In spite of everything, we’re still here. Ladies and gentlemen we have made it to the end of the week. And for better or worse, WWE’s gonna go through with all of this. No matter how much the outside circumstances have altered even the biggest matches on the show, still they’re plowing through on putting on something called WrestleMania 36. That spirit couldn’t be clearer than with the WWE Universal Championship match which sees Bill Goldberg defend the title against Braun Strowman. Braun is a last-minute replacement for Roman Reigns.
This one really stands alone as far as oddities go. Weird or not though, you can expect the same coverage of the event as is typical with the Overtimer. That means recaps and results of the show as they come, plus previews of everything to expect. So let’s get to it.
(Note: At the time of writing, WWE have not announced which matches will be airing on which day.)
WWE Universal Championship: Bill Goldberg © vs. Braun Strowman
If you’re wondering what the angle here is, there isn’t one. If you’re curious as to how Braun Strowman earned this title match, well, he didn’t. The last time we saw Braun Strowman he was pinned by Sami Zayn in a 3-on-1 handicap match, losing his Intercontinental title in the process. He has been absent from television since then and the only time in the past month where his name came up at all was when he basically went on an angry tirade against offering help to those who are struggling financially during the quarantine, telling poor people to not be poor and continue working even at a time when most areas of employment have shut down.
This match was of course, originally scheduled to be Bill Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns. When they went to tape WrestleMania a week and a half ago, it became clear that Roman was not going to appear on the show. His struggles with leukemia make him particularly at risk for the progressively concerning COVID-19 virus, and thus he opted out, reportedly after the Miz had turned up to work sick.
In the time since, WWE continued running advertisements for the show with Goldberg and Roman Reigns all over them, both in commercials and during their own shows. Triple H explained that their means of explaining the necessitated change in the match would be unique and dynamic. That means turned out to be spontaneously announcing Goldberg/Strowman without ever mentioning Roman or even acknowledging that there was ever going to be a different match. WWE found themselves faced with a situation they couldn’t spin to make themselves look good for once, and so they simply didn’t try.
I’d love to be more positive about this, and I like to think I’m optimistic about the show as a whole. But everything about this particular situation is pretty bad no matter which way you look at it. It’s even hard to be all that excited about this clash of behemoths when there’s no crowd there to give the spectacle any atmosphere. All I can say is that I don’t think anyone expects or really wants Braun Strowman to win the Universal title right now. Bill Goldberg to retain.
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