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Goldberg’s WWE Future; Rumors About CM Punk’s Health and Raw’s Historic Netflix Debut | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

Goldberg’s WWE Future; Rumors About CM Punk’s Health and Raw’s Historic Netflix Debut | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 5: Bill Goldberg poses in the ring with Triple H during Bad Blood at State Farm Arena on October 5, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by WWE/Getty Images)

WWE/Getty Images

Bleacher Report keeps you up to date with the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Triple H foreshadows conversations with Goldberg

After Goldberg made a surprise appearance at Bad Blood’s premium live event on Saturday, WWE head of creative Triple H teased some further conversations with the WWE Hall of Famer.

On Monday, Triple H posted on X in which he and Goldberg had a conversation backstage before sharing a handshake and a hug. Triple H added the caption, “We’ll talk more about it soon.”

Bad Blood featured several WWE legends in the audience, most of whom went on to star in NWA or WCW, which were headquartered in the Bad Blood host city of Atlanta.

While all the legends were warmly received, no one got a bigger pop than Goldberg, likely due to the anticipation that he might never appear on WWE programming again.

Goldberg last had a WWE match in February 2022 at the Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia, where he lost to Roman Reigns.

In the few years that followed, Goldberg publicly made it clear that he wanted a real retirement match and lamented the fact that WWE hadn’t given him one.

During a performance at the Steve & Captain Evil: The Podcast (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News) in December 2023, Goldberg said that former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon promised him a retirement match but failed to deliver.

Goldberg is now 57 years old, but he seemed to be in excellent physical condition at Bad Blood, and there’s no doubt he still has a lot of fans.

World Heavyweight Champion Gunther taunted Goldberg during the premium live event, telling him he was just joking when he recently told Bret Hart that Goldberg was his favorite wrestler of all time.

Gunther went on to question Goldberg’s parentage, prompting Goldberg to jump the barricade and require security to keep him and Gunther apart.

All indications are that WWE is teasing and working towards a Gunther vs. Goldberg match, but the looming question now is when this will happen.

Punk reportedly not injured after HIAC match

Despite collapsing after his Hell in a Cell victory over Drew McIntyre at Bad Blood, CM Punk was reportedly fine physically upon exiting the match.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Punk falling to the ground and needing oxygen after the match was all work and a planned part of the show.

Punk and McIntyre have one of the longest-running and most heated feuds in professional wrestling, and they opened Bad Blood in grand fashion with one of the best Hell in a Cell matches in recent memory.

Punk and McIntyre promised to make each other bleed in the cell and that’s exactly what they did, while also putting their own bodies on the line.

Ultimately, Punk defeated McIntyre by hitting him with a GTS after wrapping a chain around his knee, getting revenge once and for all on the man who taunted him for months over his wife and dog.

On Monday night’s Raw, Punk looked worse for wear after Saturday’s match, as he had his arm and hand wrapped and a bandage on his head.

Punk cut a promo explaining that he had to go home to spend some time with his wife and wasn’t sure when he would return.

As we walked away, Seth Rollins’ music came on and they looked at each other, clearly foreshadowing a likely match between them after their scheduled WrestleMania 40 match had to be canceled due to a punk injury.

WWE is reportedly planning a big show for Raw’s Netflix debut

When Raw finally makes the move from USA Network to Netflix in January, WWE reportedly has some big things planned.

According to Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), a longtime WWE employee said the first Raw on Netflix is ​​”probably one of the biggest episodes of Raw in history” when it comes to “buzz.”

Fightful added that the show is expected to feature a “big lineup,” including Superstars from SmackDown.

John Cena told Complex in August that he would be present for the Netflix debut episode of Raw on Jan. 6, which makes sense considering he already announced his intention to compete in the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble match in February to take.

Also, The Rock made his return to WWE programming at Bad Blood, so it would be shocking if he isn’t also part of the first Raw on Netflix.

The raucous move to Netflix coincides with a hugely important time on the WWE schedule, as it’s in the middle of the build-up to Royal Rumble, which is the start of WrestleMania season.

That suggests the groundwork could be laid for WrestleMania matches on that first Netflix Raw, making it an even bigger must-see episode.

Raw has generally felt like a bigger deal and a more entertaining show in the Triple H era, meaning there’s little doubt he’ll try to go all out when it comes to Raw’s Netflix premiere.

January truly marks the start of a new era for WWE, with Raw moving from traditional television to a streaming platform for the first time, and making a positive first impression will be paramount to proving to Netflix that the Raw deal is the was the right move.

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