WWE's Goldberg talks about his retirement match against Gunther and his complaints with the way his post-match speech was treated.
Goldberg's pro wrestling career came to an end at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tasked with overthrowing the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther, Goldberg main evented the show and ultimately came up short to close out his storied career. With the event taking place in Goldberg's adopted hometown of Atlanta, the moment was a nice send-off for the legend, especially for those in attendance.
However, on the live TV broadcast, Goldberg's post-match farewell speech was cut off 30 seconds in. Speaking on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," Goldberg revealed this was just one of many points of contention around his final WWE match.
"Let's just say I'm pissed off at the way I went out," Goldberg said. "I put so much into it, and I don't feel as though the effort was reciprocated to put a stamp on what I've accomplished. I'm not gonna say that I'm not ecstatic about the opportunity that I got, but I was a WCW guy, man. I was — I don't know, man. I don't know. I think it could have been done a little bit differently. That's all. I'm happy with my performance. I'm happy with the setting, but could it have been better? Absolutely. It can always be better.
"There's about 100 things [that could have been better]. I did three interviews beforehand. I did three, right? In six months. They cut me off 30 seconds into my speech, bro. You don't do that. But it's all good."
As alluded to, Goldberg made his mark in the pro wrestling world as part of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the 1990s before the company was purchased by WWE. Goldberg became one of the most feared and dominant wrestlers of his generation, winning the World Heavyweight Championship twice: once in WCW and again in WWE. In the later years of his career, he also enjoyed two runs with the WWE Universal title.
Goldberg confirmed it was always a part of the plan to let him get some mic time after the match. Because of that, he felt even more slighted by how he was treated in his final appearance.
"It's live television, and you can plan for it. That's all," Goldberg said. "I know it is what it is. The match might have gone long, and this and that, whatever it is. I just think that it could have been a little classier prepared than it was. I'll just say that's a mild understatement. Yeah, man. Come on. Come on, man."
The match with Gunther had an incredibly rushed, short-lived and separated build. They first interacted last October at WWE Bad Blood in Atlanta, when Gunther cut a promo on Goldberg, who sat ringside with his son, Gage. That was all their feud consisted of until three weeks ago, when Goldberg returned on "WWE Raw" to declare himself as Gunther's next challenger in what would be his retirement match.
"I would have loved for them to announce it in January and have a build-up to it and do something like that, that I thought I was maybe worthy of my career, but let's just say they chose to do it with three weeks' notice and it is what it is," Goldberg said. "It's part of the package. Part of the meal you get dealt, and I would be remiss in thinking the meal would be different, but it was shame on me for thinking that it would have been different."
Known for his quick, one-sided wrestling style because of his dominant character, Goldberg's matches were largely squashes or "finisher fests." His match with Gunther clocked in at 14 minutes, making it his longest since a 2003 triple-threat match against Triple H and Kane.
Once Goldberg began toying with one final match, Gunther was always the plan, but he wasn't thrilled to see it end up on WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. Ideally, a premium live event (PLE) was in mind for the WWE Hall of Famer, especially in hindsight, considering the timing element he suffered from.
Regarding the match itself, Goldberg has no complaints outside of his accidental no-sell of Gunther's famous chest chops.
"I was laughing in there when he was chopping me. I had fun," Goldberg said. "Where are all the people that said I couldn't go more than two minutes? 'Oh, he sweats so much when he walks to the ring.' People, listen to me, I pour a bottle of water on my head before I walk to the ring, so there's a reason why I sweat all the time.
"I couldn't have done it without my dance partner, and it was awesome. I'd never chopped in my life. [Ric] Flair chopped me, but that was fun. There were moments in that match where I actually enjoyed myself, and I can't say that I've done that very many times. So for that, and a plethora of other little reasons, I think that I had a good time Saturday night."
In the end, pro wrestling is similar to MMA in that retirements can be temporary and reversible. And with Goldberg going out on somewhat of a sour note, it gives him more reason to try just one more send-off.
For now, he plans to stay true to his word.
"I can't say that. In principle, yeah, I'm done, but I worked my ass off for five months," Goldberg said. "I don't think I've dedicated that much of my life towards one goal, like one night. I would be remiss in saying that it feels as though it was a waste because I only went out there for 14 minutes, and that was it.
"I'm 58 years old. My body is kind of torn to shreds. Hopefully, I was able to cover a lot of it up. I had 91 people fly in from all around the world that were personal guests of mine. I don't know if I want to kick-start that again, and say, 'Hey, guys. Guess what? I didn't retire. I want to go one more time.' You don't plan stuff like that.
"In the world of professional wrestling, I guess you're not retired until you're dead, but in principle, yeah, I'm retired."
Category: General Sports
