Bill Goldberg is headed back to WWE for a match in Saudi Arabia, and it appears that an outside wrestling organization may have had at least a little bit to do with it.
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It was noted in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the idea of Goldberg associating with All Elite Wrestling was at least one of the motivations behind WWE getting on the phone to bring back the former multiple time world champion.
There was apparently some talk that Goldberg is someone who could possibly bring back some former wrestling fans and get them interested in AEW if he were to have signed there. Goldberg was a top star during the Monday Night Wars period, and millions of the fans who tuned in to both WCW and WWE in the late 1990s no longer watch pro wrestling. Many of them never switched over to WWE when WCW went out of business.
There is a belief among some at WWE that Goldberg is a name who could potentially bring back some of these lapsed WCW fans to AEW if he were to sign there, so that was one of the motivations behind calling him back for a match in Saudi Arabia. There were legitimate concerns he was going to sign with AEW.
Though Goldberg is reportedly confirmed for the Saudi show, we don’t yet have word on an opponent. Brock Lesnar is also confirmed for the show, so a match between he and Goldberg seems like a possible scenario.
The specifics of Goldberg’s new deal with WWE are not yet known, though it is certainly incredibly lucrative. It could be a one-off for the single match in Saudi Arabia, or it could be a longer term deal to keep him away from AEW for the immediate future.
With Meltzer’s reporting on the concern of a Goldberg/AEW deal, it would seem that WWE would want to lock him up under contract for a period of time, otherwise why let him in on one big pay day and watch him go to AEW? That would essentially be free advertising for AEW right before he were to land there. It’s hard to believe WWE would sign such a large check without a longer term commitment.
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