[1998-01-18-WWF-Royal Rumble] Goldust vs Vader

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

I remember watching this match when the VHS came out and thinking it was just Goldust being weird (I was 11 in 1997 and still had a bedtime of 10:00 missing a lot of the second hour of Raw's). I am so thankful of the yearbook showing how it has actually been a well built up feud. Goldust's attire is actually kind of tame compared to other choices he has made lately. Goldust has the early going but Vader returns and throws Dust into Luna to a big pop from the crowd. This match overall has great crowd interaction actually. Goldust takes over and starts potatoing away at Vader and sends him stiffly in the steps. Luna is doing a good Sherri Martel impression of pretty constantly being involved in this match. Instead of ten punches in the corner, Dust gives 9 and then a kiss. Vader gets a desperation clothesline that allows Dustin to take his signature flipping bump. Dust can't slam Vader and has back troubles. Vader hits a nice suplex and a big splash for a nearfall. Vader tries to finish off Dust with a Vader Bomb but due to a distraction from Luna, Dust hits him in the balls. Vader sweeps Goldust off his feet, hits a stidown splash, and finishes him off with a Vader Bomb with Luna on Vader's back. Damn good opener for the PPV. (***)

[stomperspc]

Solid match. Vader doing the Vader Bomb with Luna on his back was an awesome spot that got over big time. Both of these guys feel like they are being underutilized by WWF at this time but it is doubtful either would have been better off in 1998 WCW.

[Migs]

So weird to see Dustin doing good work after watching the increasingly weird gimmicks and 30 second matches. It's like they dropped WCW '92 into the middle of '98 WWF, and it's strange but also pretty awesome.

 

The nut shot that stopped the Vader Bomb looked snug. Leave it to Vader to dish out his potatoes but also take a nice ball shot.

 

Nice build with Goldust countering the big power moves early but being unable to do so late. Finish looked fantastic as well.

 

"Goldust does to the WWF what Dolly Parton does to a sweater - makes you sit up and take notice." Very topical reference from JR.

[Loss]

Yeah, this was a fun match. I think it felt more like a good TV match than a good PPV match, although it was much better than TV matches of the time. Liked the finishing splash with Luna on Vader's back.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

It’s kinda sad watching Goldust in this gimmick. He deserved better. This is pretty good, but I would have liked to see more of Goldust on offence. For example, he low-blows Vader to counter a Vader Bomb, but the match just continues with Vader on offence. Cool visual of Vader hitting the Vader Bomb with Luna on his back, although I’m not sure how cool Luna thought the landing was.

[bradhindsight]

Vader is really over as a face here and what a pop for the finish with Luna on his back. Great spot and we got plenty of replays of it. ***

[cactus]

A bad match between great workers. Vader is over even if his WWF run was disastrous. I'm not sure what everyone is seeing in this one. I do love the Vader Bomb spot that wraps things up though. ★

[tim]

Solid match, Vader is really over. The Vaderbomb with Luna on his back was a crazy visual.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This is a solid, if unspectacular match, but a good pay-off to the rivalry that Vader and Goldust have been having since the Survivor Series, giving Vader a definitive win. The finish is great and still one that I pop for even seeing it now, 18 years later. Listening to the crowd, Vader is as over as he's ever been in the WWF as a tough guy face, and it's a shame that he's then sacrificed to Kane and then does little of note until his WWF career peters out in the autumn. Hard to know where he might have slotted in on the Mania card, where there isn't an obvious gap, which is a shame as he had the crowd on his side at this point.

[PeteF3]

I actually actively disliked this match when I saw it at the time, but I haven't watched it since. It's a lot better than I remembered--not really as good as a really good WCW TV match nor as good as the best Vader/Dustin matches, but for the rapidly diminishing standards of late-'90s WWF it worked. I agree that there could have been more of Goldust on offense but even at this point, heel control segments aren't exactly Dustin's forte, especially working against a much bigger babyface opponent. Initial negative feelings about the match aside, the finish was awesome and memorable then and it's awesome today.

[TravJ1979]

This had flashes of the Vader of 1993. This wasn't blow away, but I wasn't bored with it. It was a solidly entertaining match. The finish was fun. If they began to rebuild Vader as a monster from this point until say, SummerSlam, he could have been a huge contender for Austin. That's what I got out of it more than anything is that Vader could have finished his WWF run strong if given the opportunity.

 

RATING: The match was good, but the blown opportunities coming out of it depresses me.

[Exposer]

Fun match. Vader getting pissed after Goldust kissed him & leveling him with a clothesline is a great spot. The finish is awesome with Vader hitting the Vader Bomb with Luna on his back. Luna took a big bump herself on that. The crowd loved it.

[Makai Club #1]

A fine opening match. There was a lot of decent wrestling. Goldust has some decent evasive offence to avoid Vader trying to clatter into him so there was a lot of urgency. The crowd was hot for the action as well. Luna’s interference was minimal and made for a tremendous finish where she got on Vader’s back when he hit the VaderBomb. **1/2