WWE Rumor Roundup: Top Superstar refused jobbing to Bray Wyatt to 'protect his image'; 3-time World Champion may never return after WrestleMania - 8th April 2020

Welcome to another edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup where we try and bring the biggest and most sensational rumors and stories from the day.

With WrestleMania over, there has been a lot of backstage talk about the decisions that were taken to make the show interesting. We will also talk about how Goldberg refused to lose to Bray Wyatt and WWE had to make a last-minute change of plan.

There's also news about the unique yet unfulfilled promise Vince McMahon made to top star, among other topics.

So without any further ado, let us take a look at the 5 biggest stories from the day:

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#5 Goldberg refused to lose to Bray Wyatt last-minute

Goldberg captured his second Universal Championship at Super ShowDown by defeating Bray Wyatt in a decision that upset many fans.

The Fiend Bray Wyatt was riding high on momentum and it was a bit puzzling as to why WWE would have their hottest act lose to a part-timer in a matter of minutes.

Though initial reports suggested that WWE wanted Goldberg to win all along, a new report from WrestleZone has revealed that it was Goldberg himself who pushed to become the Universal Champion to protect his image.

We were told that Goldberg going over was a last-minute decision, apparently because Goldberg didn’t want to risk damaging his image. It was noted that Goldberg bargained for creative control and pushed for the title win because 'The Fiend' was a monster and the younger fans needed to see him come out victorious, or it would ruin his character.

Goldberg was set to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania this year but eventually ended up facing Braun Strowman due to Reigns pulling out of the show. Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg to win his first World Championship at WrestleMania, whereas Bray Wyatt made history with John Cena at WrestleMania in the first-ever Firefly Fun House match.

#4 Goldberg's in-ring career over?

Sticking with Goldberg, the report also suggests that the likelihood of the former WCW World Champion returning to the WWE is bleak if at all it ever happens.

While Goldberg is still a major draw and manages to rope in a lot of casual fans, there is no doubt that he doesn't have much left in his arsenal. Unlike Brock Lesnar who still somehow manages to keep his aura, Goldberg has become a bit stale with all his matches becoming predictable.

Here is what WrestleZone have reported:

Goldberg has been open in the past about believing kids saw him as a superhero, and it appears he felt keeping the mystique alive was critical this time around as well. Furthermore, it was explained that Bray eventually agreed to put him over, which might have gained him some more favor with the locker room. As far as when we could see Goldberg back in a WWE ring, that might not happen for a long time, if at all.

Goldberg has achieved the major feat of winning a World Championship in three different decades which says a lot about his star power. But it may be time for the Hall of Famer to hang up his boots.

#3 Drew McIntyre almost went off-script

Drew McIntyre managed to win his first WWE Championship by beating The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar in a matter of minutes at The Grandest Stage of Them All this year.

The ascent of McIntyre started when he eliminated Lesnar from the 2020 Royal Rumble and went on to challenge him after winning the Rumble himself. While speaking on WWE's The Bump after his victory, The Scottish Psychopath talked about how he almost considered going off-script during the match:

No matter the situation, he was ready to fight and I was ready to fight. That was my favorite moment as we locked eyes. If you could’ve read my mind, I was thinking, ‘If you pull any funny business, Brock, I’ll drop you right now.’ That’s literally what was going through my head.” (H/T: SportsKeeda)

Not only did McIntyre manage to beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, he also went on to defeat The Big Show on RAW the very next night.

McIntyre had previously revealed that he has huge respect for Brock Lesnar as the former WWE Champion has done everything to make McIntyre look great.

#2 Original plans for the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania

Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg at WrestleMania to become the new Universal Champion. However, this was never a part of the plan and was, in fact, a late decision taken by WWE owing to the circumstances.

It was clear from the moment WWE announced Goldberg vs Roman Reigns that the reason Goldberg had defeated The Fiend to become the Universal Champion was to put Reigns over at WrestleMania. However, with The Big Dog pulling out of 'Mania, WWE had no choice but to replace him with Braun Strowman.

Here is what WrestleTalk have stated regarding the original plans for WrestleMania:

WrestleTalk’s Louis Dangoor can exclusively reveal that WWE’s initial plan when they figured Roman wouldn’t be on the show was to have Goldberg retain. WWE wanted Goldberg to put over Roman Reigns, with this being the only reason he defeated The Fiend for the Universal Championship at Super ShowDown.

They also stated that the tentative plans were to have Reigns beat Goldberg at SummerSlam instead. However, here is why WWE had to make Strowman the Universal Champion instead:

"However, our sources have told us that reason WWE opted to have Braun win the title on Saturday night is because Goldberg’s final WWE appearance and match of 2020 was set to be at WrestleMania, and the Hall of Famer had no intention of adding more dates to his current deal. "

#1 Vince McMahon had made a unique promise to Bret Hart

While speaking to ESPN, former WWE Champion Bret Hart talked about his previous WrestleMania matches. During the conversation, The Hitman spoke about the time before Wrestlemania 9 when Vince McMahon had promised Bret Hart a long title-reign but took the title off him in three months.

“They told me when I won the title, which was about three months before, that they were going to keep the title on me for a really long time. I’m talking five, six, seven years. I only went on what they told me, so I was totally not prepared to lose so quickly. I was really caught off guard by that.” (H/T: SportsKeeda)

Bret Hart is not only a multi-time WWE Champion but also a two-time Hall of Famer. While The Hitman's in-ring days are over, he still makes appearances on WWE and AEW every now and then.

Bret Hart has won the top title in WWE four times and is known for his historic rivalries with Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin.