What’s the story?
In a recent interview that Shawn Michaels had with Jim Ross on his podcast, ‘The Ross Report’ HBK made a bold prediction for the Goldberg/Brock Lesnar match for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania. He believes that this time around, the two competitors will be able to tell a good story and have a 15 to 17-minute match.
In case you didn’t know...
The official time for the second ever match between Lesnar and Goldberg was only 1:26 at Survivor Series last November. For comparison’s sake, their first match lasted 14 minutes at WrestleMania 20 when Stone Cold Steve Austin was the guest referee.
The heart of the matter
There is a very good chance that this is the final match on the card April 2nd. To end a WrestleMania with a match the length of Survivor Series could cause a riot. Being in the business for 30 years, Michaels was probably aware of this and it probably prompted the bold proclamation of a lengthy match.
What’s next?
There are two editions of Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania. Normally you wouldn’t expect both Lesnar and Goldberg to be on next week’s Raw. The usual formula would be to have them meet face to face on the final Raw before the big pay per view, but next week’s Raw is in Brooklyn and rumour has it that the WWE is looking to make it a big show.
Author’s take
In a perfect booking situation, Michael’s prediction on the match would be a great one. The problem is that the crowd has already turned on Goldberg since they decided to put Raw’s top prize on him. Now the “main event” of WrestleMania is not only for the WWE Universal Championship, but the wrestlers involved are both part-time.
Also read: "Fire Goldberg" chants raise more concern about Goldberg vs. Lesnar
The crowd turned on both wrestlers at WrestleMania XX when it was made public that this would be their last appearance in the WWE. Not even the addition of Steve Austin could save the match from a cascade of boos.
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