Goldberg Had Handshake Deal On Retirement Match With Vince McMahon

Whilst defiant that his career isn’t yet over, Goldberg has made it clear that there was an original deal with Vince McMahon for at least one more contest.

The last time multi-time former World Champion Goldberg stepped inside the squared circle was in February 2022, when he competed in a losing effort for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber. His contract would go on to expire with WWE at the end of the year, and he is now considered a free agent.

Whilst there has been plenty of speculation whether Goldberg could end up heading to AEW, he recently noted in an interview with 93.7 The Ticket that he had a handshake deal with Vince McMahon which would have seen his retirement match take place in WWE.

I’ll stop the rumor mill right now. The reason the rumors are out there is because Vince McMahon and I had a handshake understanding that after the Roman Reigns match that I would have a proper retirement match. And that hasn’t come to fruition through them and therefore…nobody puts a stamp on my career. Nobody tells me when I’m done. Period. End of story. When somebody tells me that, I kind of like to fight against it. I like to do things my own way. I go out my own way, and I certainly don’t go out under Roman Reigns three weeks after I have COVID [19] and agreed to do a match.

Goldberg continued, discussing the various options he has for a retirement match including running a global tour himself.

If I go on a world tour and promote it myself, that’s a possibility. Hey, I’m a businessman, and I’m fortunately, you know, in the position I firmly believe to where I can still make it happen. At the end of the day, like I said, I do believe that my character deserves a proper send-off. Until that happens man, I don’t believe I’m hanging them up, you know. Anything and everything is an option. I’m very much leaning towards promoting it myself and doing a four-city world tour. So, let the rumor mill start up after that.

Until anything is confirmed, it would seem there are several companies who would be interested in getting Goldberg to put pen to paper.

With thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.