Goldberg has given his thoughts on the long-running Bret Hart animosity, AEW, a potential match against Big E and more.
The WWE Hall of Famer recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet to discuss his professional wrestling career and if there are any possibilities for one more match. When asked about the animosity from Bret Hart that stemmed from the incident that took place at WCW Starrcade 1999, the former World Champion admitted that he “couldn’t care less” what Hart thinks and stated that while they have talked since, he maintains it was an accident:
“I really don’t care anymore about Bret, I couldn’t care less. You know [Uncle] Louie, right? All I can tell you is this. Louie and I know and [Brian] Knobbs knows through Legends of Wrestling that shortly thereafter all that sh*t that happened, I talked Louie into giving Bret Hart a job at Legends of Wrestling. He must forget about stuff like that. He must forget about the conversations we had back then.”
“We’ve talked a couple of times. As of late because of the things coming out of his mouth, I don’t really know that I would be talking to him if I saw him. But hey, man, I’m 57 years old. I don’t need to prove anything to Bret Hart or to any other human being. The fact is it was a mistake. I was extremely green in the business and anybody who knows me knows that if I didn’t intend to hurt him, then it was an accident.
If I intended to hurt him, then I’d be the first one to tell him and you and everyone else. But man, I was green dude. I mean, it was a screw-up in the match and it’s live on national television. There’s two people that have to dance and you can only do so much and I mean, things went awry. It is what it is.”
“Tony Khan Is A Male Version Of Dixie Carter”: Goldberg
While the former World Champion has yet to officially announce his in-ring retirement, rumours circulated over the past few years that an appearance in AEW by the Hall of Famer could be a real possibility, especially as many were complimentary of how Tony Khan handled Sting’s retirement. When asked about Tony Khan, Goldberg admitted that talks did not progress that far:
“I just think we have a different perspective on it. I don’t know. I mean, it’s hard for me to really pass judgment on their production because I don’t watch it. I see clips of it and it’s hard to give a rational breakdown of how they are if I don’t really watch it, so I don’t really know. He [Tony Khan] reminds me of Dixie Carter, but a male version. I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing. But he reminds me of that scenario. It’s just a different feel, it’s just different.”
“No, I don’t think I was ever close to making a deal with him. I think it was much more a realistic transition when Sting was involved. I reached out to Sting because I wanted to be a part [of it], I thought he and I could do a farewell thing at some point together. But it wasn’t about me, it was about Sting and I could never overshadow anything that he does. But I don’t want to convolute the waters. It would have been a nice crescendo but it wasn’t about me. So the timing was kind of off.”
Back in 2020, WWE star Big E gave a hilarious response when asked about his dream match, stating that he wanted it to be against Goldberg and that he wanted to have a match full of “Big meaty men slapping meat.” When asked about a possible match against Big E, the Hall of Famer said he was open to it but without the comedy:
“I’d give it to him tomorrow. We can leave that part out [big meaty men slapping meat] of it. Right when he says it to me Goldberg’s gonna have to drop him. But yeah, I don’t do comedy, I never really meshed well with that. It’s like, you know, the Indiana Jones and the guy coming in and flashing his sword and you just pull a gun out and shoot him. It’s just that’s me. Less is more.”
When asked if he was actually retired, the former World Champion noted that wrestlers are never really retired but he has focused his energy on helping his son get ready for college:
“When you have been a wrestler at some point in your life, I don’t think you’re retired until you’re dead. But I mean, I don’t know, I was kind of forced into retirement a little bit. I don’t like to think that I’m retired in any respect, whether it’s from working or wrestling or anything else. I’ve kind of been hiding out here on the ranch for the past four or five years, investing 100% of my time, effort and emotion into our son Gage and trying to prepare him for his journey off to college because it’s such a transitional time in a kid’s life. And yeah, I’ve kind of been on the shelf.”
In a previous interview, Goldberg was unhappy that his streak was broken by Asuka.
