10 Epic WWE Championship Reigns That Aren't As Long As You Think
9. Goldberg – Universal Championship. Days: 27 or 28. Recognised by WWE: 37.
This is a title reign that’s infamous for all the wrong reasons. A comedy of errors from the WWE saw the unpopular Super ShowDown, in the controversial nation of Saudi Arabia, host the worrying match of the Fiend Vs. Goldberg for the Universal Championship. With Bray Wyatt as the most compelling character on WWE television at the time, concern started to set in that Vince McMahon might want to do Goldberg Vs. Roman Reigns at the following month’s WrestleMania 36.
And it happened. The virtually indestructible Fiend was felled by a single Jackhammer, he then huffed and puffed at a celebrating Goldberg and disappeared without a trace. Somehow WCW’s most famous export could boast world title reigns in the four different decades, despite only having seven matches since 2004.
Much like Drew McIntyre the following day, fans saw Goldberg drop the belt at an empty Performance Centre as the global pandemic shut the world down. Unlike McIntyre’s match, we don’t know exactly when Braun Strowman’s win over Goldberg was filmed. It was either March 25 or 26, 2020 but aired on April 4.
That means Goldberg was really WWE Universal Champion for either 27 or 28 days, with WWE using the broadcast date and giving the reign a length of 37 days. Strowman’s time with the belt immediately after would be affected in the opposite way, losing the days Goldberg gained.