WWE Royal Rumble 2017: 5 reasons Goldberg should not win
By Luke Norris
3. Goldberg is Batista from 2014
I’m going to go ahead and let you get your “Batista isn’t Goldberg” statement out of the way in your head before I continue…..
All done?
Okay, here’s the thing. Batista is not Goldberg. Batista was BETTER than Goldberg, and trust me, I’m not even a Batista guy. But Batista was always a better wrestler, told better stories in the ring and was always better on the microphone. With that being said, I will say that I have been impressed with Goldberg’s mic skills since his return. But isn’t this scenario playing out just a little bit like things did back in 2014 when Batista returned to WWE after a long absence? You’ve got a big guy that was once a star and once a champion who signs a big contract with WWE to come back and take part in the Royal Rumble, which I think everyone knew he was going to win. And at the start, Batista was cheered heavily upon his return. And then what happened?
The fans turned on him.
Yes, the Daniel Bryan situation was happening at this time, and that certainly did play a big part in how the main event for WrestleMania XXX changed, but this just seems like the exact same thing to me. The nostalgia thing is cool for a while but it wears off and should only be done in small doses. That’s why I like a guy like The Rock only showing up from time to time. That’s why they bring in guys like Austin and HBK for these appearances. We want to take a look back and remember how great a certain era was. But does that mean that I want one of these guys to win the Royal Rumble? Absolutely not. Okay, Michaels maybe but that’s not the point here.
But that’s what happened with Batista. They brought him in after the success he was having elsewhere and thought they could capitalize on it. It worked for a minute and then it was gone.
And if you really look around, there’s not as many people chanting “Goldberg” as you might think. The people turned on Batista when there was something fresher and cooler to root for; don’t think for a second that the same thing can’t happen to Goldberg. There’s a lot of time between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, and letting Goldberg win the Royal Rumble only sets him up to fail in a championship program leading to WrestleMania. There’s really only one way to go with this whole thing, isn’t there?