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WWE Still Pushing for Goldberg Match at WrestleMania XXX

Posted: Oct 18th 2013 By: mikeiles

WWE would love nothing more than to hear the tens of thousands of WrestleMania attendees this year in New Orleans chanting "Goldberg." Unlike the way fans at shows mock Ryback, these fans would actually be chanting for one of the biggest icons of the Attitude Era.

According to F4WOnline.com (h/t Wrestle Zone), Vince McMahon is hot to capitalize on momentum created by the release of the new Goldberg DVD and roll it into a bump to the WrestleMania buyrate. Due to fans' taunts of Ryback, it's fair to speculate that the return match would be against Paul Heyman's latest client in a battle of two powerhouses.

There are a few things to take away from this report.

First, is this drive by Vince a reaction to WrestleMania potentially not featuring an appearance or match by The Rock for the first time in three years?

As WWE has failed to develop a major main event blockbuster star since hitching its wagon indefinitely to John Cena, the company has relied heavily on spectacle Undertaker matches and The Rock to sell WrestleMania the last few years.

The Rock is signed to begin filming a new movie in April, and, after he was injured last year during his match against Cena, it's completely understandable if Dwayne Johnson values upholding his relationship with big-budget Hollywood studios over Vince these days.

Goldberg hasn't competed in a match since his awful outing against Brock Lesnar a decade ago. Despite his lackluster run, there is still a lot of money to be made in a special-attraction Goldberg match, and Vince may be desperate enough to pay the big guy's rate to have him on the show.

Of course, Vince could just, you know, book some of his main-event-ready guys in a hot storyline for the next six months?but let's not be ridiculous.

Second, there is the question as to whether or not Vince would be willing to destroy Ryback's credibility, and perhaps his career, for a single buyrate bump he'd get out of Goldberg.

Ryback's character has stopped, started and taken new detours over the last year and a half. He was red-hot as a Goldberg-esque bulldozing babyface until he was pushed too quickly to the WWE title scene after Cena needed a brief time off.

The heel turn was mismanaged and turned into a flop. His alignment with Heyman is interesting, but it will only lead to him being fed to CM Punk over the next few months. With Heyman as his mouthpiece, Ryback could hold his own during a program with Goldberg?but to what end?

Goldberg will not sign a deal unless he's going to win the match. He's not interested in making anyone happy or doing what's best for the industry.

Goldberg has been, and always will be, interested in what's best for Goldberg. He likely can't work much of a match. The battle would be brief, no longer than eight minutes and would conclude with a spear and jackhammer to a decisive victory.

It would be difficult for Ryback to recover from this extended squash.

Personally, I'd rather not see Goldberg come back for a match. Put the man in the Hall of Fame. If you want him involved in a match, put him in someone's corner and let him spear a guy to pop the crowd as a guest-enforcer type. It'll draw the same reaction, and it won't damage anyone's career or eat up a valuable spot on the show.