According to the newsletter's editor, the much speculated Bray Wyatt versus Roman Reigns match - for the WWE Universal Championship - looks to be off.
On the podcast, Meltzer noted that he isn't one hundred percent sure it has changed, but he has been given the impression that it has. He also pointed out that, when he was informed of the change, that Bill Goldberg winning the strap from Wyatt at this Thursday's WWE Super ShowDown event came to mind as it would allow for a Goldberg versus Reigns clash for the title.
Meltzer went on to state that, when the company announced Goldberg as Bray Wyatt's challenger, many would have preferred to see Goldberg versus Reigns at Mania rather than Wyatt versus Reigns.
I am one of those people.
A few weeks ago, when Goldberg was about to reveal 'who's next' for him, I thought there was a chance that we'd see Reigns versus Goldberg at Super ShowDown. This is because of the following tweet that Roman Reigns wrote at the start of the year.
When asked why he punches a pad on his entrance during Smackdown, his reply was a a subtle jab at Goldberg's ring entrance:
As I wrote back when I speculated that we'd see Reigns versus Goldberg in Saudi Arabia, this raised an eyebrow and made me sure that we'd see the two square off eventually.
(There was also a tease on a Raw a few years ago when they had a brief staredown on episode of Raw)
It now makes more sense if the reported change turns out to be Goldberg versus Reigns.
As it stands, Goldberg is still an outsider win the title shot on Thursday.
I've had a look at the few sportsbooks with their markets on the board.
William Hill lists him at 11/4, which is slightly shorter than the opening 7/2. Offshore site BetOnline has the challenger back at +450 after briefly moving him out to +525 following Wyatt's price being cut from -850 into -950 sometime before the afternoon of February 18th.
Date/Time
|
Bray Wyatt
|
Goldberg
|
13/2 8:00PM
|
-850
|
+450
|
18/2 12:15PM
|
-950
|
+525
|
22/2 7:30PM
|
-850
|
+450
|
23/2 10:30AM
|
"
|
"
|
As for 5Dimes, both wrestlers' prices have been fluctuating. You can see - in the table below - that Goldberg's price was cut from +460 into +334 between February 12th and 15th, but has been on the drift since the 16th.
Date/Time
|
Bray Wyatt
|
Goldberg
|
12/2 9:50PM
|
-780
|
+460
|
15/2 12:30PM
|
-500
|
+334
|
16/2 9:30PM
|
-600
|
+400
|
22/2 7:00PM
|
-750
|
+450
|
23/2 10:30AM
|
"
|
"
|
Another match that Meltzer reported recently that looks to be off - and this could be correlated should Wyatt win against Goldberg on Thursday - is John Cena versus Elias.
A Wyatt versus Cena match could make sense if the we're not getting Wyatt/Reigns as it would allow for Cena to chase the 'record' should it be for the title. If it isn't for the strap, they could get to it by having Wyatt interrupt Cena's return to TV on Friday night and work towards it that way.
Another news item in the show was that other Mania bouts - from the Smackdown side - are up in the air right now.
So glad I had a punt on Goldberg when markets went live. Goldberg vs Reigns is a much, much bigger match for Wrestlemania.
ReplyDeleteI obviously want Reigns/Goldberg too, but worried that the Wyatt versus Cena is the title match. Which is ironic considering I've been going on for years about them doing Cena's chase for the 'record'!
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