5 possible opponents who Goldberg could face next in WWE

“Never say never” were the final words to come out of Goldberg’s mouth when he gave an emotional post-Raw speech to a raucous crowd the night after WrestleMania 33.

His match against Brock Lesnar at “The Show of Shows”, where he lost the Universal Championship, looked to be his last in WWE, but those closing words hinted that he will return to the squared circle one day.

The former WCW champion received plaudits for his recent ‘WWE 24’ documentary on the WWE Network, which gave an in-depth look at his six-month journey to WrestleMania 33, and it left us wondering if we could see him back in the ring in the not-too-distant future.

In this article, we look at five possible opponents that the 50-year-old could take on next if he makes another WWE comeback.

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#1 Braun Strowman

Could Braun Strowman be "next" for Goldberg?

For someone who has been billed as “The Monster Among Men” over the last year, Braun Strowman’s pay-per-view record is surprisingly weak compared to some of his fellow Superstars.

He has won just six of his 16 PPV matches since joining WWE’s main roster in 2015, and he has only beaten one person in that time – Roman Reigns, first at Payback 2017 and then at the inaugural Great Balls of Fire event.

The Survivor Series finale led many of us to believe that we could see Strowman vs. Triple H in the near future, possibly at WrestleMania 34, but it looks more likely that “The Game” will face Kurt Angle in New Orleans instead.

So, with Strowman lacking competition, who better to face on the biggest stage than Goldberg? It would have to be a babyface vs. babyface match, of course, but having Braun defeat the former WCW champion would solidify his status as the one true monster in WWE today.

#2 Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns & Goldberg speared Braun Strowman in February 2017

Roman Reigns has had more ‘statement victories’ than any other Superstar over the last 20 months – from Triple H at WrestleMania 32, to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33, to John Cena at No Mercy 2017.

“The Big Dog” could earn another major win at WrestleMania 34, where he’s expected to get his first clean victory over Brock Lesnar, but it’s safe to say he's quickly running out of top-level opponents who he has never faced before.

That’s where Goldberg could come in. The two have interacted on one previous occasion, when they hit Braun Strowman with a double-spear on an episode of Raw in February 2017, but they have never faced off one-on-one in WWE.

Assuming Reigns wins the Universal Championship from Lesnar at WrestleMania 34, Goldberg would be a worthy opponent to main-event a pay-per-view with. The Shield member would have to win, of course, but that’s not a bad thing – Goldberg is 50, after all, and it would only further cement Reigns as the top star in modern-day WWE.

#3 Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe is yet to have a WrestleMania match

In a year where WWE has struggled to protect many of their new stars, Samoa Joe’s ever-growing reputation as one of the company’s most aggressive heels has most definitely remained intact.

“The Samoan Submission Machine” is one of the few believable characters in modern-day WWE and, despite losing clean to Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, he has still had one of the best first 12 months on the main roster out of any recent NXT call-ups.

The only major disappointment from Joe’s year was his absence from WrestleMania 33 – a card he didn’t feature on, not even on the kickoff show Battle Royal, despite debuting on Raw in January.

After such a strong 2017, the former NXT champion deserves a featured match at WrestleMania – an event he has never competed at – and a huge victory over the returning Goldberg would go a long way to legitimising Joe as a present and future star.

#4 Kevin Owens

Goldberg won the Universal title from Kevin Owens

Remember Goldberg’s Universal Championship victory over Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017? Chris Jericho got involved, it lasted 22 seconds and it was, quite frankly, a total farce which very few fans enjoyed.

It was one of the key factors why Goldberg was jeered so much ahead of his WrestleMania 33 match against Brock Lesnar and why many fans viewed his WWE comeback in a bad light, despite the positive moments it provided.

Owens has had a mixed year, as highlighted in the ‘365’ documentary which aired recently on the WWE Network, and his defeat to Goldberg, purely from his character’s perspective, was probably his biggest low since he joined WWE’s main roster.

A rematch between the two, which never happened despite Owens losing the Universal Championship in their Fastlane encounter, would help cement KO as a main-event star if he gets a 1-2-3 over his legendary former rival.

#5 Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal will challenge AJ Styles at Clash of Champions

Jinder Mahal’s storylines during his six-month reign as WWE Champion weren’t the most interesting, but what he does going forward no as a singles competitor on SmackDown Live is certainly intriguing.

How will he cope without the Singh Brothers? Will he slip back down the SmackDown Live card? Will he be in a featured match at WrestleMania 34? Does he still figure into WWE’s plans at all?

We speculated in November that Jinder, without a title and without any allies, might struggle to make the WrestleMania 34 main show altogether, but one way to get him involved could be to put him in a match against the returning Goldberg.

It was clear during the ‘WWE 24’ documentary that Goldberg didn’t enjoy the high-profile build-up to his WrestleMania 33 match against Brock Lesnar, but an unadvertised, impromptu match – and victory – against “The Modern Day Maharajah” would excite the crowd and provide both Superstars with a memorable WrestleMania moment.

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