Goldberg Wins WWE Universal Championship

After making his return to the WWE, 90s’ WCW superhero Goldberg was set to fight for his first world championship in about 14 years, against Kevin Owens.

But what is next for the future of the Universal Title? From then on, a very vocal part of the online fan base has felt hard done by in some aspect come WrestleMania season – and this year looks to be no exception. Taker, in the last leg of his wrestling career, was hurting at the Royal Rumble despite undergoing a hip surgery previous year.

If Vince McMahon wants to go the route of name value for the top title on Raw heading into Mania, then Goldberg wins it tonight. We knew these two weren’t having a long match.

This has the potential to steal match of the night. All night they were teasing another confrontation between Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns. A magnificent mauling. Statues have been erected for less. “We had just started touring, so I got to go over to the United Kingdom and go to all these new places for the first time as the Women’s Champion”.

Ultimately, Charlotte’s pay-per-view streak wasn’t yet ready to be broken, and was an ongoing, integral feature of her character that justified the arrogance and egotism she routinely displayed week after week on RAW.

If there is one thing a wrestler dreams of, it is headlining WrestleMania. Charlotte did all she could do to keep the crowd involved, but until Sasha come out to make the save, the arena was silent. You have two babyfaces in there, with a lot at stake, and I don’t think the crowd wanted to see either of them lose. She adds a different dimension to the division as the sheer size of Jax makes many think about Awesome Kong in TNA.

New Day will serve as hosts of the show.

The other instance of WWE seemingly dropping the ball was during the main event segment.

We will be treated to a plethora of heated rivalries coming to a head, some with championships on the line, some coasting purely on the animosity brewing between WWE’s finest athletes.

Where will the WWE Fastlane 2017 matches be played? Why was there are a gap in the programming in the first place?

Rusev went from an undefeated Bulgarian Brute, who had a damn-near five-star match with John Cena at WrestleMania 31 for the United States Championship, to a guy who wasn’t even scheduled for Fastlane, yet got a match against the Big Show – who hasn’t even be a weekly participant – and was succinctly beaten by three chokeslams and a KO punch. This doesn’t seem like an important position at all. Even when I show up on Raw I have no idea what is going to happen, they surprise me as well. Rusev and Big Show nearly did it just as well, but the match seemed to be plodding. But in the end Joe got the win through a submission as he locked in the Coquina Clutch and put Zayn to sleep. It was a risk that didn’t pay off. Yes, it was as incredible as it sounded, even if he missed Roman Reigns. Could it be winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal?

Yeah, so. Owens got nothing. But his call was answered by none other than the Deadman, and as the two stood face to face in the ring, Strowman vs. Undertaker seemed a likely lock for Wrestlemania.

It’s nearly genius really, certainly compared to anything else we’ll be treated to at WrestleMania, and that’s not a dig at the rest of the roster. But imagine the impact that would have on Owens if he scores a victory over Goldberg – no matter how it happens. Goldberg is the biggest threat to Owens title reign yet. I’m sure the result is already known here. Owens fighting back would mean Goldberg would have had pull out a clothesline or a snap spinebuster or something. That’s what I was mostly looking for here.

This will make his anticipated showdown with Brock Lesnar a title match. In the video below, I created an alternate ending. It’s a match that many fans cannot wait to see, and one that now looks like it could be buried in a mess of marquee matches only to be forgotten.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).