Goldberg finally got his retirement match, but it wasn’t exactly held under the circumstances that he had in mind.
Ariel Helwani had Goldberg on his show on Tuesday, three days after “Da Man” had his retirement match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Ads for the event were primarily built around Goldberg’s retirement match. Goldberg says he started negotiating with WWE about a match in November 2024, but the date wasn’t confirmed until the new year.
“It was an honor and a privilege to get something like that done, especially [being] years removed from my last match and accelerated age. Just getting the opportunity to put a stamp on it in a way I wanted to — well, not the way I wanted to, but as in control as I could be,” Goldberg said. “I would be remiss in saying I didn’t garner that opportunity and with open arms. I was very appreciative of it.”
Goldberg wasn’t thrilled about every aspect of his final match
Helwani asked if the plan was always to face Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta.
“Yeah. I can’t say that I was too thrilled about part of that,” Goldberg said.
“Which part were you not thrilled about?” Helwani asked.
“I mean Saturday Night’s Main Event, and live TV in Atlanta… you always have your dreams of how you’re going to do things and ultimately to have a little bit more control over the time and the space would’ve been much more preferred, let’s just put it that way,” he explained. “But to be given that opportunity on such a special show, with the lineage of the show, to be able to go against the World Heavyweight Champion, to be able to go against Gunther, I mean hey, again, it was an honor and a privilege to be given that opportunity and I had to make the most of it.”
Goldberg also took issue with his post-match speech getting cut off of the NBC broadcast
Helwani asked Goldberg directly if that meant he preferred working on a Premium Live Event rather than on SNME.
“One hundred percent, yeah,” Goldberg said.
“Because you get more time?” Helwani replied.
“Absolutely. They cut me off with 20 seconds, with the frickin’ microphone in my hand, for God’s sake,” Goldberg said. “I’ve got two weeks, man. I’ve got two weeks before I can really spill the beans and make my feelings known about the entire rundown from the inception of the idea to its delivery. It was a little less than to be desired, but again, I’m not going to complain because not a lot of people get that opportunity.”
Goldberg said there were a “number of variables” that put him behind the proverbial 8 ball. Despite his issues, he enjoyed the night overall.
“It was a great opportunity, and Gunther was an unbelievable guy to work with. It was awesome. I had a good time, I was laughing in there when he was chopping me. I actually had fun.”
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