5 Mistakes WWE made at Saturday Night's Main Event from Atlanta

The latest edition of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event left a lot to be desired. It was built around Goldberg's retirement match against World Heavyweight Champion Gunther.

In the end, The Ring General retained his title against the legend in his hometown of Atlanta. The show was supposed to feature male stars from RAW and SmackDown in prominent spots since Evolution will close the weekend.

The latest edition of SNME had some notable moments, but it didn't set the world on fire. WWE made the next five mistakes at Saturday Night's Main Event from Atlanta, Georgia.

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#5. So they're really involving Drew McIntyre in this?

Between SmackDown and Saturday Night's Main Event, WWE dedicated nearly 45 minutes of programming to the partnership of Jelly Roll and Randy Orton. This included a backstage intro, a nearly 20-minute segment on SmackDown, and then a match in Atlanta. They followed up with a backstage interview after the match. A tag team match was later scheduled for SummerSlam.

The unfortunate part is that Drew McIntyre is being used in this capacity. He deserves a singles feud or better booking since he lost to Damian Priest in his last storyline.

Using The Viper in this angle is fine since he's better served helping the next generation. He made it to the finals of King of the Ring. McIntyre is still in his prime and deserves a fitting feud after his booking around the world title in 2024.

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#4. An onslaught of commercials during Saturday Night's Main Event

If you watch RAW on Netflix in the USA, you might be accustomed to the commercial breaks. Despite the ads, the pacing is at least done well enough not to be a nuisance.

When it came to the latest installment of Saturday Night's Main Event, however, that couldn't be further from the truth. It felt like there was an ad break every three minutes.

The show even returned from a commercial break and then didn't have anything substantial before going back to more advertisements. The pacing hurt the flow of the first two matches, taking up nearly the same time in the ring.

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#3. Drew McIntyre is pinned in his first match back

Drew McIntyre is still looking for his first win after a heavy loss to Damian Priest. (Image Credit: WWE on YouTube).

Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre in a Steel Cage match at the last edition of Saturday Night's Main Event on May 24. The Scottish Warrior took some time off to heal nagging injuries and to sell the brutality of the cage match.

He returned to SmackDown two weeks ago to mock Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton after their King of the Ring finals at Night of Champions. It led to their match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

With McIntyre losing the cage match, he needed to rebound with a big win. Instead, he lost to Orton and Jelly Roll in Atlanta.

It was also after a rather average match and an average RKO. It didn't take much to take him out, and even hitting Jelly Roll with a Claymore doesn't make up for the disappointing loss.

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#2. Not having a five-match card

Most two-hour shows feature at least five matches. Some have six, like most episodes of NXT. Since Saturday Night's Main Event is touted as a special event, it could have easily included a fifth contest.

Gunther beat Goldberg while Solo Sikoa retained the US Title over Jimmy Uso. LA Knight beat Seth Rollins in a match likely shortened due to an injury to The Visionary.

McInyre lost to The Legend Killer in the opening match. Another contest would have filled the spot after Rollins' injury and the slow-paced main event.

Naomi and Jade Cargill had another attack segment simply to reveal Bianca Belair as the special guest referee for their Evolution match. There were too many commercials and not enough action on a show dedicated to wrestling.

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#1. Cutting off some of Goldberg's farewell speech from the live broadcast

Fans watching live might have missed most of Goldberg's final message. (Image Credit: WWE on X).

Goldberg's retirement match wasn't going to be a five-star wrestling clinic. Despite his history of three-to-five-minute matches, his loss to Gunther was actually one of the longer matches he's had.

After he lost, Gunther left the ring, but the live broadcast immediately cut to commercial. There wasn't a credits scene, leaving fans confused about what was happening.

The show returned with Goldberg in the ring holding a mic, surrounded by many of his friends and family. He started what was supposed to be his retirement farewell, but was cut off again by the live broadcast.

The WWE Hall of Famer deserved to have his final farewell aired in full. Jelly Roll and Orton didn't need as much time as they were given, and the show could have been paced better to accommodate a legend in his last match. Forcing fans to see the whole thing on social media isn't a good idea.