Goldberg returned last year for Survivor Series to squash Brock Lesnar. After that, he announced his intentions to be Champion again and entered the Royal Rumble to get a title shot. He lost that. He then showed up on Raw to accept another match with Lesnar, and also get a title shot from Kevin Owens. Wins and losses obviously don't matter. Goldberg lost the Royal Rumble match and just gets a title shot. Anyway, he did win the title. His continued feud with Lesnar now became a title feud. We all know what happened at Wrestlemania.
First thing to look at, ratings. Ratings were terribly flat this Wrestlemania season. Can you put all the blame on Goldberg? No, but what is the point of putting the belt on this part-timer, not to mention everything else they did with him, if you don't expect him to draw. I know some reports want to claim ratings were bad because the WWE did not advertise The Undertaker being there on Raw a few weeks. No, that is not an excuse. This is Wrestlemania season. Fans are supposed to expect surprises and legends popping up. Big things happen. Big storyline development happens. And that is the issue. The WWE has done a terrible job creating that kind of atmosphere, especially for Raw. Is it a surprise if the WWE tells you exactly when The Undertaker or The Rock will show up every time? No. I don't blame them for not advertising when legends will show up all the time. I blame them for not doing a better job making things fun and exciting.
The other thing to consider is WWE Network subscriptions. I haven't seen any numbers yet. But you can at least look at numbers for the prior few months with Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. Those few months obviously featured Goldberg. Once again, I would say numbers were a little flat. The subscription pattern has already entered a seasonal roller coaster, much like you see with ratings. It is no longer steady growth every quarter. Goldberg's return has not been a massive success to draw big in this regard, either.
What are some of the reasons why Goldberg's return underachieved? I would say having him continue to feud with Brock Lesnar so much didn't help. Lesnar is another big part-timer that has lost his luster. Beyond that, people just want fresh feuds. This feud should have ended for good at Survivor Series. Create something fresh for Goldberg after that.
I remember watching the closing segment last week between Goldberg and Lesnar. The crowd reactions were weak. Yes, there were "Goldberg!" and "Suplex City!" chants, but they were not as huge as it should have been. Just because something is getting a reaction does not mean it is getting a great reaction. You would expect better for guys treated like Lesnar and Goldberg are.
Aside from having to work with Lesnar all this time, another issue is Goldberg just not showing up for a number of weeks. That is what you expect from a part-timer, but I would say it might have contributed to the poor ratings. What is the point of making him Universal Champion if his reign isn't going to be long and fans won't see him regularly on the show during that short reign? There were just some nights where it seemed like Raw didn't have a main-event Champion. The WWE did not create a draw here.
Was it worth it? Considering all the other sloppiness that went on this Wrestlemania season, I don't think so. The WWE just failed to create something with Goldberg that was a legitimate draw. They might have been better off creating another feud for the Universal Championship. Keep both Goldberg and Lesnar out. You now have another part-timer getting a title reign he does not need. One bad situation may have led to an even worse situation.
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