One of the biggest talking points in pro wrestling is the shocking victory that Bill Goldberg had over Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series . In a time that was clocked in at 1:26, Lesnar suffered his first one-on-one loss since The Undertaker at SummerSlam 2015. While there were many theories of why this happened, the moment was absolutely fascinating and will go in as one of the most memorable moments the event has ever had.
On the latest episode of Raw , Goldberg opened up the show thanking the Toronto crowd. He then appeared to be going the direction of sending his farewell to the WWE Universe. Then, he immediately turned the other direction. While he went backstage after his match against Lesnar, Goldberg stated that he crossed paths with WWE executive Stephanie McMahon. During their conversation, he was asked if he had one more title run left in him.
Goldberg accepted the challenge and entered himself in the 2017 Royal Rumble .
“At the #RoyalRumble match, EVERYONE is NEXT!” – @Goldberg #RAW pic.twitter.com/efJlwvxSV4
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 22, 2016
By the time the Royal Rumble occurs, Goldberg will be 50-years-old. While there were speculations of him wrestling more than one match due to the positive reactions from both the locker room and the crowd, there have been no plans to extend that to a championship run.
Right now, Goldberg is on the Raw roster. While there will be only one winner in the Rumble match, and the rules may be revived of the winner making the choice of what title he wants to compete for, Goldberg on SmackDown Live has virtually no chance.
At the time, there could be a few possibilities of who the WWE Universal Champion will be. Right now, the title holder is Kevin Owens. He could possibly hold it all the way until WrestleMania for a bout with Goldberg. However, Owens may not be ready yet to headline the biggest stage of the year.
The other options would be either Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins. Interestingly, Rollins did plant seeds of possibly feuding with Goldberg. Per WrestlingNews.co , Rollins was asked during an interview on ESPN First Take whether he would fight Goldberg if he returned.
“I would fight Goldberg any day of the week. Bring Goldberg back. I would take him on. Goldberg’s past his prime and he can’t hang with me.”
Goldberg struck back during an interview on ESPN First Take, WrestleZone reported.
“H-ll no I’m not past my prime, Rollins is just trying to get a little rub, which is gonna put him in the hospital. So he better pray to God when I beat Brock [Lesnar] that I don’t have anymore in me because his head will be served on a platter.”
While this would be an interesting feud, with Rollins most likely returning to a heel role, the road for Goldberg is most likely leading to another match against Brock Lesnar, at WrestleMania 33 .
According to recent reports of why the Goldberg vs. Lesnar match was a squash, including AngryMarks , Lesnar convinced Vince McMahon to approve the decision for the sake of making Goldberg look like a dominate force. This would lead to yet another match between the two at a pay per view, namely WrestleMania 33 .
The most plausible way to set up the third match between Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar would be for Lesnar to cost Goldberg his opportunity to become WWE Universal Champion. This is eerily similar to what happened the last time Goldberg was in the Royal Rumble, which was 2004.
Goldberg dominated the 2004 Royal Rumble in short time before getting eliminated by Kurt Angle due to Brock Lesnar interfering and distracting him during the match. This planted the seed to an eventual match between the two at WrestleMania XX . Oddly, it looks like history will indeed repeat itself, and the same thing will happen again.
While a third match between Goldberg and Lesnar seems to be irrelevant, booking it as Lesnar beating The Undertaker’s Streak at WrestleMania but having a losing streak against Goldberg could raise some interest.
[Featured Image by WWE]