Goldberg signed for Royal Rumble, but has made it clear his body isn’t liking this experience (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Goldberg has agreed to participate in the Royal Rumble, according to a new ProWrestlingSheet.com report, and that played into the finish last night at Survivor Series where Goldberg pinned Brock Lesnar in a short 90 second match.

Goldberg appearing at the Royal Rumble almost assures he’s also been figured into the WrestleMania line-up, most likely a rematch against Brock Lesnar.

Goldberg had initially intended to only wrestle once, and said as much when he said on his return promo on Raw that Lesnar was not just “next,” but he’d be “last.”

It’s conceivable but highly unlikely WWE would have Goldberg go over Lesnar so strong and decisively if he was going to walk away from WWE immediately afterward. Vince McMahon had been pushing for a while to get Goldberg to agree to more than just that one match, but sources indicate Goldberg was resistant, and everything Goldberg expressed publicly backs that up.

Goldberg told NBC Sports last week that he was looking at Survivor Series as his one and only comeback back. “I’m sure acting like it,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s all that I’m concerned about. I take one day as it is.”

He was clearly concerned with his performance ability in the match and made it clear the preparation was a trying experience for his 49 year old body.

“It’s terrifying you know … it’s … (pauses) … you’re coming back 12 years removed and trying to give people the same thing they loved before. It’s terrifying. Father time is not very receptive to keeping your body in the utmost shape once you reach a certain point in your life. Things don’t heal like they used to… I just thrust myself out there man, with a very short period of time to get prepared… My body feels horrible. I tweaked my shoulder last night (on Raw), but that doesn’t mean in five days that I’m not going to come out kicking ass and taking names like I always do.”

Keller’s Analysis: If there was concern that Goldberg was at risk of looking bad in the ring, and if Vince McMahon believes Goldberg can be a difference-maker to WWE Network subscriptions, which is pretty much McMahon’s primary concern for WWE these days, then he’d want to protect his commodity. Putting Goldberg out there in a back-and-forth, give-and-take match with the potential to either look bad or get hurt would damage what McMahon sees as a massive asset for him at his next two potentially difference-making mega-events – the Rumble and Mania.

He got what he was going to get out of Goldberg vs. Lesnar at Survivor Series before the ring introductions took place. So his primary concern would be how to get the most out of Goldberg after Survivor Series, and clearly there’s no better way to protect Goldberg and boost his value than having him do what nobody has ever done – squash Brock Lesnar – and go back to doing what he did on Nitro that made him a superstar to begin with. It’s possible Goldberg physically was in worse shape than he has let on and that precipitated a vast shortening of the planned match. I wouldn’t say the match going the way it did would necessarily indicate anyone was injured, though. It really was the only way for McMahon to protect a newly signed asset from injury or a diminished value in the eyes of the fans, and what they ended up actually doing greatly boosted interest in whatever Goldberg does next.

If Lesnar’s next match is going to be against Goldberg at WrestleMania, presumably that will be the end of Goldberg’s run and Lesnar will win, so he’ll get back whatever he lost last night. Goldberg will now have several months to prepare and work out in a ring and ready himself for a full-fledged match at WrestleMania. There is no way the match at Survivor Series could have gone that would have more safely raised interest in a third match between them than what they did.

Last night, exclusively for VIP members, I hosted a 96 minute in-depth and heated Post-PPV Roundtable podcast with PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell and PWTorch VIP Audio Analyst Todd Martin. You can hear that VIP-exclusive debate over the finish of the match and an in-depth exploration of what it means going forward and whether it makes sense to spend a rare Lesnar clean loss on a part-timer going on 50 years old, but you must become a VIP member to hear it – along with everything else VIP members get every day exclusively, not to mention instant unlocking of nearly 30 years of our insider coverage of pro wrestling. You can become a VIP member for only $2 and hear not only that in-depth VIP Roundtable on the entire event, beginning with a nearly 70 minute debate on the wisdom of the Goldberg-Lesnar finish, but also my 35 minute Wade Keller Hotline featuring my review of the entire event start to finish including who I thought were winners and losers from a booking and positioning standpoint in the matches. Details below on getting a VIP membership for 80 percent off – only $2 – can be found below…

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NOW CHECK OUT PAT MCNEILL’S LIVE SURVIVOR SERIES BLOG.