Goldberg To Be Featured In ‘WWE 2K17’, May Return To WWE For ‘WrestleMania 33’

Prior to this past Monday’s Raw, WWE had been posting some very cryptic tweets, saying that there would be a hatching on the show. Some were predicting that the tweets were to tease the return of Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family, but it didn’t turn out to be the Wyatt’s, and it certainly wasn’t anything that anyone predicted.

2K Sports is set to release the annual WWE 2K game this coming fall, and apparently they were behind the cryptic tweets that WWE sent out, as the hatching turned out to be an add for WWE 2K17, which featured former WCW and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg.

Rumors of Goldberg possibly returning to WWE have been going around for a few years now, but, after the commercial aired during Monday’s Raw, the rumors began to pick up a great deal of momentum. But, there are a few important things here, and one of them is that Goldberg has only reached a deal with 2K, and as of this moment, he doesn’t have a WWE deal in place.

Pre-order #WWE2K17 to play as two versions of @Goldberg and get two #WCW arenas!

?https://t.co/XTNK9QpWykhttps://t.co/ESOhTGz5Y4

— #WWE2K23 (@WWEgames) May 31, 2016

In previous years, the annual video game has been able to bridge the gap between former wrestlers and WWE. In 2011, THQ, which was the studio that released the WWE game at the time, reached a deal with Brock Lesnar, leading to “The Beast” returning to WWE just a few months later. Then in 2013, 2K sports reached a deal with The Ultimate Warrior, and that deal, much like the Lesnar deal, led to the Warrior returning to WWE. The same thing happened with Sting in 2014.

There’s a chance that Goldberg may end up reaching a deal with WWE because he was able to reach a deal with 2K. But this isn’t the first time that Goldberg has reached a deal with 2K, as he was a playable character in WWE 2K14.

Goldberg didn’t leave WWE on the best of terms, and he also had a horrible relationship with Vince McMahon. But Vince does have to sign off on the wrestlers that 2K wants to put in the game, so it does look like the heat between Goldberg and Vince is now a thing of the past.

It’s been well-known for quite some time that Goldberg wants to do at least one more match on a big stage like WrestleMania, but he’s just never been able to come to an agreement with WWE. Of course, the obvious match to do would be Goldberg vs. Ryback, but it doesn’t look like “The Big Guy” will be with the company for much longer, so unless things change, that match is completely off the table.

The WWE 2K17 commercial suggested that Goldberg would end up facing Brock Lesnar at some point. So, there’s a chance that we could see the ex-WCW mega-star take on “The Beast” if he returns to WWE.

Lesnar was Goldberg’s final opponent in WWE, and the match between the two was absolutely atrocious. But that was only because both men, who were leaving the company immediately following their match, had mentally checked out, and they just wanted to go home. But, most would expect that, if the two were to meet again, their second encounter would be much better than their first.

WrestleMania 33 is taking place in Orlando, Florida next year, and history tells us that we’ll be seeing Goldberg at that event, much like we saw Brock Lesnar the night after WrestleMania 29, The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 30, and Sting at WrestleMania 31.

One thing we know for sure is that, if WWE wants to make a deal with Goldberg, they’re going to have to pay him a ton of money. So as long as they don’t have an issue with that, we should be seeing the former World Heavyweight Champion back in a WWE ring at some point in the near-future.

[Image via WWE]