Why Bobby Lashley needs to defeat Goldberg at SummerSlam

Amongst the sure-to-be epic matches already lined up for SummerSlam, is of course this little treasure of a wrestling bout. In this match, we’re pitting a legend from the late ’90s in Bill Goldberg against none other than “The All Mighty” Bobby Lashley, a wrestler who started in the Ruthless Aggression era but didn’t get his momentum really going until his most recent run with WWE.

“Goldberg…Goldberg…”

There are certainly those detractors who say Goldberg shouldn’t be given the opportunities he is given in WWE, and I’d be lying if I didn’t agree with a fraction of what those individuals are saying. But at the same time, at 54, Bill Goldberg has proven — as he did at Royal Rumble against Drew McIntyre — that he can still go the distance when required to.

While most of his WWE appearances have ranged from fine to surprisingly good, Goldberg had one match that didn’t go well: his match at the Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia against The Undertaker on June 7, 2019. If we’re being honest, they both had a terrible night, and that’s hard for me to say because I love the Undertaker.

I’ve been a tad more, dare I say critical, of Goldberg’s career because, in the past, I didn’t see as much dedication as I saw in other wrestlers over the years. He took a lot of time off; even when WCW was purchased by WWE in 2001. Instead of deciding to wrestle right away, he opted to sit on the contract he had with Time Warner/AOL and got back to the game only in 2003 when he started his feud with The Rock.

I mean, even Kevin Nash and Scott Hall got back to work a tad earlier than that, and we all know their reputation; although they too sat comfortably on their laurels as well for a while there.

Some say that was good business, but in wrestlers, I prefer to see those who would rather get out there and perform; get paid to do it of course, but get out there and wrestle regardless.

But I digress. He has stepped up to the plate in what I’ve come to call his most recent run and recent frame of mind and he’s performed very well for someone who had the limited training he did, and who took so much time off.

It is professional wrestling legend that Goldberg was pushed through the training process at WCW’s Power Plant training facility so he could get on TV faster, perhaps too fast.

This, unfortunately, led to the debilitating career-ending injury of Bret Hart (a concussion), and a very terrible match against William Regal he had in WCW of some infamy.

But these days, what he delivers in the ring is just right for the product and is just right for the wrestlers on the WWE roster today.

The “All Mighty” Era Has Begun

Speaking of today’s WWE roster, Bobby Lashley also has quite a history with WWE. His first run with the company was decent. He debuted in 2005, and like Goldberg, he started with a pretty impressive winning streak (referring to Goldberg’s exaggerated WCW undefeated streak of apparently 173–0).

Lashley’s streak lasted for his first few appearances on WWE TV in 2005, but the angle didn’t at all gain the momentum that Goldberg’s did.

He didn’t get the WWE Championship in that first run, though he did capture the ECW Championship. He left WWE in 2008 and spent many years wrestling the independent circuit and having quite the run in TNA. Most notably, the former collegiate and military wrestling competitor also had quite the run in mixed martial arts. His record is an impressive 15-2.

But in 2018, Lashley would return to WWE, and all this hard work and experience culminated in a WWE Championship win, the title he still holds atop his massive shoulders today.

In this recent return, in Lashley, we see someone with a massive amount of experience at the top of his game. Yes, he could use a little work on the microphone, but what he lacks for there, he sure makes up for in match performance and physicality. His matches are high octane, to the point, and brutal. Essentially, just what you want to see from the likes of himself and stars like Brock Lesnar. Same for Goldberg.

These two are a lot more similar than they would at first seem and I hope I’ve shown that. Essentially, both are much more different than they were at the start of their respective careers. They each have much more experience, and it should be a very physical but quick match, perhaps even one of the best at the event.

And with Goldberg’s son being at Raw two weeks ago, will he be at SummerSlam? Will Gage Goldberg somehow get involved? It’ll be very interesting to see how this match unfolds.

The winner should undoubtedly be Bobby Lashley, however. What better way is there for Goldberg to “make” him than to lose to him? This should really be the only reason he was brought back for this event, as he was for McIntyre at the Royal Rumble.

This should further cement Lashley’s legacy in his tenure, during what has come to be known as The “All Mighty” Era.