Goldberg’s Title Reign
Most WWE fans don’t like it, but the Universal Title was put on Goldberg for two reasons. The first is so Roman Reigns is more likely to be cheered at WrestleMania 36. This is Mr. McMahon’s primary goal, and he figured that since The Fiend is so new, fresh, and intriguing, fans might opt to cheer him rather than Roman at Mania. Because of this apprehension, Mr. McMahon decided to go with a safe option in Goldberg.
The second reason Mr. McMahon decided to go with Goldberg as Universal Champion is because he knew that putting the strap on a man like Goldberg, while it may not be necessarily loved by everyone, it would certainly draw fan interest. He knew that people were going to care and be more interested in the events at WrestleMania regardless of whether they approve of who was champion. Goldberg as Universal Champion will surely draw money in large amounts due of the level of attachment wrestling fans collectively have toward the almost mythical figure.
Nonetheless, it is almost guaranteed to be a short run with the title for Goldberg similar to his stint with the Universal Championship in 2017 when he dropped it at WrestleMania 33 to Brock Lesnar. The only difference this year will be the man to whom he drops the title. This year Goldberg will help to cement Roman Reigns as “The Guy” – at least this is Vince McMahon’s vision and has been for the past half-decade. The Big Dog will walk out of Mania with a championship for the first time since WrestleMania 32 at JerryWorld in 2017 in Dallas, TX when he beat Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE used this week to intensely focus on building anticipation for the Mania match between Otis and Dolph Ziggler, and the inevitable Otis victory.
It’s nice to see WWE acknowledging the history between John Cena and Bray Wyatt so even newer members of the WWE universe can relate to the story.
Right now, it appears that Mr. McMahon doesn’t know who to book Bayley to work with at WrestleMania 36, but I’m confident he’ll find a suitable opponent to work with her in the next four weeks.