wrestling / Columns

Goldberg As Universal Champion Is Best For WWE

March 6, 2017 | Posted by Jeremy Lambert
Goldberg WWE Credit: WWE

In 2017, Bill Goldberg is the WWE Universal champion. This seemed implausible a year ago, mainly because the WWE Universal title didn’t exist, but it’s a real thing in 2017. It makes sense, and it’s good for the company. And remember, it’s not about what’s good for the fans. It’s about what’s good for the company.

Kevin Owens’ Reign Wasn’t Good

Even though he was the longest reigning WWE Universal champion in history, his title reign wasn’t very good. He was literally handed the title by Triple H in a fatal-four way match, he never won clean, and he was involved in a bunch of comedy segments with Chris Jericho. I liked the comedy segments, Owens and Jericho had great chemistry, but it was a mid-card act. Owens never looked or carried himself like a real champion. He was just a guy that was gifted the belt, needed help keeping the belt, and made a bunch of jokes with his best friend.

Three weeks ago, Owens finally looked like a legitimate champion. He turned into the badass that we all wanted him to be. He destroyed Jericho, and then cut a couple of great promos on Goldberg. He came into Sunday’s match unafraid, getting right in Goldberg’s face. It was a great change from what we had seen since he won the belt.

But it was too little too late. Three weeks of strong material doesn’t erase six months of weak sauce, which should always be gotten out of here.

Goldberg Is Legit

Name a bigger badass in the company than Goldberg. There isn’t one. He beat a former UFC heavyweight champion in less than 90 seconds. He hasn’t lost a one-on-one match in the WWE in his career. He hasn’t lost a match period in over 10 years. Goldberg is the most legit guy on the roster.

Fans that want their world champion to be believable should be over the moon right now. Goldberg is the most believable champion of all-time. “He’s blown up after his entrance.” Who cares? He’s going to finish some poor guy in 30-seconds. You don’t need cardio when you know you’re about to beatdown some dude in the time that it takes to heat up a hot pocket. “He can’t wrestle a long match.” So what? That just shows how weak the rest of the roster is. They need 20-minutes to do what Goldberg does in 20-seconds.

Wrestlemania Finally Has A Main Event

What was the main event prior to Sunday’s Fastlane event? Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt? Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho? The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns? AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon? Triple H vs. Seth Rollins? Ugh, comedy mid-card match, no thanks, that shouldn’t even be booked, and are we sure that will be a match and not a fighting segment?

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar could have headlined without the Universal title on the line, but then everyone would have complained that the title didn’t go on last. This is the best of both worlds. We get a main event between two superstars with a World title attached to it.

Remember, Wrestlemania isn’t about making stars or the culmination of stories or even great matches anymore. It’s about moments. What’s the biggest and most talked about moment that the company can produce? It’s been this way for the last two years now and it’s not going to change this year. The rematch between Goldberg and Lesnar for the Universal title is the best moment because those are the only two guys on the roster, besides Roman Reigns, who everyone keeps booing, that people care about.

Maybe if we all would have just accepted Roman as the next Hogan and cheered him on as he slayed beast after assassin after mountain, we wouldn’t be in the position of having Goldberg vs. Lesnar as the main event. But since we turned out backs on Roman, WWE turned their backs on us.

Tweet at me @jeremylambert88

article topics :

Goldberg, WWE Fastlane, Jeremy Lambert