Goldberg's WrestleMania 36 defeat to Braun Strowman has to be his last match (Opinion)
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It was back in November 2016 when Goldberg wrestled his first major WWE match in over 12 years.
That night, he took on one of his oldest foes in Brock Lesnar and in a truly stunning turn of events, upset The Beast by beating him - inside 90 seconds no less. The victory was significant - Lesnar had effectively swept all before him in dominating his WWE competition, and rarely tasted defeat. The fact he was downed so swiftly and so decisively was a real shock to the system.
It was all part of a bigger plan, of course. One that ended up with Lesnar gaining a measure of revenge at WrestleMania 33 the following April in Orlando, Florida, when he won the rematch between the two. It was a victory achieved in not-too-dissimilar time. It earned Lesnar the Universal Championship to boot, after Goldberg had snatched it at Fastlane from Kevin Owens. Goldberg's shocking, sensational return had been snuffed out in epic style - the magic over, the surprise value diminished.
It is well worth remembering that the thing about surprises; it only works a finite number of times. Imagine the feeling among many WWE fans, then, when Goldberg again emerged from supposed retirement to defeat 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown in February - yet again in double-quick time. It ended the fantastic run of The Fiend, and killed the mystique that had surrounded that character for months prior.
Just as with Lesnar a few years prior, a more significant, greater purpose was being peddled - that Roman Reigns was to be defeating Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 to take the Universal Championship and, no doubt, send the former WCW star packing once again. That Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania and was replaced by Braun Strowman is irrelevant to this argument - the fact is that we had seen this before.
When Goldberg defeated Wyatt, there was no shock, no dismay, no surprise. Just a sense of predictability, and disappointment for Wyatt. To say there were even fewer fans left stunned at Strowman beating Goldberg in only two minutes would be a dramatic understatement - it was all following a well-trodden path. And that's not far to the Monster Among Men, either.
This is no criticism of Goldberg - the veteran had an incredible run in WCW and a notable stint in WWE, but now is no longer his time. Any surprise or 'wow' factor in his returning and winning big matches has long since gone and, thus, any leverage that up-and-coming stars like Strowman may get in beating him is also minimum.
It worked the first time, of course. But as the saying goes - fool me once... fool me twice. Please don't let there be a third time. It's time for Goldberg to stay home.