Bill Goldberg does not plan to leave WWE as Universal Champion if he defeats Roman Reigns for the title at Elimination Chamber.
The Hall of Famer’s match against Reigns is due to be the last in-ring encounter under his current WWE contract. That means, should he beat The Tribal Chief on Saturday, he could technically leave Vince McMahon’s company with the Universal Championship.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Goldberg said he plans to re-sign if WWE’s higher-ups book him to win the title:
“I would not ride off into the sunset if I was victorious by any stretch of the imagination, because the champion’s responsibility is to be there on television and represent it to the nth degree. If I was victorious, I would not run out of here, I would not hold anybody up, I would not do anything like that because of what the business has given me.”
CM Punk found himself in a similar situation to Goldberg before facing John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. Punk ultimately signed a new contract with Vince McMahon's promotion on the day of the show before winning the WWE Championship in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
Goldberg’s “very interesting predicament” before facing Roman Reigns
The WCW legend made it clear this week that he does not know if WWE will offer him a new contract after Elimination Chamber.
Goldberg added that he is preparing for the match with the mindset that it could be his final in-ring performance:
“It does present a very interesting predicament, shall we say, and I try not to look past my current adversary. I’ll deal with that situation afterwards. But, for right now, this could be the last one, and I’ve gotta go out in the right way. I’m gonna try to break Roman’s face and every other part of his body so I can be that Universal Champion.”
Goldberg’s match against Roman Reigns will be his first since he defeated Bobby Lashley at Crown Jewel in October 2021. His Falls Count Anywhere victory over The All Mighty was considered by many, including Corey Graves, to be among the best of his career.
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