Goldberg becomes world champion for first time in 14 years

Wrestler defeats Kevin Owens at WWE Fastlane

KARACHI: Around this time of the year, WWE is on the ‘Road to WrestleMania’ and everything is supposed to get bigger and better for The Grandest Stage of Them All. If nothing else, WWE Fastlane – the last stop on the road – had to be historic to hype up the destination.

PHOTOS:WWE

And historic it certainly was, before even the show begun. 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.



The last time we saw Goldberg perform, he took only less than two minutes to defeat the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar. At Fastlane, he topped himself by defeating Owens and winning the WWE Universal Championship in 21 seconds.

Before the bell even rang, Owens rolled out of the ring and stalled Goldberg: a ploy to affect his game plan. After a few minutes, when Owens was ready to attack, he entered the ring only to be interrupted by his former best friend, the returning Chris Jericho. The bell rang during Y2J’s entrance and the distracted Owens turned around to eat a massive spear from his opponent. One Jackhammer and a three-count later, Goldberg had made history.

PHOTOS:WWE

If we step back from all the nostalgic excitement of Goldberg’s win for a moment, we’ll see that the decision has been received critically by a large number of fans. It’s not often that one can satisfy everyone at the same time. Granted Goldberg was infamous for his squash matches but that was back in the 90s. And his last two matches since the return have lasted an accumulative of under two minutes. Less than two minutes and he is the Universal champ and will be headlining WrestleMania 33 against Lesnar, who is also a part-timer.



Owens vs Goldberg is a case similar to CM Punk vs The Rock in 2013. Punk, after the longest WWE Championship reign of last 25 years, lost to the latter just so he could headline WrestleMania and lose to John Cena. Four years later, Goldberg wins the title only because he is set to lose to Lesnar at ‘Mania. His win merely goes on to prove how Vince McMahon, the mastermind behind the world’s biggest wrestling promotion – is unwilling to let the past go.

PHOTOS:WWE

If there is one thing a wrestler dreams of, it is headlining WrestleMania. But despite billing this period as the ‘New Era’, McMahon keeps returning to his jewels, the shine of which is fading. He just wants to show them off one last time. And year after year, while the younger stars work and carry the product, it is the returning part-timers who take away the spotlight and get opportunities to headline The Showcase of Immortals.

PHOTOS:WWE

With Lesnar vs Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship set for WrestleMania, McMahon has put all his eggs in one basket. While on one hand, it would be exciting to see two former best friends, Owens vs Jericho, fight for the US title, it would have raised the value of the rivalry with the top title on the line. But with that out of the picture, all we can do is waiting for Lesnar to finally avenge his two losses and win the Universal championship from Goldberg at WrestleMania 33.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.