WWE still using Goldberg shows their inability to build credible babyfaces

Goldberg returned on last night's episode of WWE SmackDown and challenged Roman Reigns to a Universal Championship Match. The match was later made official for the Elimination Chamber event later this month.

WWE seems to have no problem booking heel characters as champions. Resorting to using Goldberg in the title scene again, however, highlights the company's issues with creating credible babyface challengers and champions. Especially for Reigns on SmackDown.

RAW has credible babyfaces such as AJ Styles, Edge, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Seth Rollins (after the events at the Royal Rumble). But the SmackDown roster is heavily lacking in the babyface department.

Drew McIntyre, who is supposed to be SmackDown's top hero, is currently mired in a comedy feud with Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss. McIntyre will once again face Moss in a singles match at Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia. It wouldn't be surprising if this leads to a one-on-one bout between McIntyre and Corbin at WrestleMania.

After losing the WWE Championship at Day 1, Big E was quietly moved over to the SmackDown roster. The idea is that this was done to bolster the babyface side of the blue brand. However, it seems as though Big E is back to being a member of the New Day and a tag team wrestler. Confirmation of his circumstances will likely be finalized once Xavier Woods returns from injury.

After McIntyre and Big E, there is a huge dropoff in the depth chart. This is where you'll find guys like Ricochet and Cesaro languishing. Both are incredibly talented superstars who could easily be built as challengers, but are instead losing to the likes of Sheamus and Ridge Holland in the midcard.

WWE's recent releases are finally hurting them

This is also where the marks from WWE's recent releases are finally beginning to show. Guys like Jeff Hardy and Keith Lee had fan support and would have been seen as legitimate challengers for Reigns, but both are now gone.

Before his release, Hardy was likely positioned as an opponent for Reigns at the Royal Rumble. The timing would have been perfect, as Hardy would have acted as a great placeholder to bridge Reigns from the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania. However, WWE hastily released him and had to move Seth Rollins over from RAW as a Plan C.

Keith Lee's case is based more on his history. At Survivor Series 2019, Lee pushed Reigns to his limit in the traditional Survivor Series Match and nearly pulled off the victory.

After the match, the two pounded fists as a sign of respect. Going one step further in the 2020 Royal Rumble Match, Brock Lesnar was in awe when Lee's music hit. But instead of building Lee up as a top babyface, WWE decided to change his name to Keith "Bearcat" Lee and released him a few months later.

WWE's main issue in booking faces is that they either give them the dreaded 50/50 WWE booking instead of allowing them to win feuds outright, or they change what was working for them, and it's almost always a change for the worst.

The best example of this is Damian Priest. Priest was winning matches and had a cool character and great music. WWE decided to change his music on a whim and gave him a "Damian and the Priest" type character. Now he is constantly getting disqualified and has lost a lot of steam.

In conclusion, as a result of WWE's inability to book babyface challengers and champions or them changing things that were working for that superstar, they now find themselves in a position where they have to once again call on known liability Goldberg for a Universal Championship match.

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