Wardlow says wrestling Goldberg is a “dream monster match” of his.
The TNT Champion was interviewed by WhatCulture at WrestleCon recently and spoke about having interacted with Goldberg at the convention.
Wardlow said:
Goldberg did walk through just a minute ago and we exchanged words. I don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes but we both mutually agreed that if the opportunity comes, we would love to see who really is next.
He continued to list Goldberg amongst other all-time great “monsters” in wrestling, saying:
Batista, Lesnar, Goldberg, I put those three in the same category of dream monster matches. I mean, we just heard Ward-low [chants], we haven’t heard that since Goldberg so I think Wardlow vs. Goldberg, man, it doesn’t get bigger than that. It does not get bigger than Wardlow vs. Goldberg.
Asked about potentially retiring Goldberg, Wardlow responded:
If it comes down to Wardlow as the man to retire Goldberg, I can die peacefully.
It was reported last month that Goldberg’s WWE contract had expired and the 56-year-old is now a free agent. This led to speculation regarding what could be next for the Hall of Famer, including possibly signing with AEW.
When asked about Goldberg’s free agency recently, AEW president Tony Khan said, “It’s interesting to hear that he is a free agent, so that’s something to follow. He’s one of the biggest names in wrestling and certainly will be something else to keep an eye on for us.”
During a recent radio appearance, Goldberg said that he wants to have a proper retirement match. He noted that he is leaning toward a self-funded four-city tour to end his career.
Goldberg said:
So, if I go on a world tour and promote it myself, that’s a possibility. Hey, I’m a businessman and I’m fortunately in the position, I firmly believe, to where I can still make it happen. At the end of the day, like I said, I do believe that my character deserves a proper send-off and until that happens, I don’t believe I’m hanging them up. So, anything and everything is an option.
Bill Goldberg says he’s not hanging up his wrestling boots until he has a proper send-off.
The WWE Hall of Famer was a guest on 93.7 The Ticket on Monday and spoke about Vince McMahon promising him a retirement match after he agreed to wrestle Roman Reigns at the 2022 Elimination Chamber.
Goldberg was asked about recent rumors regarding his free agency status and responded:
I’ll stop the rumor mill right now. The reason why these rumors are out there is because Vince McMahon and I had a handshake understanding that after the Roman Reigns match, I would have a proper retirement match and that hasn’t come to fruition through them and so therefore, nobody puts a stamp on my career, nobody tells me when I’m done, period, end of story. And when somebody tells me that, I kind of like to fight against it. I like to do things my own way and I go out my own way and I certainly don’t go out under Roman Reigns three weeks after I have COVID and agreed to a match.
So, if I go on a world tour and promote it myself, that’s a possibility. Hey, I’m a businessman and I’m fortunately in the position, I firmly believe, to where I can still make it happen. At the end of the day, like I said, I do believe that my character deserves a proper send-off and until that happens, I don’t believe I’m hanging them up. So, anything and everything is an option.
I’m very much leaning toward promoting it myself and doing a four city world tour. So, let the rumor mill start up after that.
Goldberg’s last official match took place in Saudi Arabia on February 19, 2022. He lost to Reigns via referee stoppage in just six minutes. He’s wrestled 12 times since returning to WWE in 2016, 11 singles matches and one Royal Rumble. He holds victories over Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, The Fiend, and Bobby Lashley during this period. Goldberg has also suffered losses to Lesnar, Undertaker, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Lashley, and Roman Reigns over the last seven years.
The 56-year-old was voted Rookie of the Year in the 1998 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards. He is a one-time WCW World Champion, one-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and a two-time Universal Champion. Goldberg was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
Tony Khan talked about Goldberg, the latest on Dante Martin, and other topics at Friday’s ROH Supercard of Honor event.
Athena, Claudio Castagnoli, Katsuyori Shibata, Mark Briscoe, and Tony Khan all took questions from the media following Friday’s pay-per-view event. Here are some notes:
Shibata noted that he had flight issues and didn’t get to Los Angeles until Friday afternoon.
