The highly anticipated Universal Championship match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36 has been cancelled with Reigns pulling out, citing health concerns. He has a weakened immune system due to an underlying health issue, so it’s certainly a wise decision on his part. He’ll be back and ready to claim the Universal Championship as soon as things return to normal (which it will). Who will Goldberg wrestle at WrestleMania 36 in light of the announcement? Braun Strowman. Does this change our initial prediction of a Goldberg loss? Let’s find out.
We have already assessed Goldberg’s chances at retaining the Universal Championship title at this coming weekend’s big event. And while the removal of Roman Reigns from the ring may have an impact on the final result, the general analysis of the WWE Hall of Famer applies all the same:
“Some experts point to a Goldberg win for WrestleMania 36, to put a final feather in the cap of an icon, but there are a few variables to consider here. His opponent is younger, hungrier, and being fast tracked (again) by the WWE of late. Then there’s the Rob Gronkowski factor. Back in 2017 Gronk teamed up with pal Mojo Rawley in a tag team match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar…in WWE2K17” (view the video)
If the prediction that Gronkowski messes with Goldberg in the match had a small chance of happening with Roman Reigns as an opponent, you can believe it’s even more likely now that more drama is needed to promote the Goldberg vs Braun Strowman battle:
Again, consider this interaction:
It’s important to note that Goldberg has a mind blowing 71.11% win rate in WWE events, and even more impressively he boasts a 77.08% win rate for WWE PPV events. That’s crazy – as most stars hover between the 50-60% range.
Strowman has a 100 lb weight advantage over Goldberg. He’s also nearly two decades younger than his opponent. Still, Strowman has no singles experience at WrestleMania as his two previous WrestleMania matches were tag team and multi-wrestler affairs. But his arrival as Reign’s replacement is no fluke. WWE higher-ups reportedly kept Strowman on standby as a backup to Reigns who has been battling health issues for quite some time. Braun Strowman has been unsuccessful in winning the Universal Title on PPV for a total of SIX times in a span of 2 years, so we can’t see him not making it out of his seventh PPV attempt without the belt.
Writer’s Prediction
Braun Strowman finally becomes the WWE Universal Champion.
