Goldberg's losing crack at Gunther's World Heavyweight Championship was, on balance, a perfectly decent bit of business bell-to-bell, but Big Bill ultimately only got the send-off WWE believed he deserved rather than one that his biggest fans might have pined for.
'Da Man' put forth a commendable effort on the July 12th Saturday Night's Main Event, going 15 minutes with 'Der Ring General' in an impressive headliner on the show's 40th edition. He left it all in the ring, but so did WWE - there was almost no time left at the end for Bill to deliver the leaving speech he wanted, and by then the market leader had already gotten what they wanted out of the show by diverting even a portion of the conversation away from AEW All In: Texas taking place at the same time.
He later complained about his big night being used as little more as a counter-programming method, but that's where the sympathy rapidly drains away. Just like the rest of us, Goldberg presumably saw how former colleague Sting was handled by the opposition, and could have had a fast-track version of that from lifelong fan Tony Khan. He chose the profile (and cash!) of the market leader - had he watched more of it in the years he was away, he might have remembered that you are only ever a spoke on the wheel.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