During Shibata’s interview, Khan said that Shibata will be at the ROH tapings next week.
When asked if he would like to face Bryan Danielson, Shibata said he felt winning the Pure Championship on Friday made him that much closer to eventually face Danielson.
One interviewer mentioned the reports that Trinity Fatu was backstage to Athena. She confirmed them, saying Trinity was a friend and had come to the show to support her. Athena also mentioned wanting to work with the likes of Masa Slamovich, Toni Storm, Tootie Lynn, and Jamie Hayter.
When asked how he is able to stay positive after everything that has happened this year, Briscoe said it was Jesus. He talked about a time where he struggled with his faith and it was one of the scariest moments of his life. However, he then felt God.
Briscoe closed his interview by saying Jay had a better night than him, saying that while he wrestled Samoa Joe, Jay wrestled Eddie Guerrero.
Castagnoli mentioned that he would like to work with the likes of Adam Cole, Bandido, and Rush.
Khan said that Dante Martin is currently at the hospital. He said that he talked to Darius Martin and that he’s hoping for an update soon. However, he indicated that Martin may be out of action for a while as a result of the injury that took place during the ladder match, and that Darius Martin might be branching out in a singles role as a result.
One reporter asked if we could see Goldberg in Ring of Honor. Khan flatly said no, saying that “Goldberg in Ring of Honor will never happen.” He explained that when he meant that bringing Goldberg in would be an “interesting idea”, he meant for it to be in All Elite Wrestling. He explained that AEW and ROH have different budgets.
Regarding Brian Cage, Khan said that he would like to see Cage compete in AEW for a long time. However, he didn’t clarify if Cage had extended his contract.
Khan said he was a big fan of Nigel McGuiness during his run in Ring of Honor. Praised his performance tonight but didn’t say if he would be a part of future ROH broadcasts moving forward.
When asked about the length of ROH television shows, Khan said it changes due to having the freedom of not being constrained by television time.
Regarding if ROH would continue taping at Universal Studios in Florida, or it would be taped on the road. Khan said it would be a mixture of both.
Khan closed the press conference by thanking the media and emphasizing that Wednesday’s announcement on AEW Dynamite would be a big one.
The news that Bill Goldberg is free and clear of his WWE contract has caught the attention of AEW & ROH head Tony Khan.
In an interview with The Bet Las Vegas & Sporting Tribune hyping up ticket sales for AEW Double or Nothing, Khan was asked about his interest in the free agent who he has got to know partially through charitable ties via Goldberg’s family in Jacksonville, Florida.
“I have a lot of respect for Bill. I think Bill Goldberg is a great professional athlete and has had a great career in pro wrestling and is a very nice person,” he said. “He’s a household name in pro wrestling, so it’s interesting to hear that he is a free agent so that’s something to follow. He’s one of the biggest names in wrestling and certainly will be something else to keep an eye on for us.”
“Bill is an exceptionally exciting name and one of the biggest names in the sport. It’s certainly a big thing for us to pay attention to. I would take notice of that. It’s interesting,” he continued.
On Monday, Fightful reported that the 53-year-old’s WWE contract expired at the end of 2022. Goldberg first returned to WWE in 2016 after 12 years away, defeating Brock Lesnar in under 90 seconds at Survivor Series. He would wrestle 11 more times over the six years that followed — a run that saw him win the WWE Universal title twice.
His last match came at last February’s Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia, losing to current undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
“It’s a very encouraging thing to hear. I have so much respect for Mercedes. I think she’s such a great pro wrestler and certainly one of the best in the world. Any wrestling company in the world, including AEW, is fortunate to have Mercedes. Currently, she is the world champion for our partner NJPW and I think she’s a great champion for them.
“I’m glad she brought up Forbidden Door as it’s going to be an exciting event. Certainly the shadow of Mercedes is looming large in NJPW right now. When AEW and NJPW clash at Forbidden Door, it will be very interesting to see what happens. She’s certainly one of their top stars and it makes for a very interesting situation going into Forbidden Door.”
