Why Goldberg Blamed Vince McMahon Before His Final WWE Match
Bill Goldberg has taken a shot at Vince McMahon ahead of his final pro wrestling match in WWE.
The last time that WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg had a match was over three years ago at the Elimination Chamber 2022 PLE when he lost a Universal Title match to Roman Reigns.
In the three-plus years since then, Goldberg made it clear that he wanted to have another match.
At the age of 58, Goldberg will get that match at the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta on July 12th when he challenges Gunther for the World Heavyweight Title.
When discussing the desire for one more match, Goldberg often mentioned the former WWE Chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, who had promised Bill that he’d get one final match. However, Vince “retired” in July 2022, returned in January 2023, and then left WWE in January 2024 due to a damning lawsuit filed by a former WWE employee, Janel Grant.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who Goldberg feuded with in 2003 over the World Heavyweight Championship, is now calling the shots creatively and was able to set up this story with Gunther for a final match in Bill’s adopted hometown of Atlanta.
During an interview with 11 Alive, Goldberg once again spoke about how Vince McMahon promised him a final match.
“No, this has been building since my last match. The reality is—and I think a lot of people know it—I was kind of promised a retirement match, another match after the last match that was on my contract. It was between Vince McMahon and I, and then Vince got fired and the rest is history.
It just sat there for a while. And look, I’m not gonna pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, give me my retirement match.’ So if it happened, it happened, and I was kind of fine with not performing again.”
“I’m Not Gonna Say No” – Goldberg
As he continued, Bill discussed how WWE had reached out to him to present this storyline with Gunther, and, as Goldberg explained, he wasn’t going to say no to the idea.
“And lo and behold, I get a phone call—albeit a couple years later—and now I’m older and more beat up compared to the 285-pound guy you saw back in the day. But as an athlete, as a competitor, I’m not gonna say no. I don’t care if I’m 70 years old, because 50% of me is better than 99% of the people on the planet.”
There are currently three matches set for Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 12th, and more matches will likely be added on SmackDown. Here’s what is known so far.
* LA Knight vs. Seth Rollins
* Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre
* World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther vs. Bill Goldberg
