4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (12 July - Results & Review)

1. Goldberg Goes Out On His Shield

Heading into Saturday’s poorly built World Heavyweight Championship match that also served as Goldberg’s retirement, expectations were riding low. After all, Goldberg’s previous run of matches ranged from passable to atrocious, with most hovering in the “hang ‘em up” territory.

However, Gunther delivered a pretty solid carry job at Saturday Night’s Main Event, managing to get a very basic – though decent – match out of the Hall-of-Famer. They smartly leaned on Goldberg’s age – 58 – and his various injuries rather than having Michael Cole try to sell fans on how great the legend looked and that he was in the best shape of his life.

A bum knee served as Gunther’s focal point and kept Goldberg from really mounting any sustained offense. Goldberg shrugged off Gunther’s early chops, but attacks on his knee brought him down to the mat. Goldberg would spear the barricade, and the two traded overhand chops in the ring before Gunther really zeroed in on the knee.

That’s when Goldberg backdropped out of a powerbomb attempt and went for the spear, and nailed referee Charles Robinson (another nice touch to have him officiate the match). Goldberg would land the spear and Jackhammer on Gunther, but he couldn’t cover in time and only got a two count before the Ring General locked in the sleeper to put an end to Goldberg’s career.

Far from a great retirement match, Goldberg had probably his best actual match (beyond a squash or two-minute barrage) since WrestleMania 33 against Brock Lesnar. Low expectations obviously helped this along, but that doesn’t mean it should be brushed off.

Farewell to Goldberg, as WWE closes a connection to wrestling’s past with the last true WCW icon retiring.