Fightful Select reported on Monday that Goldberg’s contract with WWE expired at the end of 2022, with no deal being reached to renew or extend it. Goldberg last wrestled for the WWE at the Elimination Chamber event last February, losing to Roman Reigns in a match that was for the WWE Universal Championship.
After a long period away from the ring, Goldberg made his return to the WWE back in 2016, facing Brock Lesnar at that year’s Survivor Series event. During his latest run with the company, Goldberg won the WWE Universal title twice, once in 2017 by defeating Kevin Owens and a second time in 2020, defeating The Fiend Bray Wyatt.
Other matches he has had over the years since include The Undertaker at WWE Super ShowDown 2019, Drew McIntyre at the 2021 Royal Rumble, and two matches with Bobby Lashley that took place later that year.
Bill Goldberg says WWE owes him a retirement match.
The 56-year-old was profiled in an SI.com article on Wednesday and said that he’s got some ideas on how he would like such a match to go, including potentially holding it in Israel.
Goldberg said:
“You never say never, especially in wrestling, and they owe me one,” says Goldberg. “That’s all I can say. I made a deal with the devil and I did my job, and they owe me a retirement match. At the end of the day, at 56, it’s not something where I’m sitting by the phone waiting for a call. I’ve got a few ideas of how to do it on my own, possibly in Israel. So never say never.”
Goldberg revealed in a NY Post article last summer that he is still under contract with WWE but has completed the number of matches the deal required. His last match for the company took place over a year ago at WWE Elimination Chamber 2022 from the Jeddah Superdome in Saudi Arabia. He was defeated by Roman Reigns in a Universal title match that went just six minutes.
Goldberg has wrestled 11 singles matches in WWE dating back to his return in 2016. He has five wins and six losses in that span. The only other match he’s wrestled since returning was in the 2017 Royal Rumble match won by Randy Orton.
Later in the article, Goldberg also spoke about the impact Paul Heyman has had during his most recent run in WWE.
“Paul’s amazing,” says Goldberg. “It’s hard to believe that one person could have such a tremendous effect on the business, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, but that’s Paul Heyman. He’s a gem; he really is. He knows the craft up and down, inside and out. I’m greatly appreciative to have been part of his plan.”
Goldberg will be reprising his role as coach Nick Mellor on an episode of The Goldbergs Wednesday evening on ABC. It will be the ninth episode of the show that he’s done.
The WWE Hall-of-Famer appeared on Talk is Jericho and spoke about Hart’s criticism of Goldberg regarding their Starrcade 99 match that left Hart with a concussion and led to the end of his in-ring career.
“He’s an idol to anybody and everybody who would have ever been in this business. I’m a human being like everybody else and there was absolutely no malicious intent whatsoever, none, zero,” Goldberg said.
“Does it bother me? Yeah, I’ll take it to my grave. But also, I got to say, and I’m kind of at a turning point, I’m done saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’ve said it a million times and I’m not going to continue to tear myself down, I’m done. I said, ‘I’m sorry,’ if he can’t accept my apology, it is what it is, you’ve got to move on and I’ve moved on.”
During Goldberg’s appearance on Chris Jericho’s podcast, the two also discussed a physical confrontation they got into during Goldberg’s first turn in WWE. Jericho believes that others were trying to pit the two of them against each other.
“I firmly believe that we had our backstage brew ha ha, scuffle backstage, that was manipulated, I think, by other people to kind of pit us against each other,” Jericho said on the show.
“I don’t believe that one was because of the true animosity you and I had for each other, it was a stage that was set by other people and we just followed out the storyline,” Goldberg added. “I will apologize to the end of my days for that.”
“Me too,” Jericho responded. “That was not something I was very proud about either, especially the fact that it was online 20 minutes later. That’s why I was like, ‘this was all a setup’ and we fell for it.”
Goldberg is still under contract for WWE, and is waiting for the next call.
