According to Fightful, plans were forced to change for Drew McIntyre and Goldberg on the January 4 Raw Legends Night because of time constraints.
On the evening in question, fans were left somewhat baffled when the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion breezed to the ring – ignoring the host of other legends gathered on the stage – and made a b-line for the WWE Champion. With a microphone in hand, Goldberg went on to cut what can only be described as a baffling promo on how the Scot had no respect for those who paved the way for him.
His words were head-scratching. McIntyre had only ever been respectful to the stars of wrestling past and now he was being accused of running them down. However, as per the report, there was ample reason for the hastiness of the segment.
On the night, Monday Night Raw was running drastically behind thanks to scripts for the show turning up late causing the main event match – McIntyre vs. Keith Lee – and the angle which leads us to the Royal Rumble to be cut short.
Originally, Drew was meant to cut a lengthily promo in which he would undergo a minor heel turn by verbally diminishing those legends who watched the bout from the stage. This would have caused Goldberg – who was conveniently backstage after not being seen all night – to march to the ring, lambast the champion and challenge him for his gold on January 31.
The report noted that many backstage were hopeful that Bill Goldberg would be able to ad-lib in order to make up for the lack of promo by Drew and in order to make events make sense, but that didn’t occur and instead the star stuck to his original words.
Drew McIntyre was diagnosed with COVID-19 on January 11 causing him to miss the most recent episode of the company’s red brand. However, he did appear via satellite link in order to accept the challenge and make his WWE Championship defence at the Royal Rumble official.