Jewish Wrestling Superhero -- WWE's Universal Heavyweight Champion | Lou Ladinsky

Who would have thought a 50-year-old Jewish Wrestling Superhero with roots in Atlanta could win the WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship?

Well, history was made on March 5, 2017 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when the 50 year Jewish Wrestling Superhero, Bill Goldberg, annihilated the current WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion, Kevin Owens, in 21 seconds to capture the gold. This now sets up the epic encounter at Wrestlemania 33 in Orlando, Florida on April 2nd between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. The stakes are much higher now with the gold on the line. Let’s take a quick look back on how all this unfolded.

With the Royal Rumble now in the history books, the road to Wrestlemania is now clearly paved. A tradition dating back to 1988, the Royal Rumble Match starts out with two participants, with new Superstars entering the ring every 90 seconds. This continues until all 30 Superstars have entered the bout. Eliminations occur during the match when a Superstar is thrown over the top rope and both of his feet hit the floor. The last Superstar standing will be declared the victor and earn a Title Match at the WWE’s annual premier event, Wrestlemania, the Superbowl of Wrestling.

And while Goldberg did not win the 2017 Royal Rumble, he once again rose above all expectations in his performance at the Rumble. His second encounter since returning to the WWE with Brock Lesnar, his nemesis, was legendary during the Rumble.

Brock Lesnar entered the Rumble before Goldberg at number 26. With a ring full of WWE superstars the beast went to immediate work Suplexing, F5’ing and Clotheslining everyone in his sight. He lived by his motto – EAT SLEEP ELIMINATE REPEAT. That was until it was time for the 28th entrant into the Rumble and Goldberg’s music hit. The roar of the crowd was deafening. With a minyan of 52,020 people echoing the sounds of Goldberg throughout the San Antonio Alamodome, it was time to face the beast.

After a brief stare down, Goldberg ducked a punch from Brock Lesnar and then immediately caught him with a spear stunning the beast. As Brock slowly rose to his feet, Goldberg met him with a clothesline knocking Brock over the top rope and out of the ring. Total Time for the elimination – 20 seconds. Brock looked dumbfounded on the floor staring back at Goldberg in disbelief. It was a repeat of their Survivor Series encounter in Toronto this past November showing this was not a fluke.

Goldberg appeared well on his way to victory in the Rumble until the Undertaker appeared as the 29th entrant. The Undertaker grabbed Goldberg by the throat for a chokeslam that was broken up by some of the remaining participants in the ring. Goldberg eliminated Rusev and then speared the Undertaker knocking the Deadman off his feet. He then proceeded to throw Luke Harper over the top rope. With his back to the Undertaker, Goldberg never saw the Deadman until he was looking back up at him from the ring floor.

Goldberg has nothing to be ashamed of with his performance in the Rumble match. As mentioned at the top of the article, he wrestled again in the main event at the next WWE RAW Pay Per View, Fastlane, this past Sunday March 5th where he captured the gold against the current Champion, Kevin Owens. Meanwhile, Brock Lesnar appeared on Monday Night RAW the night after his humiliating elimination at the Rumble. With Paul Heyman, his advocate and mouthpiece (who is never at a loss for words) at his side, they immediately wanted to seek redemption challenging Goldberg to a final encounter at Wrestlemania, the Superbowl of Wrestling, eliminating any doubt in people’s minds that Goldberg has Brock’s number. Goldberg, who never backs down from a fight, accepted the challenge.

The stakes are higher now. With less than a month before Wrestlemania, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar will face each other once again in what will likely be the main event of the show. This past Monday on WWE RAW Goldberg and Brock Lesnar met face to face in the ring and had a very intense nose to nose stare down. While Paul Heyman was running his mouth saying derogatory things about the current champion, Goldberg made a pivotal error and took his eye off of Brock Lesnar allowing the beast to F5 Goldberg laying him out in the middle of the ring.

I am truly looking forward to their encounter at Wrestlemania. Whenever these two giants are in the ring there is a prize fight atmosphere in the air. I am interested in hearing from all the Goldberg fans out there – Do you think the third encounter between these two will be the charm or will Brock rise to the occasion to conquer his number one nemesis?