WWE Lambasted for Handing Goldberg an Illogical World Title Match Against Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main event

It seems like WWE's call to let Goldberg compete for the world title right off the bat against Gunther isn't a popular idea by any means.

WWE Lambasted for Handing Goldberg an Illogical World Title Match Against Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main event

Goldberg on Raw [via- WWE]

Goldberg walked out of this week’s Raw with a world title match in his back pocket. The Tulsa native confronted Gunther and reminded him of their previous interaction, where the Austrian gave the veteran a mouthful in front of his family. All it took for The Icon to get inserted into the world title picture was him yelling, “You’re next.”

The segment was heavily criticized on the Busted Open Radio podcast by host Dave LaGreca and Bully Ray. First, it was LaGreca’s turn to underscore the paucity of logic in WWE bestowing a World Heavyweight Championship match on Goldberg like a freebie. The show’s host further said that it was incomprehensible to him. When LaGreca was done, it was Ray’s turn to vent his frustrations.

The erstwhile Bubba Ray Dudley said that the entire mess would’ve made sense had Gunther issued an open challenge for his championship belt. The tag team wrestling great also came up with an alternative that would’ve seen Goldberg confront Nick Aldis backstage. Ray suggested that Aldis could’ve told the WWE HOF’er that he didn’t have the authority to call the shots.

An exasperated Goldberg would then back Aldis up against a wall to intimidate the SmackDown GM. The latter would’ve then been left with no choice but to accede to the 58-year-old’s demand for Saturday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s not certain at this point if that is going to be the former Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle’s last-ever WWE match or not.

Big E comments on the Gunther vs. Goldberg SNME clash

On this week’s edition of the Raw Recap, Ettore “Big E” Ewen talked about how facing Goldberg is such a unique opportunity for someone like Gunther to bolster his resume. The former New Day member reminisced about Da Man shocking the world by dispatching Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship at a jam-packed Georgia Dome at WCW Monday Nitro in 1998.

Goldberg and Gunther on Raw
Goldberg and Gunther on Raw [via- WWE]

E said that his wrestling fandom is deeply connected to The Icon. Ewen, whose in-ring career appears to be all but over, mentioned that he always wanted to wrestle Goldberg in the latter’s retirement match. But since Gunther is supposedly the man of the moment, this clash of two entirely different eras seems intriguing to Ewen.

The once-hailed New Day powerhouse affirmed that it’s a big test for The Ring General and that his fanbase should take pride in the fact that the Vienna-born wrestler is going up against such a big fish. Speaking of the champ, he has savagely reacted to Goldberg’s challenge on Instagram. The erstwhile Walter wrote, “Im next …. guess i can spare 3 minutes.”

When did Goldberg last wrestled a match in WWE?

Goldberg hasn’t set foot inside a WWE ring in a long time. It was back in 2022 when he took on Roman Reigns for the then-Universal Championship at the Elimination Chamber. The OTC made the WWE legend pass out to the guillotine chokehold. That was Da Man’s last match under his previous contractual obligations with WWE.

Goldberg
Goldberg (via- WWE)

Goldberg would then blast Vince McMahon in several interviews for not keeping his word of bestowing a farewell match on him. A few months ago, the WCW great told Ariel Helwani that WWE CCO Triple H approached him to see if he’d be interested in doing business with the company once again.

Goldberg was humbled by that gesture and couldn’t deny the overtures at all. It resulted in that segment at Bad Blood 2024 where Goldberg and Gunther had quite a tense confrontation. They’ll settle the score on July 12 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

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