Goldberg, Roman Reigns, Emmalina and More from the Non-Announcement Mailbag

Admit it: You sat around watching the 9 p.m. EST version of SportsCenter last night for the Goldberg interview.

You waited through news of New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham's apparent transition into Terrell Owens. And University of North Carolina kicker Robert Aguayo mocking the Florida State Seminoles' famed tomahawk chop. And the premature coronation of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. And more Odell Beckham. And Maria Sharapova defending her use of meldonium. And baseball stuff. 

We watched it all to get to Goldberg. And in return, we got nothing.  

Who's What's Next?

Online reports certainly drummed up significant hype for ESPN's typically paint-by-the-numbers Off the Top Rope segment. But instead of the potential announcement of Bill Goldberg's return, this was yet another safe, lighthearted segment rendering dirt-sheet speculation as just a cruel tease for now.

WWE needs a feud like Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg, especially for Survivor Series, which is the plan according to F4WOnline (h/t Wrestling Inc). Survivor Series does not have as much built-in brand strength as the other Big Four pay-per-views, and its success is only contingent upon big matches like a Lesnar-Goldberg superfight.

Not only does Survivor Series need an annual spark to be relevant, but WWE's viewership just bottomed out two weeks ago, as its indy-heavy roster failed to compete with more mainstream programming. Goldberg mentioned he'd need until the end of the year to decide on a potential return, but WWE needs him now.

If I were to pick a winner, I'd go with Lesnar, since he has more of a long-term future with WWE. If current talks with Goldberg are as serious as reports indicate, perhaps the holdup is the outcome and whether or not Goldberg is willing to take a loss in his return match the way Sting did in his WWE debut at WrestleMania 31.

Purple Power?  

WWE seems committed to the presentation and development of the cruiserweights.

Cruiserweights are showcased as a show-within-a-show, like ECW's mid-90s invasion of WWE Raw. From graphics to lighting down to the purple ring ropes, the cruiserweights are being branded differently than anything else on Raw. 

Cruiserweights are kept away from all other WWE Superstars and only interact with one another. More importantly, WWE is booking easy-to-follow storylines, most notably between heel Brian Kendrick and current cruiserweight champion T.J. Perkins.

The 37-year-old veteran Kendrick is clearly a placeholder for now, so WWE will need to invest character-building throughout the cruiserweight division with talents such as Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann.

Given the difference in WWE's approach with the cruiserweights, this will take time. With simple booking techniques and patience, the strong wrestling of the cruiserweights will continue to establish the division as a weekly highlight reel for Raw. Future appearances on ESPN's Off the Top Rope segment will help the prestige of the division as well.

New and Irrelevant?

"

@ThisIsNasty do you think "emmalina" is gonna be better than what Emma was doing as a heel? Feels like a big mistake by creative.

— Victor Balderas (@VictorBaldera20) October 4, 2016"

I'm not a big fan of blatant makeovers and repackaging, especially when there's an ad campaign. I can't think of too many instances where a struggling WWE Superstar was repackaged through a series of vignettes and fans were immediately on board.

The New Day comes to mind as a possible exception, but it was skewered by fans for months to the point where The New Day had to turn heel.

When Rocky Maivia became The Rock, it was organic. He simply expressed frustration with how he was received by fans, and everything began to fall into place. There was no trailer promoting the "new and improved Rock." The same can be said about Steve Austin's evolution from The Ringmaster to Stone Cold. It all happened on camera and before our eyes.

There's nothing wrong with adding changes, bells and whistles to WWE Superstars who have not yet found their voices. This type of evolution is critical to their survival. But instead of the forced vignette, why not bring her back as Emma and lay out a five-week plan as to how she will gradually evolve into Emmalina? That's what they do with Pokemon, and it's worked for almost 20 years.

Roman Language

If Roman Reigns' push isn't working, whose is? The fact is, right now WWE's product is ice cold. In terms of garnering mainstream attention and becoming a catalyst for a wrestling boom, nobody is getting it done.

WWE received a humbling lesson when it went head-to-head with the presidential debate, Monday Night Football and a delectable slate of fall programming all in one night. With its lowest viewership total ever, per ShowBuzzDaily (h/t Wrestling Inc), WWE just isn't en vogue right now.

WWE is cyclical. Sometimes it's red hot, sometimes it's lean. Sometimes there's a golden age, sometimes there's a new generation. Sometimes there's an Attitude Era, sometimes there's a New Era. WWE is in transition and simply needs to hold steady. It will take a small handful of budding WWE Superstars with mainstream appeal to once again transcend the product, and in my opinion, Roman Reigns is one of them.

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.