WWE Hall Of Famer Recalls Goldberg Match That Was Obviously Going To Be Bad
A wrestling legend has reminisced about watching a famous Goldberg match, describing it as “one of the most brutal things I’ve ever seen.”
The WWE retirement match of Bill Goldberg took place on July 12th when he challenged Gunther for the World Heavyweight Title at a Saturday Night’s Main Event show. Goldberg nearly won with the Jackhammer, but Gunther managed to kick out. Gunther put Goldberg in a sleeper, and the WWE Hall of Famer passed out.
After the match, NBC went to a break, and when they came back, Goldberg only had about 30 seconds to speak. The 10-minute speech that Goldberg did ended up on WWE’s YouTube channel. However, Goldberg was not pleased with it and voiced his displeasure in the days following the show.
Goldberg’s first run in WWE was a one-year deal that began in March 2003 and concluded at WrestleMania 20 in March 2004. That night, the WWE Hall of Famer faced Brock Lesnar in one of the most infamous matches in WWE history.
It was a very unique match at WrestleMania 20, as many fans online knew it would be the end of Goldberg’s one-year WWE run, and it was also widely known that Lesnar was quitting the company after that show. Lesnar was frustrated by the WWE lifestyle and planned to try out for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, which he did, but he didn’t make the team.
The crowd at New York City’s Madison Square Garden knew all about the Goldberg-Lesnar situation, so they buried the match with unsavory chants throughout. To make the crowd happy, WWE put “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as the referee. Goldberg got the win over Lesnar that night, as WWE was furious with Lesnar for bailing on a long-term contract, since they were banking on him becoming a future main event talent. Since the fans loved Austin, he was cheered after the match when he hit Stone Cold Stunners on both guys.
John Bradshaw Layfield is a WWE Hall of Famer who was in MSG that night. While reflecting on Goldberg’s career on the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL didn’t hold back with his memories of the WrestleMania 20 clash.
“This was one of the most brutal things I’ve ever seen. I watched the whole thing, and I remember sitting backstage, and I remember thinking, ‘This could be bad.’ I had no idea it would be that bad. I mean, we thought ‘this could be bad,’ but we had no idea it would be that bad.”
The WWE Fans Rejected Goldberg’s First WrestleMania Match
For some strange reason, WWE booked the Lesnar-Goldberg match to go nearly 14 minutes. In JBL’s opinion, no matter the length of the match, there was nothing the wrestlers could do.
“The fans 100% s*** on it (laughs). It was unbelievable, there was zero they could have done to- anything; you could go 30 seconds, you could go 30 minutes, you could go 30 hours, it ain’t gonna matter. There was no winning that night in the Garden.”
When Goldberg eventually returned to WWE over 12 years later, his first match back was against Lesnar at Survivor Series 2016. It was a match that Goldberg won in under two minutes, shocking many people. It led to their match at WrestleMania 33, which saw Lesnar beat Goldberg in under five minutes to win the WWE Universal Title.