Goldberg Discusses His Match With Undertaker Last Year, Wanting to Wrestle in Israel, More
WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg is set to return to Saudi Arabia this Thursday when he faces “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship. The last time Goldberg was in Saudi Arabia was last October when he lost to The Undertaker in what was a disastrous match. Goldberg recently sat down with the Total Slam Podcast to discuss what went wrong with that match.
“My match with Taker was the perfect storm with no good. At the end of the day, I was not in the ring for two years. It was 150 degrees. Undertaker and I never worked together before. My character is based on realism. My character is based on intensity and sometimes I forget I’m a little bit older than I used to be and my body is not [the same]. It was a spot over the years that I knocked myself out at times. Why? Because I refuse to do in there something that doesn’t looks real. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it 100 percent. If I knocked myself out, so be it, I knocked myself out.”
“I had to deal with it and it was only my fault because I went too hard. You can’t fault me for it because I wanted to give the best show possible, I wanted to make my family and fans proud. I wanted to complete a dream of my and have a good match with Taker, but it doesn’t always turn out the way you want and unfortunately it was on TV. Everybody in the world saw it… but hey, what match defies a human being? For two weeks I felt bad about it, and I think Taker and I should get a pat on the back for putting ourselves out there at our age and doing the things that we do to entertain the people.”
Goldberg is in the unique position of being a Jewish wrestler competing in Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Arabia and the Jewish population having a strained past.
“It was very strange. It was extremely uncomfortable sometimes, but they did their best to make me feel as comfortable as possible. You don’t know until you go and my impressions were different than what really happened. We never felt in danger at any moment. I got nothing but respect and praise to the Saudi’s people.”
Goldberg is very proud of his Jewish heritage, with him even making plans to wrestle his last match in Israel.
“It’s an honor and a privilege for me to be put in that category. Usually when you go out there you fight for yourself, but I felt anytime I got in the square circle I was fighting for all the Jewish people. This is really how I felt. I was a representation of them and I always will be. I want to portray them on a positive light and to be the super hero that everybody wants to be. It puts a good example for anybody who followed me.”
“I’ve never been to Israel but I spoke to my agent and I was invited to do an event in Israel. I’m considering having my retirement match in Israel. It’s a big conversation right now and we considering it.”
Thank you to WrestlingInc for transcribing the interview.
Matt’s Musings: Hopefully Goldberg’s match this Thursday will be better than his match versus The Undertaker, because it can’t possibly be much worse.