In an interview with The New York Post, Goldberg said he was still under contract with the company and noted he was in “pretty damn good shape” right now.
“I’m still waiting for that one [call] to happen one of these days,” Goldberg said. “But I suppose you never retire in the wrestling world until you’re dead, so who knows.”
He also revealed that his shoulder was injured prior to his match against Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber back in February. However, he said that he hasn’t gotten it “cut on because you never know when the phone’s gonna ring”. Goldberg said that his shoulder has been “absolutely destroyed over the past four or five years,” and was able to “hide it from everybody”. The shoulder injury was severe enough to the point where he couldn’t hold a five-pound weight. He has instead spent time rehabbing his shoulder.
“I have worked my ass off day, after day, after day to get to a point where I feel almost normal again,” he said. “I just kind of needed that break. I needed the mental focus of understanding that surgery wasn’t an option at the time and I needed to put my ass to the grindstone.”
Goldberg has only wrestled once this year, losing to Reigns at Elimination Chamber. In 2021, he worked three dates, losing to Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble and Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam. He defeated Lashley in a rematch at Crown Jewel in October.
As part of the promotion for WWE 2K22, this week’s episode of “Hot Ones: Truth or Dab” had a WWE theme.
Big E and Goldberg appeared together on the show, which requires its participants to either answer questions truthfully or eat an outrageously spicy chicken wing.
It was brought up on Truth or Dab that Big E has called Goldberg his dream opponent. On The New Day’s Feel the Power podcast in 2020, Big E spoke about why he wants to face Goldberg.
“If I were to ever have a dream match, it would be against the one, the only, Goldberg,” Big E said. “I don’t want to hear y’all talking about this ‘workrate’… and moonsaults. I don’t care about any of that. Ya heard? You want a great match? Nah — bump that. I wanna see two big men with big… chests and big muscles, bumping meat. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I watched wrestling as a kid. You want your five-star matches? You want your 30-minute classics? Not me. Big meaty men slapping meat. That’s what I want.”
At Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia last month, Goldberg unsuccessfully challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. The match was the last one on Goldberg’s most recent WWE contract.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Sasha Banks, and Chris Jericho are among the pro wrestlers who have appeared on full episodes of Hot Ones.
On his weekly CarCast podcast, Bill Goldberg revealed that he was dealing with COVID-19 when he got the short notice call to take on WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at last Saturday’s Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia.
Goldberg admitted that he was “behind the eight ball” from the start as the fans understood what the outcome of the Reigns match would likely be and that he had a short time to prepare.
He said he had not trained in three months and had COVID-19 when he got the call to go.
“I literally had two weeks in the gym to get ready for this,” he said.
He also alluded to a documentary being filmed that will help explain his preparation.
“What people don’t understand, and it will come out in the documentary, is (wrestling) is tough to do as a 20-year-old. It’s even more difficult to do it as a 30-year-old, a 40-year-old and it’s almost impossible (as a) 55-year-old,” he said. “’I’m one of the .003 percent of humans on the planet that can pull something like that off.”
He joked that he would have liked to do the Reigns match in his 40s instead of doing it at 55. He said his role in coming back for any match was to give back to the business and in this case, make Reigns “look like a million bucks” before heading into his WrestleMania match with Brock Lesnar.
He also opened up about the mental challenge of staying positive when things are working against you like they did ahead of Elimination Chamber.
“In doing (wrestling), it’s very tough mentally to keep yourself in a positive space because you’ve got so many negatives going against you. And then, 90% of fans understand what the storyline is gonna be, so I’m fighting an uphill battle the whole way. But you know, at this point and throughout the years, I have been able to do this on a short schedule,” he said.
He added that he tries to do the best job he can and that he hopes fans appreciate the effort in some way despite a much different way that they interact.
