The Underlying Message of WWE's Forced Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg Feud

WWE waltzed out Goldberg on Monday's edition of Raw to set up a feud with Drew McIntyre, once again highlighting the company's biggest problem: The most talented roster in the world has paper-thin depth because WWE can't build stars.

Instead of giving McIntyre an up-and-coming opponent to defend his title against at Royal Rumble, WWE again turned to the 54-year-old Hall of Famer. And not that something so obvious needs a report backing it, but Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said it's because "they have nobody ready" (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats).

And the promotion doesn't. It's the fault of a long-term mentality that leads to decisions like the ones made over the past week—rather than setting up McIntyre and Keith Lee for an epic collision at the Royal Rumble, they instead fought on Raw before Goldberg came down to the ring to take that No. 1 contender spot at the pay-per-view.

As has always seemed to be the case with Goldberg lately too, it was about as awkward as it gets. The multiple-time world champion came out at the end of the Raw and accused McIntyre of being disrespectful to legends, which certainly wasn't the case.

In fact, it felt like WWE tossed the script at Goldberg that was meant for his oh-so-obvious feud with Roman Reigns. It didn't make any sense, and now it's confusing as to who is supposed to even be the bad guy in the feud.

What makes it all the worse is the potential for it to go so wrong. That's been a problem with Goldberg matches for years, whether it was the botched-filled bout with Undertaker or mistakes made in contests against the likes of Bray Wyatt.

And speaking of Wyatt, the concern is that Goldberg takes down the face of Raw, unnecessarily harming one of WWE's top guys for a misguided grab at WrestleMania ratings. He is, after all, the guy who recently came back and put down Wyatt's Fiend persona, outright pinning it and killing all momentum.

The fact that the same could happen to McIntyre is a terrifying prospect. It would be nice to think the champion hits a boot or two in dominant fashion and retains—but that's not how things have gone lately.

The roster itself can't afford to have Goldberg walking out of the event as champion. Raw is as thin as it gets with AJ Styles in a purgatory, Randy Orton clearly being reserved for Edge's return and not much else to speak of now that it has already exhausted the Lee angle.

Now compare Raw to SmackDown, the brand that builds stars and hasn't resorted to cheap returns to prop up the show. The heel Reigns continues to headline, but along the way he's made The Usos look like a million bucks, even in solo roles.

The blue brand also has proven veterans like Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens who can step into pretty much any role. And it has fast-rising stars like Aleister Black and Big E, never mind Seth Rollins lurking in the background.

The only way something like McIntyre-Goldberg would appear to work is if the champion looks dominant in a win while the company works overtime to build a worthy contender who can take him down and use the momentum from that to become a star.

But that's just not how WWE typically does business when it comes to a returning legend. And the harm done to McIntyre with a loss would be immense because while Goldberg is a legend, it will be hard for many fans to shake the memories of his mistake-filled matches over the past few years, which will hurt The Scot's credibility.

The promotion does have a bit of a get-out-of-jail-free card via the Royal Rumble. Much as the company used it to build up McIntyre, it can do the same for somebody else and have them challenge him at 'Mania. But that would require him besting Goldberg and not losing credibility regardless of the outcome for it to work.

As much as WWE has performed well with its back against the wall over the past year, the move to make this match reeks of desperation. It's a problem that could take a long time to fix, with running off and taking an easy sidetrack with Goldberg only making things more difficult.