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Goldberg’s appearance at Bad Blood Saturday in Atlanta had fans and analysts wondering if we might be in store for one last run from the legendary WCW competitor.
Triple H even teased talks between the company and the 2018 Hall of Famer on X.
If so, the only match befitting a star of that magnitude is a showdown with John Cena as part of the latter’s 2025 retirement tour.
A fair amount are reading this right now whose first inclination will be to denounce the idea of Goldberg ever stepping back inside the squared circle. They will point to the disastrous match against The Undertaker or the diminishing returns the later into his last run he got and they have a point.
Still, for every die-hard fan who sat through those underwhelming performances, there are nostalgic, casual fans who remember watching Da Man obliterate opponents with the damndest spear and Jackhammer combo during the Monday Night Wars
They remember the aura. An aura he still possesses when he steps through the curtain. They recall how badass he was as he stared, unflinchingly, across the ring at his next victim. He still does that, too.
He is the perfect choice for a dream match in a battle of eras, against one of the greatest to ever lace a pair of Reebok Pumps in Cena.
One of the most adaptable marquee stars of all time, Cena made a career out of working with and, sometimes, around his opponent to deliver main events worthy of the show they appeared on. He could go toe-to-toe in a brawl with Batista or Brock Lesnar, deliver a five-star classic with AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, or CM Punk, and have that WrestleMania epic with The Rock.
Sometimes all within the same year.
Even at an advanced age, Cena’s recognition and understanding of crowd psychology and how to craft a match to get the desired reaction at the right time is somehow underrated and would benefit a battle of industry giants.
His promo work as WWE’s greatest hype man would only add the proverbial cherry on top.
There is even a perfect place for such a match: the debut episode of WWE Raw on Netflix.
What better way to kickoff Cena’s retirement tour and introduce a potentially new audience to WWE’s red-hot product than by taking two of the most recognizable stars the industry has ever produced and matching them up on what is sure to be a buzzworthy broadcast?
WWE gets the publicity of promoting a WrestleMania-worthy dream match on that debut Netlfix broadcast, potentially attracting countless new viewers, and in the process, does not have to sacrifice any of its young or homegrown talents to either guy.
Would it be a five-star classic? No.
Would Dave Melter discuss the intricacies of its star rating in the Tokyo Dome? Nah.
What it would be is a nostalgic battle between two megastars who have never wrestled each other, a momentous match-up for whichever card it appears on, and an opportunity to Goldberg to go out on a positive note against a guy who has made a career out of proving he can get a quality match out of anyone.
The fans deserve it, Cena’s retirement tour would greatly benefit from it, and regardless of one’s opinion of his in-ring work, Goldberg has earned it as one of the biggest, most recognized, and celebrated stars of the last 30 years.
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