“Now these days with social media, things are different. Back in the day, wrestling was extremely interactive. When somebody had a chant, these fans couldn’t wait to get on board with it. Now you got schmucks that wanna be the person that yells during somebody’s chant to completely change the narrative. And then they go on social media and go, ‘Hey, I was that schmuck that did that’ and try to get some adoration. So, it’s a different crowd,” he said.
During the podcast, he went into detail about the trip, the travel issues, the light amount of food choices, and a funny he and Lashley buying up all the protein they could before boarding the plane as a large group of wrestlers were coming behind them.
SmackDown finished building to today’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on last night’s go-home edition of the show.
In advance of their Universal Championship match in Saudi Arabia, Roman Reigns and Goldberg met for a face-to-face confrontation. Goldberg declared that he’s next — the next Universal Champion.
A new stipulation was added to one of the matches at Elimination Chamber. Ronda Rousey will have to wrestle with one arm tied behind her back when she teams with Naomi against Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville. Rousey agreed to the stipulation that was put in place by Deville and said that one arm would be more than enough to beat her.
A title change also took place last night. Sami Zayn defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to become the new Intercontinental Champion.
With Elimination Chamber less than 24 hours away, SmackDown finishes building to the PPV on tonight’s go-home show.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Goldberg will meet face-to-face ahead of their Universal Championship bout in Saudi Arabia tomorrow. Goldberg returned to WWE TV on SmackDown two weeks ago and challenged Reigns to the match.
Ronda Rousey & Naomi are set to face Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville at Elimination Chamber. Tonight, the two teams will meet for a contract signing.
On last Friday’s show, Deville attempted to suspend and fine Rousey for injuring her arm the previous week. WWE management instead denied Deville’s request via email. Later that night, Flair defeated Naomi to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Flair and Deville beat down Naomi after the match until Rousey made the save. Rousey tried to injure Deville’s other arm, but Flair pulled her out of the ring.
Tonight’s show will also feature an Intercontinental Championship match with Shinsuke Nakamura defending against Sami Zayn.
Our coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
Michael Cole and Corey Graves are the commentators for tonight.
Contract Signing: Ronda Rousey & Naomi vs. Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville
This was a fine opening segment.
Adam Pearce was already in the ring to start SmackDown. As Flair and Deville made their entrance, Cole pointed out that Deville’s arm was still in a sling. Graves wondered how she could be ready to compete by tomorrow.
Pearce began to explain the contract signing, but Deville interrupted. She noted she knows how contracts work, but he needs to explain the rules to Rousey and Naomi. Rousey said rule one is to sign the contract, and Naomi added rule two is she kicks Deville’s ass.
Deville signed the contract. Rousey and Naomi mocked Deville until Flair interrupted. She pointed out that there’s an added stipulation for their match.
Deville mentioned Rousey claiming she could beat them with one arm. Deville then announced that Rousey would have one arm tied behind her back for the tag team match at Elimination Chamber.
Rousey signed the contract. Rousey got in Flair’s face and slammed her head on the table. The camera angle was from behind Flair with a quick cut. Naomi knocked down Deville, and the faces flipped the table over on the heels. Rousey and Naomi celebrated to end the segment.
They recapped Ricochet defeating Ridge Holland two weeks ago.
In the back, Sheamus spoke with Holland. He was disappointed that Ricochet defeated Holland. Sheamus motivated Holland and told him to watch his match with Ricochet.
Ricochet jumped Sheamus at the bell for the early advantage. He sent Sheamus to the floor and followed up with a suicide dive. Sheamus fought back and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to take over.
Ricochet tried fighting back with chops and right hands, but Sheamus hit a back suplex. Sheamus slowed the pace down with a chin lock. Ricochet broke free and rocked Sheamus with a knee to the face.
Ricochet then tackled Sheamus over the top rope. He followed up with a moonsault off the apron, but Sheamus caught him and hit a fallaway slam over the announce table.
Back from the break, Sheamus was firmly in control. He hit the ten beats of bodhran against the ropes and sent Ricochet back in the ring.
Ricochet fought back and hit a tornado DDT. He followed up with a springboard flying elbow and a standing shooting star press for a near fall.
