Drew McIntyre Defends His WWE Championship Program With Goldberg

Ever since Goldberg arrived at Legends Night and announced he was next in line for a WWE Championship Match with Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble, fans have been divided over the idea. Some fans have pushed back against the idea, especially given that the 54-year-old has already ended championship reigns from promising stars like Kevin Owens and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt since his return to WWE in 2016. McIntyre appeared on the Rasslin' With Brandon F. Walker podcast this week and acknowledged those criticisms.

"I never thought I'd get the opportunity to be across the ring from Goldberg, ever in my career and I'm glad I'm getting that opportunity," McIntyre said (h/t Fightful for transcript). "I know a lot of people, maybe socially, have an opinion about Goldberg walking in and getting title matches but the truth is, he's such a gigantic name and does bring eyeballs in that are perhaps lapsed from wrestling or have never watched wrestling and want to check it out. When he's on the show, a lot of people will watch the show and they'll see our current superstars and hopefully, that will get them to continue to watch because they'll be so entertained.

"For me, getting in there with Goldberg; the few matches we've seen him in haven't been the best, let's be honest," he added. "I really feel, where I'm at in my career and the way we wrestle and think — I've gotten to know him well the past few years — I genuinely believe we can give everyone a big surprise and have a compelling match."

McIntyre and Goldberg have been split this week over certain topics in interviews, particularly regarding The Undertaker's recent comments on The Joe Rogan Experience about the current generation of WWE stars being "soft." Goldberg said he agreed while on After The Bell, while McIntyre pushed back against the idea while talking to Sportskeeda.

"I don't agree whatsoever. Especially from an in-ring perspective," McIntyre said. "I've listened to part of it [the podcast], I've got to listen to the whole thing it's pretty new. But I think he may have been referring to like the kind of storylines and characters etc. Like the co-host that was on the show was like a fan from the Attitude Era and I think they were perhaps referring to some of the outlandish storylines."

"Back in the day, there were more sexual-based [angles], more like risque 18 plus. Our current product is PG, there's only so far we can push it and we're willing to push it. There's certain things from back in the day that was awesome and certain things that were not awesome that I wouldn't wanna go back to," he continued "So I'm not sure if it was more from like that perspective when it comes to the stories and not being as adult-based as it used to be but I think you know we're walking a good line right now. But when it comes to the in-ring game, that's just not true at all. It's never been more physical."