WWE has announced that Braun Strowman will replace Roman Reigns and face Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 this weekend. For weeks now there have been speculations about the highly anticipated fight for the Universal title. Even WWE CEO Triple H commented on the ongoing rumours and suggested the company is planning to make an announcement soon. On the latest episode of WWE SmackDown, WWE finally addressed the big news by officially announcing that Hall of Famer Goldberg will defend his title against Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 36.
Strowman has come close to the Universal Championship on several occasions, most notably a series of singles and multi-man matches back when Lesnar held the championship, a narrowly thwarted Money in the Bank cash-in and a tight loss to Seth Rollins. Meanwhile, the announcement was received mixed reviews by fans who looked a bit dejected by the whole announcement. For the unversed, Reigns, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007, announced in October 2018 that the cancer had returned. He was back in the ring four months later with his leukemia in remission. On March 26, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that Reigns, a cancer survivor, would be dropping out of the match because of concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.