WWE Legend says he returned specifically to face Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar faced one of his most difficult WWE challenges in 2016 when he came face-to-face with an old rival at Survivor Series.

After 12 years away from WWE, Goldberg returned to the ring to defeat Lesnar in a match lasting just 86 seconds. Prior to that, the WCW icon’s last WWE encounter came against the same opponent at WrestleMania 20, where he also picked up the win.

The latest episode of “Talk Is Jericho” featured a discussion between Chris Jericho and Goldberg. The latter explained to his former co-worker why WWE wanted him to return in 2016:

“I came in for a reason,” Goldberg said. “Brock needed an adversary. He needed a worthy adversary. He needed somebody that he could even up the score against. There weren’t too many people that were believable and there weren’t too many people that had retired that had a story like mine that had the history with him.”

The WrestleMania 20 match between Goldberg and Lesnar did not go according to plan. WWE fans hijacked the 14-minute contest with derogatory chants because they knew both men were on the verge of leaving the company.

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Goldberg comments on Brock Lesnar’s intelligence

While many WWE Superstars grew up as fans of the business, that was not the case for Brock Lesnar. The 45-year-old disliked WWE's "fake" product and initially had no interest in transitioning from amateur wrestling to the world of sports entertainment.

Goldberg believes his former opponent was smart to change his mindset en route to becoming one of the smartest people in the industry:

“I never would have said this before and I don’t think you would have said it before, but Brock Lesnar is an absolute mastermind,” Goldberg continued. “He really is, and that’s something that I never saw coming. Never, especially from a guy that talked bulls**t about the business prior to getting into it, that he never would get into the fake wrestling thing.”

Goldberg also mentioned that Lesnar came up with the finish for their match at Survivor Series 2016. The Beast Incarnate felt that the surprising outcome was the perfect way to kick-start their five-month storyline.

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Did you enjoy the Goldberg vs. Lesnar rivalry? Let us know your memories from the feud in the comments section.

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Please credit “Talk Is Jericho” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.