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Five Potential Opponents For Goldberg Upon His WWE Return

By Aaron Sass
Published on: 14:43 PST, Sep 5, 2016

It seems like it’s only a matter of time before former WCW and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg makes his return to WWE. It’s been 12 years since we’ve seen him in a WWE ring, and even though his first run in the company wasn’t the best, and he didn’t leave on the best of terms, it appears that he’s finally willing to put all of that behind him and return for at least one last match.

The former WCW megastar became relevant in the WWE world again when the very first WWE 2K17 commercial ran, which revealed that Goldberg would be the game’s pre-order bonus. Since then, WWE fans have been begging for him to return and take on Brock Lesnar.

Prior to last month’s SummerSlam event, there was a rumor going around that Goldberg would be at the show and that he would confront Brock Lesnar. But, he never showed up, and he apologized for missing the show on Twitter following its conclusion.

Sure, Brock Lesnar is someone who WWE fans would be interested in seeing Goldberg take on. But there are some other names that would be interesting match-ups for the former World Heavyweight Champion.

Triple H

[Image via WWE]
Triple H became Goldberg’s main rival almost immediately after the former WCW star debuted in WWE in the spring of 2003. But it wasn’t supposed to be that way, as Goldberg was supposed to have a three match program with The Rock, however, he only ended up having one match with him.

Goldberg had a ton of real life heat with Triple H during his one year run in WWE, and his heat with WWE’s chief operating officer didn’t die down after he left the company in 2004. Of course, Goldberg has said that he’s willing to make up with both Triple H and Vince McMahon if they’re willing to do the same, and if he’s going to return to the company, he’ll need to do just that.

Some of the best storylines in wrestling history have involved real life issues, and even though it’ll be a sign that he’s made up with Triple H if he returns to WWE, Goldberg could use some of those real life issues from the past to help garner interest in an on-screen feud with Triple H. But, if he’s just returning for one more match, he probably won’t end up facing WWE’s COO.

John Cena

John Cena made his WWE main roster debut on SmackDown shortly before Goldberg had signed with WWE. Of course, Goldberg made his debut on the Raw roster, and Cena wasn’t moved to Raw until after Goldberg had left the company, so we never got a Goldberg vs. John Cena match.

Perhaps with the exception of Brock Lesnar, there isn’t a bigger name in WWE than John Cena. So if Goldberg was looking to face someone other than Lesnar, Cena may be the guy.

John Cena is going to be off of WWE television for the next couple of months, as he’s busy filming Season 2 of Fox’s American Grit. But he does need a new, fresh, and high profile opponent when he finally returns to action, and Goldberg may end up being that guy.

Undertaker

During the WWE 2K17 press event over SummerSlam weekend, Goldberg said that he would love to get in the ring with The Undertaker if he returns to WWE.

Undertaker vs. Goldberg is a match that WWE probably would have done at some point if Goldberg would have continued on with the company following WrestleMania 20. They were unable to do it during the former WCW star’s one year run because of the fact that he and “The Deadman” were on different brands.

There’s a rumor going around that The Undertaker is retired, but we’ve heard that rumor plenty of times over the last decade, so it’s a little hard to believe. If anything is going to convince “The Deadman” to return, it would probably be a dream match scenario. But, if WWE is going to go in that direction, then they’d probably book Undertaker vs. Sting because that’s a much bigger dream match than Undertaker vs. Goldberg. But, WWE may not be comfortable with putting Sting back in the ring, and if that’s the case, then Goldberg vs. Undertaker would be the next best thing.

Roman Reigns

If Goldberg is going to return to face anyone from the current generation, it’s going to be Roman Reigns. It’s the perfect match up, as both men are hard-hitting former pro football players, who both have the same signature move; The Spear.

If WWE books Reigns vs. Goldberg, then Reigns would probably be the one to go over, which wouldn’t please the crowd at all. So this fantasy match up will probably remain just that; a fantasy. But if WWE wants to put Goldberg in the ring with a current guy, Reigns would be the guy for the job.

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and the WWE 2K people have been hyping this match for the last several months, so if Goldberg returns to WWE, booking him against Lesnar would be a no brainer.

The two men have wrestled before, and it was a complete disaster. But, the circumstances back then were a lot different than they would be if they wrestled now, and if the two men were motivated – which they probably would be if they were booked against one another at WrestleMania 33– they could put on a heck of a match.

Goldberg won the first meeting between the two in 2004, which means that Lesnar will probably win the rematch if it ends up happening. Of course, it probably won’t be a 30-minute classic because that doesn’t fit either man’s style. But it’ll probably be a 10- to 15-minute hard hitting, mean guy match, which Lesnar will end up winning.

[Image via WWE]

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