8 Booking Steps For Goldberg's WWE Return
Building on the Lesnar feud's successes, and learning from its mistakes.
He has only been gone since April, but Bill Goldberg is already hinting at a WWE return. Little over two months removed from concluding his 12-year comeback, the former WCW, World Heavyweight, and Universal Champion teased a resurgence on Instagram last week, casually dropping “#whosnext,” “#imnext,” and “#neversaynever” into a post taken during a DirectTV photo shoot.
While Goldberg’s latest run wasn’t without its problems, bringing him back makes sense. He was a reliable ratings draw throughout his feud with Brock Lesnar, and with Raw and SmackDown’s viewership as pitiful as ever, a comeback should help spike interest levels as WWE traverse the annual summer slump.
If WWE can build on the positives and learn from the mistakes of Goldberg’s latest run, they’ll have another successful angle on their hands. WrestleMania 33 proves that the veteran can still throw down in a heated brawl, and his promos were excellent throughout. If presented correctly, Goldberg would once again raise the product’s standards a whole lot, and help account for the company’s dismal lack of star-power.
With that in mind, let’s plot the best possible course for Goldberg’s prospective return, ensuring an outcome that benefits everyone involved...
8. Keep Him Away From Lesnar
Should Bill Goldberg find himself back in WWE by the end of the year, there’ll be some temptation within the company to revisit the feud with Brock Lesnar, such was its success from a business standpoint. Doing so would be a huge mistake, however, and a big misuse of the former WCW Champion as a potential asset.
Goldberg vs. Lesnar ended at precisely the right point. The duo had eroded some of their goodwill among the fanbase by the time the Universal Championship entered the picture, and if they’d persisted, crowd reactions would have only deteriorated. Furthermore, they signed-off with a perfect five-minute brawl at WrestleMania 33, and it’s unlikely they’d be able to better it in a rematch.
Thus, there’s no need to sully this closure by having Goldberg interact with Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Given Brock’s part-time schedule, keeping them apart wouldn’t be tough to do, either. It would allow both men to move forward with their careers without getting stuck in the past, particularly as Brock has a date with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 to build towards over the next 10 months or so.