What if Goldberg Beats Gunther to Become WWE World Heavyweight Champion?

Goldberg is back for his long-anticipated retirement match, which, if fans had to predict, is going to be a fun, quick one-off showcase against Gunther in front of a friendly Atlanta crowd before the sport says goodbye to a legend. 

But…what if Goldberg beats The Ring General for the title?

Just walk with the idea for a moment. It's the year of the retirement tour in WWE and, frankly, there's a little understated potential in a Goldberg farewell tour, especially after John Cena's has been botched with an odd heel turn, Rock and musician involvement, and the company publicly messing with beloved talents like R-Truth. 

While the vocal internet portion of the pro wrestling fanbase bemoans Goldberg at every turn, one look at the live crowd’s reaction to his entrance on Monday’s Raw sort of says it all: 

Goldberg was much, much closer to Rock-levels of pop-culture attention than most of the WWE stars of today, no matter how much vocal fans want to deny it. For better or worse, his getting a brief run at the top on his way out would give WWE some of that sweet, sweet non-wrestling attention as lapsed fans and otherwise check it out. 

The big caveat here is that it has to be handled correctly. There's a super-obvious blueprint to follow. Remember those shock, UFC-like quick finishes between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar all those years ago that had even the most internet-based fan typing about how sports entertainment they were? 

Just run that back and have some fun, right? Goldberg catches Gunther lacking, hits a few high-impact moves and walks out the winner. He's 58 years old, fans aren't expecting backflips and 619s, that's never been his forte anyway. Gunther adjusts at the rematch, perhaps at SummerSlam or something, gets his strap back and a nice boost because he can still yap about retiring one of the GOATs. 

This is pro wrestling. It doesn't have to be that serious. Eyeballing the Austrian's in-ring record and stuff while trying to size up the main event scene and who deserves what is a fool's errand.

This is a sport where Jinder Mahal stole a top title and dominated the scene for a while, to name one of a few random examples that spring to mind in modern times. 

Following the blueprint needs to be tight, though, because the pitfalls are obvious. For a guy not around all that often, Goldberg fatigue is a very real thing, no doubt. Fans still have not-so-great memories of him getting wins over favorites like Kevin Owens and even Bray Wyatt's "The Fiend" persona over the years. 

But those feel like relics of a bygone era in terms of creative decisions, odd shock-seeking moments without a planned direction for the aftermath, a staple of the old way of booking programs. 

The new era of booking? Shock win, fun moments, quick loss, boots left in the ring. Easy. 

Zooming out, what's the alternative? Gunther's last title run was horrendous as it is. Jey Uso's wasn’t much better. The two linking up again would just sour things more. Seth Rollins doesn't need a title shot right now, especially while he clutches a Money in the Bank briefcase, and it looks like he might be heading for a program with Cody Rhodes anyway. 

Goldberg grabbing a quick win, then losing again doesn't really harm much in the grand scheme of things and throws some much-needed variety into how Triple H books title runs. Long title reign after long title reign suddenly rocked by a legend getting a quick run would be a nice changeup. 

That briefcase is a way to get creative, too. Fans long speculated Bron Breakker might be the one to retire Goldberg. In a roundabout way, his attacking the champion and helping Rollins' cash-in would boost both in one encounter and clear up the main event scene without needing a PLE main event to do so. 

Fans who don't want to see WWE go this route with Goldberg have a fair enough point, but a good chunk of it is speaking from past-viewing trauma of a bygone era. There's a way to do it right and, for the most part, this new era has shown itself trustworthy. 

If Goldberg goes out there and loses to Gunther, it's all good, too. But there's some eyebrow-raising appeal to seeing just how things might unfold if WWE swerves a little and shakes up an otherwise routine-looking summer.