Braun Strowman shares personal claim he holds over Bill Goldberg
Braun Strowman and Bill Goldberg are among the many WWE heavyweights who battled for championship gold at WrestleMania. Strowman vs. Goldberg was memorable for various reasons and remains a topic of discussion within the WWE Universe. Strowman is now opening up on a pact he and Goldberg had.
WrestleMania 36 was the first major pro wrestling event impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially set for Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the pandemic forced The Grandest Stage of them All to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, with no audience and essential staff only. The only WrestleMania without a live crowd aired on a nine-night tape delay.
The cinematic Boneyard Match headlined WrestleMania Saturday, but the in-ring main event saw The Monster Of All Monsters dethrone Da Man of the WWE Universal Championship. Strowman defeated Goldberg in just over two minutes to begin his first world title reign, which went on for 141 recognized days until being defeated by longtime friend and partner "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam.
Strowman recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet and recalled how filming the WWE Chronicle documentary in 2020 included his journey to defeat Goldberg for the Universal Championship. The 41-year-old also discussed his relationship with Goldberg and their match.
"I'm the only person to ever squash Bill Goldberg. [What did that match mean to you?] Man, it meant the world because like I said, as a kid growing up, idolizing him to becoming friends with him, man... you know, unfortunate circumstances with everything going on with the pandemic, what happened... he wanted me. So, he picked me... to do that, and do the honors, and pass that torch," Braun Strowman said.
Braun Strowman was then asked if Bill Goldberg had reached out to tell him directly that he was being hand-picked for WrestleMania. He recalled an exchange with the former WCW star at the Performance Center.
"Not initially. They reached out, but when we got there it was a whole thing. He goes to me, he's like, 'Look...' Let me not paraphrase it wrong... he said, 'I can count on one hand how many people that I would do this for, and I'd still have three fingers left.' [That's special] Very special," Braun Strowman said.
Strowman has been off WWE TV with a torn groin since defeating Bronson Reed in the Last Monster Standing match on September 30. He made a surprise return at last Friday's SmackDown taping, teaming with Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio for a dark main event win Carlito, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh.
WWE to feature Bill Goldberg retirement match
Bill Goldberg is set to retire from the WWE ring. As of this writing, a date or PLE has not been confirmed, but the match is expected in 2025.
Da Man appeared on ESPN earlier this month to announce that he will have one more match. Goldberg explained that WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H granted his request for a final match, which the company later confirmed.
Bill Goldberg's ESPN SEC Nation appearance came one month after his appearance at WWE Bad Blood. The segment ended with the WWE Hall of Famer battling World Heavyweight Champion Gunther, fueling rumors of a potential match between the two.