Goldberg on WrestleMania 36 Match; Ronda Rousey WWE Contract Update; Rhea Ripley

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Goldberg Discusses Issues with WrestleMania 36 Match

Goldberg wasn't a big fan of his match or the circumstances surrounding it at WrestleMania 36 last year.

During an interview with Ryan Satin of Fox Sports (h/t Phillip Hendrix of Ringside News), Goldberg expressed his thoughts regarding his Universal Championship bout against Braun Strowman:

"It was miserable. It was very ... you know, that situation was extremely difficult. Whether it was just dealing with the COVID, whether it was dealing with the last-minute change of the opponent, whether it was dealing with having to stay and change my itinerary literally on the fly when I hit the ground.

"It was a very stressful 48 hours and again, I'm a soldier. I'm not the general. I may have an opinion about it but it's not my place to voice it because my opinion makes no difference in that situation. I always like to have had a very meaningful storyline and build up to every match or potential match that I'm involved in. It's only fair to the fans. It's only fair to my opponent and it's only fair to me."

Goldberg was originally scheduled to defend the universal title against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36, but a late change had to be made when Reigns pulled out of the match due to COVID-related concerns.

Strowman was subbed in as the late replacement and beat Goldberg for the title, but there was no time to develop an angle between them before WrestleMania.

On top of that, WrestleMania was originally supposed to occur at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, with thousands of fans in attendance, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was moved to the WWE Performance Center with no fans present.

It certainly wasn't the way Goldberg or anyone else wanted things to go, but now that he is back and set to challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble on Sunday, Goldberg can put WrestleMania 36 in his rear-view mirror.

Reported End Date for Rousey's WWE Contract

Ronda Rousey has not appeared for WWE since WrestleMania 35 in 2019, but the end of her contract is reportedly approaching.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Rousey is under contract until April 10, which is the first day of WrestleMania 37 in Tampa.

Meltzer did not mention whether Rousey's inactivity could play a role in the contract in terms of extending it beyond what is thought to be the end date.

Also, Paul Heyman suggested in an interview with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post in October that Rousey could have already signed an extension that people aren't privy to publicly:

"That's another funny thing about people who don't discuss their business in public forums. Everyone presumes that Ronda Rousey's contract expires at a certain time. I don't understand why people don't realize that perhaps, just perhaps, Ronda Rousey's contract has been extended or she has worked out a new deal and it would not benefit either WWE or Ronda Rousey to go public with that information. But why wouldn't people understand that it would be kept secret?"

Rousey also referenced recent odds that showed her as the No. 2 betting choice to win the women's Royal Rumble match on Sunday, although she gave no indication whether she will be involved:

Her last match was the main event of WrestleMania 35 in which she lost to Becky Lynch. Charlotte Flair was also involved in that match, and Lynch pinned Rousey to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championship.

Prior to that, Rousey was undefeated in singles competition in WWE, and she enjoyed a long and successful reign as Raw women's champion.

The former UFC champion is perhaps the biggest crossover star to ever get involved with WWE's women's division, so there is little doubt that WWE would love to have her back in the fold at some point.

Ripley Reportedly Scheduled to Take Part in Royal Rumble

Although her entry has not been announced, Rhea Ripley reportedly will be part of the women's Royal Rumble match Sunday.

According to Meltzer (h/t Upton), Ripley was supposed to debut as a full-time main roster wrestler a couple of weeks ago, but WWE decided to hold off and make her a surprise of sorts in the Rumble match instead.

Ripley has worked on the main roster before, as she was a big part of the storylines leading up to Survivor Series 2019, and after Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble last year, Ripley challenged her to a match at WrestleMania 36.

Flair beat Ripley at WrestleMania for the NXT Championship, so it stands to reason that Ripley would want to bounce back with a big win on The Grandest Stage of Them All this year.

Ripley was one of the top female Superstars in NXT for quite some time, and her most recent appearance on NXT came a few weeks ago when she lost to Raquel Gonzalez in a Last Woman Standing match. That was widely viewed as Ripley's NXT swansong.

If Ripley is in the Rumble as expected, she will undoubtedly be among the top contenders to win, along with Bianca Belair, Bayley, Charlotte and Alexa Bliss.

Ripley is a massive star in the making, as she is just 24 years old and has a unique look that helps her stand out from the pack.

Even if Ripley doesn't win the Rumble, an impressive performance with several eliminations would go a long way toward establishing her as a threat on the main roster.

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