Goldberg Vs. Gunther Set For WWE's Next Saturday Night's Main Event (WWE News)

It's official! WWE set up Bill Goldberg's first company match in over 3 years during Monday's episode of flagship show Raw. Gunther was inside the ring cutting a promo about being the better man than Jey Uso during the bulk of their bouts (as evidenced by his shock World Title win on last week's edition) before being interrupted by Goldberg.

That's when the former WCW squash match machine fired out a challenge for the next Saturday Night's Main Event special on 12 July. The show takes place in Bill's former stomping grounds - Atlanta is where he trained to become a breakout sensation as part of WCW's old Power Plant crew before blasting onto Nitro in September 1997.

This will be Bill's first match since a referee stoppage halted his bout vs. Roman Reigns back at Elimination Chamber 2022. To put things into greater context, that was just Goldberg's 12th in-ring showing since returning to the promotion in 2016. He'd previously had a mediocre run in WWE between 2003-2004 that ended on a sour note vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX.

Since then, quality has varied. Nobody really expects Bill to work top tier matches, but some of his bouts fared better than others. Matches vs. Lesnar worked well, but stinkers against The Undertaker, Bray Wyatt's 'Fiend' and more put a sour taste in the mouths of many fans.

This match against Gunther perhaps offers Goldberg one last chance to go out on a high with a memorable performance.

WWE Not Committing To Goldberg's Official Retirement...Yet!

It's interesting to note that WWE hasn't officially leaned on the idea that this will be Bill's retirement just yet. That could come over the next few weeks of TV. On commentary, lead announcer Michael Cole said there had been rumours about Goldberg retiring from the ring, but that was about it. Then, later on, the promotion started touting "Goldberg's Last Ride" merchandise for sale via WWE Shop.

Putting the puzzle pieces together isn't too difficult. WWE are surely just biding their time before going all in on Bill's retirement, and they'll presumably start hyping it up properly sooner rather than later. There isn't a ton of time to work with before the next SNME anyway.

Of course, Goldberg challenging Gunther to a match stems from the pair's angle last October at Bad Blood 2024. There, Gunther joined Triple H in the ring to unveil the brand new Crown Jewel Championships before the World Champ traded verbals with Bill. They didn't get physical on the night, but that's now a lock for Atlanta on 12 July.

Spears and Jackhammers incoming.