WWE announced earlier this week that Goldberg would be appearing at the company's upcoming event in Saudi Arabia - along with many other big names including Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker.

It will be Goldberg's first appearance for WWE since he was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. His last match took place at WrestleMania 33 two years ago, where Goldberg lost a Universal Championship match to Lesnar.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Ringside News), WWE signed Goldberg because they "feared that he would go to AEW," thus thwarting the rival company's chances of adding "a mainstream guy."

Goldberg was previously linked to possibly joining AEW - a company that has already landed former WWE talents including Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho. Of course, we'll have to find out the details of Goldberg's contract here with WWE. If it's a short one, it doesn't fully rule out the possibility of him going to AEW down the road.

Related: WWE Confirms Kofi Kingston, Goldberg, Undertaker & Brock Lesnar For Saudi Show

via wwe.com

WWE appears to be very nervous about losing some of its top talents to AEW. The Revival and Mike and Maria Kanellis reportedly requested to be released earlier this year. Luke Harper took to Twitter and announced that he asked to be let go, while Sasha Banks has sat out the past month due to creative frustration. But WWE hasn't released any of those stars, and they've reportedly extended the contracts of Harper and Dash wilder.

At any rate, Goldberg's legendary in-ring career might not be over just yet. WWE brought him back in late 2016 to enter a feud with Lesnar - whom Goldberg would defeat at Survivor Series. Goldberg then embarked on a short reign with the Universal Title, before losing it to Lesnar and leaving WWE again.

What This Means

As it turns out, the loss to Lesnar will not be the final chapter of Goldberg's career after all. It's likely that he'll be competing in a match, rather than just make a brief appearance. WWE must have given Goldberg a nice payday if it meant staying away from AEW, and it'll be interesting to see how things play out in his return to the squared circle.

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