Ricochet hit a moonsault for another near fall. Sheamus recovered and hit the Alabama slam for a two-count. Sheamus climbed to the top rope, but Ricochet cut him off. Sheamus tried to push him off, but Ricochet recovered and hit the Spanish Fly for a very close near fall.
Ricochet climbed to the top rope, but Holland caused a distraction. Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick, but Ricochet moved out of the way. Sheamus always ran into Holland, but stopped himself. He yelled at Holland for jumping on the apron. Ricochet took advantage and hit the recoil for the win.
After the match, Sheamus yelled at Holland and blamed him for losing. Sheamus then shoved Holland down.
They recapped Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs appearing on In Zayn. During the segment, Boogs grabbed the mic, and it electrocuted him.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed Sami Zayn. Braxton pointed out that Boogs isn’t going to be at ringside tonight. Zayn quickly noted he had nothing to do with that. Zayn said he had one of the worst years of his life, but it doesn’t matter because he will win the Intercontinental title tonight.
Cole and Graves discussed Undertaker’s Hall of Fame induction. He’s the first member of the 2022 class.
They showed an excellent video looking back at Undertaker’s career and evolution from Deadman to American Badass. It featured various wrestlers prasing him including, Triple H, Mick Foley, Kane, Batista, John Cena, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
They recapped the Roman Reigns and Goldberg feud and previewed the match tomorrow.
Ivar (w/Erik) defeated Jey Uso (w/Jimmy Uso) via DQ (2:38)
Jey and Ivar had a good match until the weak finish. The Viking Raiders could have used the win going into Elimination Chamber.
Cole pointed out that The Viking Raiders came out without their Viking helmets because The Usos stole them last week.
Uso backed Ivar into the corner, but Ivar fought back and hit a splash for a near fall. He went for a flying crossbody, but Uso moved out of the way. He rocked Ivar with a superkick and slowed the pace with a chin lock.
Uso hit another superkick, but Ivar recovered and hit a clothesline for a two-count. He followed up with the Bronco Buster and hit a splash off the top rope. Jimmy then jumped in the ring and struck Ivar with his helmet for the disqualification.
After the match, The Viking Raiders beat down The Usos and took their helmets back.
They recapped Madcap Moss trying to get out of his match with Drew McIntyre last week.
Drew McIntyre’s Final Preparation
McIntyre made his way to the ring to address Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss.
McIntyre discussed living in Lousiana in 2010 when the Saints won the Superbowl. He remembers partying on Bourbon Street that night. He said he ended up in the back of a police car, but it wasn’t his fault. The officer recognized him, and they partied the rest of the night.
McIntyre showed footage of Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss attacking him at Day One. The doctor told McIntyre he wouldn’t make it back for WrestleMania.
McIntyre noted his match with Moss is Anything Goes. He talked about all the ways he could hurt Moss. McIntyre asked the fans to help and told them to send him suggestions to #MadcapMauling.
Moss and Corbin interrupted. Moss made a bad joke about McIntyre’s injured neck. McIntyre noted Moss has all the talent in the world, but he decided to align with Corbin.
McIntyre promised to get his revenge and said that Elimination Chamber would be the night the laughter died.
In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. He promised to kick Zayn in the face and retain his title.
Sami Zayn defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the Intercontinental title (18:12)
Zayn and Nakamura had a good match and told a good story. The finish felt a bit anti-climatic.
During Nakamura’s entrance, Cole mentioned that Boogs is recovering from last week and won’t be at ringside.
Zayn had a brief advantage with a side headlock. Nakamura escaped and caught Zayn with a kick to the face. He followed up with a running knee in the corner.
Nakamura dragged Zayn to the apron and hit another running knee. He went for a knee drop on the apron, but Zayn moved, and Nakamura crashed on the floor.
Back from the break, Zayn was firmly in control with a chin lock. Nakamura fought back and locked on an armbar. Zayn escaped, but Nakamura hit a sliding basement dropkick. He then hit a sliding German suplex for a near fall.
