Goldberg has a new opponent for WrestleMania 36 and it is quite the monster of a challenge.
The April 3 episode of Friday Night SmackDown officially announced that Roman Reigns was out of the championship match what's Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 and he will be replaced by Braun Strowman.
The announcement literally came by the change of a graphic and no in-depth explanation was given in character.
BREAKING: @Goldberg defends the #UniversalTitle against @BraunStrowman THIS WEEKEND at #WrestleMania!
— WWE (@WWE) April 4, 2020
Behind the scenes, Roman Reigns pulled himself out of the match due to his having an autoimmune deficiency and fear of contracting the Coronavirus. The original announcement came in the form of a report by Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet.
Roman Reigns addressed the situation via an Instagram video where he challenged his followers to be more positive both in real life and on social media.
"For all my fans, I'm sorry I didn't get to compete this year and put on a show and entertain. Sometimes, things are more important and I had to make a choice for me and my family. No matter what, you already know the deal. I made it to Orlando and I had to make a decision for me. It doesn't take anything away from what I've done and what I'm going to do. I still love this game. I still love pro wrestling/sports entertainment. I still love being in the ring. It's a little weird being in the ring with nobody watching, nobody in the arena. I'm ready to get back to work."
Triple H had stated in an interview with Ariel Helwani that the situation would play out in a unique manner and this was certainly unique if nothing else.
The Only WrestleMania Too Big for Just One Night is getting a Universal Title Match that’s almost too big for just one building.
Braun Strowman will challenge Goldberg for the Universal Championship at the unprecedented, two-night edition of The Showcase of the Immortals, putting The Monster Among Men within distance of the World Title victory that has eluded him for years. The highly anticipated title bout also gives Goldberg the opportunity to score his most titanic conquest since trouncing Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016.
Strowman has come close to the Universal Championship on several occasions, most notably a series of singles and multi-man matches back when Lesnar held the championship, a narrowly thwarted Money in the Bank cash-in and a tight loss to Seth Rollins. Since then, Strowman has rebounded to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and record a short stint with the Intercontinental Championship, but the World Title has remained beyond his reach until now.
The dominance of Goldberg, however, has remained absolute. Ever since he was announced as the surprise challenger to then-champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, the WWE Hall of Famer has shown little signs of slowing down, plowing through the monstrous titleholder to become Universal Champion for the second time. As imposing as Strowman is, there’s no small chance he’ll simply be a bigger notch than most on Goldberg’s belt, but a notch all the same.
Tune in to The Only WrestleMania Too Big for Just One Night, streaming Saturday and Sunday at 7 ET/4 PT on the award-winning WWE Network.
Follow along with the live coverage of SmackDown at this link.
