Goldberg terrorized WCW through the late 1990s with unrivaled dominance. Nearly three decades later, he’s limping more than storming to the ring — but when he faces Gunther at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in his retirement match, he does so with familiar intensity.
“The circumstances are not always to your liking,” Goldberg confessed to CBS Sports. “But you adapt and overcome. It’s a very overwhelming time for me … I’m not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself that at 58. I’m getting no sleep, and I’m running from one side of the country to the next, four or five days before I perform in front of millions of people on TV in my underwear and be the guy that they remember.”
His compromised left knee robs his signature spear’s explosion. A jacked-up shoulder threatens his Jackhammer finisher. He’s also suffered multiple minor injuries while preparing for his retirement match. It’s not just Goldberg’s “old body” that’s testing him. His retirement week has been a storm of “tumultuous” tragedy and misfortune.
“My father-in-law passed away last weekend,” