg would return the deed a month later, and actually cost Lesnar the WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero, the following month, in one of the most emotional matches in WWE history at No Way Out.
These occurrences set the stage for a momumental match between Goldberg and Lesnar at WrestleMania XX. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most underwhelming matches in WrestleMania history.
Apart from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin being the special referee and ending up executing the Stone Cold Stunner on both competitors at the end of the match, it was an absolute debacle, and showed that both departing combatants had no emotional investment in the contest at all. Interestingly, on the latest episode of Raw, Lesnar confirmed that he did not care about the match.
In fact, Lesnar stated that he “did not give two s--ts” about the match, and that he was pursuing other athletic endeavors.
At the time, many people already knew that Lesnar was pursuing other ventures, due to being burned out by traveling so much with WWE. Lesnar replaced his devotion to wrestling for making a professional football debut. Lesnar eventually was able to make it to the Minnesota Vikings, before getting cut. Lesnar would then surprise many by having a successful MMA career, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship after just his third bout, against Randy Couture at UFC 91.
While many saw how Lesnar was not passionate about his match at WrestleMania XX, his interview on Raw confirmed what was obvious. Yes, what he said had to be approved by WWE brass in order to be edited and aired on Raw, but seeing how Lesnar is not one to make sure he is saying things that does not offend others, as well as oftentimes being brutally honest, there is no way that stating he did not care about his match against Goldberg has anything to do with building a storyline.
In all fairness, Goldberg’s performance was lackluster at WrestleMania XX as well. However, stating that he simply did not care would probably not be something Goldberg would confess.
