producers, said that WCW might as well "throw [the title] in the trash can". Goldberg turned heel for the first time in his career at The Great American Bash, but his subsequent feud with Kevin Nash, and a failed attempt to duplicate his original streak, greatly diminished Goldberg's drawing power. Vince Russo had many behind-the-scenes conflicts with Hulk Hogan as he still believed that Hogan's time in the spotlight was over. Hogan was viewed as "jobber to the stars", losing to main-event wrestlers such as Sting and Goldberg, as well as to Billy Kidman, whom Russo had Hogan feud with in an attempt to elevate Kidman. Hogan also appeared less frequently on WCW programming during this time. When it was announced that Hogan would be facing Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Bash at the Beach, Hogan invoked his creative control and demanded that he win the match and the title. Russo agreed to the finish, but added that the finish would involve Jarrett simply laying down for Hogan to pin him, which Hogan strongly disagreed with. During the actual match, Russo came down to the ring and threw the title belt at Hogan's feet. Hogan broke character, infamously saying, "Is this your idea, Russo? That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in, because of bullshit like this!" Moments after Hogan pinned Jarrett to win the match, Russo came back out and immediately voided Hogan's title win before delivering a shoot speech aimed at Hogan, during which he referred to Hogan as a "piece of shit" and that the fans would "never see [him] again", effectively firing Hogan live on pay-per-view. This eventually led to Hogan filing a defamation of character lawsuit, which was dismissed in 2002. Infuriated by Russo's actions, which conflicted with his intentions for Bash, Bischoff departed once more in July 2000. At the New Blood Rising pay-per-view on August 13, an injured Goldberg walked out of a triple threat elimination contest against Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner, violating the script of the match, and leaving Steiner to wrestle and lose to Nash by himself. Goldberg then swore at Russo on his way back to the dressing room on-camera. As a result of Goldberg's actions, the storyline was changed to a rivalry between Steiner and Goldberg, culminating in a match at Fall Brawl in September 2000, which Steiner won. Immediately afterward,