>>12367774>>12367795Reminder: Nitro's years long ratings losing streak to Raw began during Goldberg's title reign. His merchandise in the winter months of 1998 was also nicknamed "Coldberg" because it had stopped selling. Goldberg was losing steam and there was a small but growing resentment towards him and when he lost that went away. When Goldberg lost the title, ratings went up to near record levels as contrary to popular belief people were interested in Nash as champ, Finger Poke, and reformed nWo.
"At the beginning, Bill could run through part of the roster, but that grew more difficult when he moved his way up the roster. Bill was then wrestling at the top of the card, so that became much more challenging. It's never really healthy in the long term, unless you have a rare exception, to keep the belt on a babyface for an extended period of time. It’s much better to have the belt on a heel, and have the babyface chase that heel. The heel can lie, cheat, and steal to hold onto that belt until the babyface finally pulls it off. It’s all about the storytelling, and the anticipation works far better when the heel has the belt. There had to be a story behind Bill losing, and there had to be something that made the audience believe that Bill was screwed and would get back into the ring to destroy the NWO with a different game plan. wouldn’t change the controversial finish. This wasn’t a tough decision. We had run out of rope creatively. We couldn’t sustain Goldberg as the babyface champion as a guy who could never get beat. We had to make him vulnerable, and Scott Hall had to use a cattle prod in order for Kevin Nash to get the win. Bam Bam Bigelow had to get in the ring, and Disco Inferno interfered, so the objective was for there to be some controversy so we could make a change. The audience dug Kevin Nash. The crowd reacted with a babyface response when he wins that match. The audience was ready to see the change.” - Eric Bischoff
