Goldberg's match against The Undertaker at Super ShowDown was filled with plenty of hype and excitement, as it marked the very first bout between the two WWE legends.
Unfortunately, the match turned out to be a massive disappointment, especially since it was the main event on a star-studded match card. Pretty much everything that could go wrong in this fight did, in fact, go wrong.
There were a series of obvious botches throughout the short match. In one instance, Goldberg dropped Undertaker on top of himself after trying to execute a Tombstone Piledriver. The former was also concussed after crashing headfirst into the ring post.
Predictably, there was plenty of backlash aimed towards both superstars after the match. But a handful of WWE legends - including Ric Flair, Kane and Chris Jericho - have come to the defense of both Goldberg and The Phenom.
Well, you can add Roman Reigns to the list of Goldberg and Undertaker defenders. The Big Dog praised both superstars for overcoming tough circumstances in an interview with ESPN.com.
"First of all, it was so cool. It was unfortunate what happened out there in the desert (the Super ShowDown match). It was a tough situation," Reigns said. "It was hot as hell out there. Those guys aren't in the ring all the time...This is one of those things, the more you do it, the better you are, the better off you are, the better you feel in the ring. That was just the main focus: Get him out there, and let's have fun."
Related: 5 Wrestlers Who Should Retire Goldberg (& 5 Who Shouldn’t)
Well, the good news is that Undertaker quickly made up for the Super ShowDown debacle by tuning in a superb performance (alongside Reigns) in a tag team match vs. Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre. As for Goldberg, he gets the chance at redemption this Sunday - when he'll face Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam in Toronto.
Interestingly, it's been reported that new Monday Night Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman has interest in keeping Goldberg on board in a Bruno Sammartino-like role. That essentially means that SummerSlam probably won't mark the final match in Goldberg's Hall of Fame career.
What This Means
Goldberg and Undertaker can't take all the blame for the disappointment at Super ShowDown. WWE shouldn't have made it the main event in the first place, and they shouldn't have forced Goldberg to attempt a dangerous finisher that he never uses. More preparation and training would have helped, too. But at the end of the day, one bad match isn't going to define the legacies of two WWE legends.