Roman Reigns challenged Goldberg to a Universal Title match at WWE WrestleMania 36 on the episode of Friday Night SmackDown after Super ShowDown, and here’s why he absolutely must win the upcoming bout.
Goldberg’s Universal Championship triumph over Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia was poorly received by wrestling fans, which was the response Vince McMahon undoubtedly expected. Someone like Goldberg winning the title was bound to create discussion, and that was clearly WWE’s goal here. They wanted to get people talking, even if the discourse was overly negative.
At WWE WrestleMania 36, Goldberg will officially put his title on the line against Roman Reigns, who calmly challenged the former WCW star to a title match at the Show of Shows.
Clearly, there will be bad blood between Reigns and Goldberg, as The Big Dog simply has no patience for another part-timer holding a world championship. He took major issues with Brock Lesnar being an absentee champion in the build to WrestleMania 34, and Goldberg as a champion is no better. And honestly, he’s a good bit worse.
Reigns and Goldberg have some similarities as bad-ass former NFL players who rock the spear, but the similarities pretty much end there.
Here are three reasons why the WWE 2K20 co-star must win the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 against Matt Riddle’s favorite wrestler of all-time. (Bro relax, I’m only kidding!)
Roman Reigns needs to reclaim the title he never lost
No matter who Roman Reigns was scheduled to face at WWE WrestleMania 36, he absolutely needs to win the Universal Championship. The Big Dog hasn’t so much as had a sniff of the world title scene since relinquishing the championship he claimed from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2018 due to leukemia.
Reigns would have defeated Bray Wyatt, as The Fiend, at WrestleMania in the ultimate battle between good and evil. But since Wyatt lost the title at Super ShowDown in a twist of a decision from Vince McMahon, Reigns has to go through a completely different – but, in kayfabe, equally formidable – opponent.
This match won’t be long, and it should be a fun “car crash” type of match that surpasses what Goldberg and Lesnar did at WrestleMania 33. But this isn’t about the match; this is about Reigns reclaiming the championship.
It’s the kind of feel-good story that the WWE Universe needs in Tampa, and WrestleManias are only as special as their moments. Last year’s ‘Mania featured Seth Rollins ending Lesnar’s reign, Becky Lynch winning both titles in the first women’s main event, and Kofi Kingston becoming the first WWE Champion who was born in Africa. It was a special WrestleMania.
And without comparing the two, WrestleMania 36 can be plenty special, too. Drew McIntyre winning the WWE Championship and Roman Reigns winning the Universal Championship in two totally different types of “comeback” stories would be incredible, and between the two of them, Reigns is in even more of a “must win” match.
That title is his, and he has earned a long reign with it.
Who the heck wants to see Goldberg as champion?
Goldberg has joined Brock Lesnar as the only two men to win the Universal Championship, and the two men had their history when Goldberg went into WrestleMania 33 as champion under a similar set of circumstances. He won the title off the popular Kevin Owens in an uncompetitive match that nobody wanted to see, held it into WrestleMania, and dropped it.
At least in this case, he won’t be dropping it to another part-timer, but rather a full-time champion that fans can be proud of. And that’s all the more reason why he needs to lose the match.
WWE has already been hurt by having another part-time championship reign from Lesnar, as this is the same story told heading into the third straight WrestleMania. But in Lesnar’s case, we’ve become accustomed to it and begrudgingly accept Lesnar’s wisdom and in-ring talent. Goldberg, on the other hand, does not command this type of respect.
People genuinely dislike seeing him competing for world title, and that’s probably why Vince put the title on him; he just wanted to watch the fans react in this way for “engagement purposes”.
But it can’t go beyond that. There is no upside to Goldberg holding the Universal Championship for more than a couple of months, since the impact will, in the grand scheme of things, be relatively harmless. I mean, there was no real reason for him to beat Wyatt in the first place, but at least the end goal is the same. To put the title on Roman Reigns, who was always destined to win the title as the top babyface on SmackDown.
Roman Reigns is the No. 1 guy
A central reason for Roman Reigns defeating Goldberg is his status as the undisputed top male star on Friday Night SmackDown and in WWE as a whole. Reigns joined SmackDown as the “greatest acquisition” in the brand’s history (no, it was not, in fact, Elias!) for a reason. FOX want Reigns to lead the brand as its biggest star, and it makes all the sense in the world to began that path at ‘Mania 36, leading up to WrestleMania 37 under the bright lights of Hollywood.
Reigns has been the epitome of what it means to be a top star. He is universally respected as a locker room leader who helps rising stars and reveres those who came before him. Reigns constantly works at his craft and never has a bad match, whether it’s a six-man tag on television or a marquee Pay Per View match with a stipulation.
Over the past year since returning from leukemia, Reigns has been hard at work helping others on the roster like Buddy Murphy, Erick Rowan, and King Corbin. He’s been on the grind at the heart of SmackDown, away from the title scene. And he’s spend an awfully long time away from the title scene for someone of his stature.
It’s time for the best all-around male performer in WWE to reclaim his spot at the top by beating Goldberg, who is still in phenomenal shape but could never hold a candle to Reigns inside the ring. There are few wrestlers in the world today who can compare to Reigns in their consistency and ability to move the meter.