Universal Championship Match Added to WWE Elimination Chamber Event on Feb. 19
The Universal Championship will be on the line at the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event on February 19 when Roman Reigns defends the title against WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg.
This is the second time WWE has promoted a Reigns vs. Goldberg match for the Universal Title, but the last time they did it, the match didn’t happen. Goldberg went into WrestleMania 36 two years ago as the Universal Champion, he was set to defend the title against Reigns and then the match was off because Reigns decided not to wrestle in the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Reigns had newborn twin sons at home along with his own past with leukemia, so Reigns decided it was best to take some time off and the match was postponed. Goldberg would end up losing the Universal Title to Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 36 in April 2020.
During last night’s episode of Smackdown, Reigns was in the ring with this Special Counsel Paul Heyman and The Usos to celebrate Heyman returning back to The Bloodline after Reigns and Heyman cost Brock Lesnar the WWE Title at last week’s Royal Rumble. After Heyman’s lengthy promo where he “acknowledged” the Tribal Chief Reigns again, the familiar music of Bill Goldberg hit and the Oklahoma City crowd cheered his return.
Goldberg told Reigns that he acknowledges him as his next victim. Goldberg: “You. Me. Elimination Chamber. For the Universal Championship. You’re next!” That was it. The fans chanted “Goldberg” as the music played and The Bloodline left the ring. Reigns has been WWE Universal Champion for 523 days.
Goldberg wrestled three matches for WWE in 2021 when he lost a WWE Title match against Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble 2021 and he lost a WWE Title match to Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam 2021 as well. Goldberg’s feud with Lashley continued into the Crown Jewel event last October where Goldberg got the win over Lashley, who was no longer the WWE Champion.
Last August, Goldberg noted that he only had two more matches left on his WWE deal. One of them was the Crown Jewel match against Lashley and one of them will be this Elimination Chamber match. It’s always possible that the 55-year-old Goldberg signs a new deal for more matches in WWE as well.
Earlier in the week, WWE announced that The Usos will defend the Smackdown Tag Team Titles against The Viking Raiders at Elimination Chamber. The Viking Raiders earned that title shot a few weeks ago on Smackdown.
Drew McIntyre will also be in action at Elimination Chamber when he faces Madcap Moss in a singles match. Drew already beat Moss at WWE Day 1 last month.
The next WWE Premium Live Event is the Elimination Chamber from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, February 19. Here’s the lineup so far:
WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. Austin Theory vs. Riddle vs. AJ Styles
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Bill Goldberg
Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lita
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Usos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders
Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
You can watch WWE Elimination Chamber streaming LIVE from Jeddah beginning at 12p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Saturday, Feb. 19, on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.