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Well, it happened. Goldberg is back in WWE following his return on RAW.
He confronted Bobby Lashley after his victory over Keith Lee, pretty much confirming his pursuit of the WWE Championship for SummerSlam. The moment got quite the reception, as Goldberg always does, but is it the right decision from WWE?
There is a place for him on the card, as proven by his performance opposite Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble. However, it isn't in the world title picture. The WWE Hall of Famer holds value to this day. His squash of Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam two years ago was a particularly good use of him.
Goldberg should not be anywhere near the WWE or Universal Championship in the summer of 2021. Pitting him against Lashley at SummerSlam is a huge mistake, with a variety of factors surrounding it.
Here are five reasons why Goldberg challenging Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship is a mistake. What did you think about his return on RAW? Let us know in the comments below.
#5 RAW needs top full-time babyfaces in the main event, not Goldberg
One of the possible reasons why Goldberg returned to challenge Bobby Lashley for SummerSlam was the lack of top babyfaces near the top of the card.
The All Mighty had a long program with Drew McIntyre, who is rightfully away from the title picture right now. Him demolishing Kofi Kingston was a great way to get more heat as the fans are back, but Lashley should have bigger challenges than that.
For example, when Keith Lee answered his open challenge on RAW, it felt like the WWE Champion had finally met his match. However, the former NXT Champion was simply the pre-cursor to Goldberg. Bobby Lashley beat him pretty convincingly.
Lee would have been a great choice to challenge for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, having come off an absence of almost six months. An alternative is Big E, who won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. He should move over to RAW and enter the world title scene, giving it a dose of freshness in the process.
#4 John Cena is already filling Goldberg's spot as the part-timer challenging for a world title
With Goldberg's return creating a buzz, it is obvious that part-timers can boost WWE's world title scene for a while. However, too many of them dilute its purpose and further diminishes the current crop of talent on RAW and SmackDown.
Multiple part-timers can appear on the same show, as they definitely raise the importance of it. However, the WWE and Universal Championships should mainly be reserved for full-time stars. Roman Reigns' title reign is the exception to this rule, and it should remain that way.
John Cena's return at Money in the Bank was a magical moment and his upcoming feud with The Tribal Chief will undoubtedly be a work of art. But as a result, WWE should have kept a balance and pushed a fresh face in the RAW main event scene.
Goldberg doing the same thing as Cena on RAW simply makes the Red brand feel like the B-show. The brand has undergone some change so far, but it isn't nearly enough to turn its fortunes completely around. It needs more compelling stories.
#3 Goldberg's involvement will lead to a very short WWE Title match at SummerSlam
Goldberg's in-ring strengths and weaknesses have been carefully managed by WWE for a while. He is at his best in short bursts of energy, with his explosive spears and Jackhammers creating a fanbase for life.
As a result, all of his matches are best kept under five minutes. That is why he has a high value in non-title exhibitions like the SummerSlam 2019 match with Dolph Ziggler. A sub-five-minute world title match at a major pay-per-view feels like a huge waste.
It was fine at Royal Rumble, considering Drew McIntyre and Goldberg were far from the main attractions on the show. The WWE Hall of Famer's match with Bobby Lashley will be among the three biggest ones in a packed stadium in Las Vegas. The WWE Championship should be treated better.
With Lashley on the run of his WWE career, he should have a much longer match at SummerSlam. He just had a squash match at the previous pay-per-view. Sure, the bout with Goldberg will be fun but it won't have half the storytelling power of its SmackDown counterpart, between Roman Reigns and John Cena.
#2 This is the same thing Goldberg has been doing since 2020
Goldberg has had three matches since the start of 2020, all of which have been for the WWE or Universal Championship. So, the prospect of him challenging one of the top world champions is not a new one. It has been met with mixed responses every time.
Fans point to Goldberg's Universal Title matches against Kevin Owens and 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt. Both of them resulted in ill-advised title changes, with his victory over Wyatt in Saudi Arabia particularly frustrating to watch. He then dropped the belt at WrestleMania 36 to Braun Strowman.
He would return to challenge WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at the start of this year. Fortunately, The Scottish Warrior retained his title after a fun match against the WCW icon. This was WWE's best use of him since that SummerSlam 2019 match with Dolph Ziggler.
But Goldberg has returned to WWE in exactly the same way. Bobby Lashley defeated Keith Lee, just like McIntyre did so on RAW Legend's Night, before the WWE Hall of Famer came out to confront him. It is a copy-paste situation, summing up RAW's creative issues in 2021.
#1 There is no drama in the match because of Goldberg's contract of two matches per year
As mentioned by the man himself, Goldberg is contracted to two matches per year in WWE. This has been the case since 2019. The WWE Hall of Famer's first match was the aforementioned WWE Championship showdown against Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble.
But what is worse than Goldberg returning in exactly the same scenario is the complete lack of drama and intrigue. His SummerSlam match against Bobby Lashley will be his last match of 2021, which guarantees he won't become WWE Champion.
It is one thing for a world title at a major event to be five minutes long, but the outcome being a foregone conclusion severely damages proceedings. The main selling point of Goldberg's match with McIntyre was the uncertainty of whether history would repeat itself once again, which it massively benefitted from.
The predictability of his clash with Lashley will decrease the impact of The All Mighty's eventual victory. WWE should have considered this factor and booked Goldberg in another situation for SummerSlam, with the outcome not being certain.
Both he and Bobby Lashley had much better options for The Biggest Event of the Summer.