Nakamura went for a running knee, but Zayn reversed into the Michinoku Driver for a close near fall. Zayn attempted the tornado DDT through the ring post, but Nakamura caught him with a kick to the head. Nakamura went for a running knee at ringside. Zayn moved, and Nakamura hit his injured knee against the stairs.
Back from the break, Zayn worked over Nakamura’s injured knee in the corner. They fought on the top rope, but Nakamura knocked Zayn off. Nakamura followed up with a knee for a near fall. He went for the Kinshasa, but Zayn drop kicked the knee. Zayn followed up with the blue thunder bomb for a close near fall.
Zayn mocked Nakamura. Nakamura snapped and stomped Zayn against the ropes. He then rocked Zayn with a kick to the head. Nakamura set up for the Kinshasa again, but Zayn rolled out of the ring.
Zayn fought back and slammed Nakamura’s leg against the ring post repeatedly. The finish came when Zayn blocked a kick and attacked the injured knee. Zayn then used a small package to win the match.
In the back, Aliyah spoke with Ricochet. She praised him for beating Sheamus earlier tonight. She smiled at Ricochet as he walked away. Zayn showed up and bragged about winning the Intercontinental title.
They recapped Bobby Lashley defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble. They previewed Lashley defending in the Elimination Chamber tomorrow.
Cole and Graves ran down the Elimination Chamber lineup.
Face-to-Face: Universal Champion Roman Reigns & Goldberg
This was a good segment. Reigns, Heyman, and Goldberg, were good in their roles.
Reigns and Paul Heyman slowly made their way to the ring. Reigns took the mic and demanded that New Orleans acknowledge him. At first, he got a mixed reaction, but the fans broke into a loud “Roman” chant. Reigns then ordered Heyman to celebrate him.
Heyman said this is the best part of his day. He discussed watching athletes in their prime, including Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Drew Brees.
Heyman then mocked Brees and the Saints. The fans booed and broke into a loud “who dat” chant. Heyman noted the fans get to see Reigns in his prime tomorrow at Elimination Chamber.
Goldberg’s music hit, and he made his way to the ring. Goldberg held the mic in his hand but threw it down. He stepped up to Reigns and got in his face. The fans broke into a loud “Golberg” chant.
Goldberg admitted he made a mistake and said Reigns isn’t next. Goldberg added when it comes to the Universal title; he’s next. Goldberg and Reigns had a stare-down to end SmackDown.
The show-closing angle of last night’s SmackDown set the stage for a tag team match at the Elimination Chamber.
In last night’s main event, Charlotte Flair defeated Naomi to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Sonya Deville then taunted Naomi after the match. Naomi started to beat down Deville but was attacked by Charlotte.
With it being two-on-one against Naomi, Ronda Rousey ran down to make the save. Rousey was going to put Deville in an armbar for the second straight week and injure her good arm, but Charlotte pulled Deville out of the ring.
Rousey & Naomi will face Charlotte & Deville at the Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, February 19.
The build to the Elimination Chamber also continued with Michael Cole interviewing Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Goldberg last night. The two will meet for a face-to-face segment on next Friday’s SmackDown.
A face-to-face between Goldberg and Roman Reigns is set for next week’s SmackDown.
The two will meet on a show that will air just one day prior to Elimination Chamber on February 19. Both had sit down interviews on tonight’s show with Michael Cole talking about the upcoming match.
Roman Reigns dismissed Goldberg’s run in WCW, saying that everyone would be winning in WCW if he were in it because they would still be in business. He ended his portion of the sit down interview saying that he would “Goldberg Goldberg”.
Goldberg said he did listen to a few people say that perhaps this is one return too many. But he said that he didn’t care what they said, as he is coming back, this time to stay. He promised to beat Reigns at the Elimination Chamber, and would move on to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.
Already announced for next Friday’s SmackDown, which will be taped following tonight’s SmackDown in New Orleans, is Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship.
