WWE has its next challenger for Universal Champion Roman Reigns, and it’s a familiar face—Bill Goldberg.
Fightful Select (h/t SEScoops) reports that Goldberg, who was once slated to face Reigns at WrestleMania 36, will finally get his match against “The Tribal Chief” at Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia later this month.
Goldberg last wrestled for WWE at Crown Jewel in October 2021, defeating the current WWE Champion Bobby Lashley in a No Holds Barred Falls Count Anywhere Match that was widely considered to be his best in-ring performance during his most recent run with the company. Goldberg’s expected match with Reigns, however, may very well be his last match in WWE, at least for now.
Regarding Goldberg’s long-term future, Fightful Select notes that “this is believed to be the last match on his current contract.” A former Universal Champion himself, Goldberg confirmed during an interview with Sports Illustrated earlier this year that he had one match remaining on his contract but would consider extending his run: “I’m focused on what’s next. If they want to come back to me with something, we’ll talk. You never know what the future holds.”
Now, it’s known, however, what Goldberg’s immediate future holds: What was once considered a huge dream match against Reigns.
Whether or not fans will still react to Reigns vs. Goldberg that way is a different story, though. Locker room morale in WWE is reportedly at an “all-time low” at a time when WWE’s full-time roster is paper thin and its two biggest part-time stars, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey, swooped in at Royal Rumble to win their respective matches and earn a guaranteed world title match and main event slot at WrestleMania 38.
WWE’s constant focus on part-time names has become a point of contention among the company’s diehard fan base and its reliance on the likes of Goldberg, Lesnar and Rousey has essentially become a case of WWE forcing itself into that situation.
Because of the company’s difficulties creating new stars, it must rely on past-their-prime big-named veterans to carry its biggest shows of the year, and that’s precisely what is happening with Goldberg. Thus, WWE’s passionate fan base may not be overly receptive to the idea of yet another older veteran showing up for a massive payday only to disappear again shortly thereafter.
Never known for his in-ring prowess, Goldberg is returning to Saudi Arabia for a blockbuster match on a show that will also feature Lesnar competing for the WWE title and Lita taking on Becky Lynch. This comes as no surprise given that WWE’s shows in Saudi Arabia have had a heavy part-time presence in recent years, but it does speak to WWE’s issues with establishing its full-timers as capable main eventers.
Instead of Reigns feuding with Seth Rollins—his most logical opponent given what transpired at Royal Rumble—he will take on Goldberg, who has lost a lot of his luster in recent years due to a string of underwhelming, if not downright bad, in-ring performances and losses that have erased away much of his once impenetrable aura.
But WWE generated more than $1 billion in revenue last year and remains remarkably profitable, despite a subpar television product. That means that WWE, in all likelihood, will continue to book Raw and SmackDown the same way that it has over the past several years: By focusing on a handful of full-timers throughout the year, largely ignoring much of the rest of the roster and then bringing in big names like Goldberg from time to time.
That remains especially true during WrestleMania season, when part-timers reign supreme and in-the-know fans realize that Goldberg’s return at Elimination Chamber may just be the tip of the iceberg. Sure, Goldberg isn’t expected to defeat Reigns, who has now held the Universal title for more than 500 days.
But when it comes to WWE, can you ever really be sure?
