Bill Goldberg’s WWE return is apparently set to kick off on the June 16 edition of Monday Night Raw. Expectations are that he’s poised to find himself in a big match against the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther. If you were wondering why Gunther was booked to defeat Jey Uso and reclaim that title, then there’s your reason. However, the real question is whether Gunther versus Goldberg is the match that fans want to see?
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Triple H made the call to remove the title from Uso to give Goldberg a big match. That match is expected to be against Gunther on Saturday, July 12 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
This shouldn’t be a huge surprise, as Gunther versus Goldberg was a match that was foreshadowed months ago. Gunther made sharp comments about Goldberg during WWE Bad Blood, causing the two to be held apart by WWE security. From that point forward, it wasn’t a matter of “if” the two men would battle, but “when.”
Still, is this a big match for what is scheduled to be a packed weekend of not only WWE action, but wrestling action entirely? In some ways, yes, but do not expect more than a tepid reaction.
Gunther versus Bill Goldberg will be one of the least exciting matches of the weekend
The weekend of July 12 is set to be packed with loads of wrestling action. NXT will host the Great American Bash, which will be followed by Saturday Night’s Main Event. The next day is WWE Evolution II, which has the potential to be a huge showcase of women’s wrestling. But most of all, AEW is set to give fans All-In 2025, which already has several massive matches announced for the show.
With all this wrestling expected to go down in a matter of hours, Goldberg versus Gunther can’t be expected to be one of the top matches of the weekend, in or out of WWE. Goldberg is 58 years old and was already visibly limited in what he can do in the ring. Gunther is the perfect individual to carry him through a match, but this doesn’t jump off the page as a match that will turn heads. There’s no way it will be as good as matches like “Hangman” Adam Page versus Jon Moxley, Toni Storm versus Mercedes Mone, or Kazuchika Okada versus Kenny Omega. Even though the cards for the other WWE shows have yet to be announced, it would be easy to anticipate those matches to be more attractive than this match as well.
Also, there’s the idea that WWE is making a mistake with how Gunther is booked as a world champion. He had a different presentation when he held the Intercontinental Championship. He was one of the few aspects of WWE booking that was widely praised. That same type of reaction hasn’t followed him as a world champion, and a big part of that is the way he’s booked and the challengers thrown his way. Goldberg doesn’t break that cycle. In fact, it furthers the lackluster booking that has plagued the two main titles in the men’s division.
Bill Goldberg is a big name in Atlanta and will draw some headlines. Still, the reality of the matter is this is not a match that fans really want and it will not stand out in what is a packed weekend of action.