5 of WWE's best booking decisions in 2021 thus far

#2 Drew McIntyre retains his WWE Championship against Goldberg at the Royal Rumble

Drew McIntyre earned Goldberg's respect at Royal Rumble

WWE's first pay-per-view of the year was heavily built around the mega clash between Goldberg and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. If history was any indication, McIntyre's days as WWE Champion were numbered.

It had become an annual custom for Golderg to return in the build-up to WrestleMania to decimate a rising star to win the World Championship and later drop it to a more powerful, prioritized foe at WrestleMania. The Hall of Famer destroyed Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017 to win the Universal Championship and history would repeat itself three years later at Super Show-Down when The Fiend was conquered with a Jackhammer.

McIntyre had led WWE through the darkest days of the pandemic and it would've been ill-advised to take the WWE Championship off him in this way. Hence, when McIntyre pinned Goldberg at Royal Rumble in a two-minute skirmish, many fans breathed a sigh of relief as WWE avoided a potential disaster.

Had Golderg won the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, yet another part-timer would've been WWE Champion heading into WrestleMania, which had become an irritating staple in recent years. McIntyre's win prevented that from happening even though he wasn't the champion walking into WrestleMania 37.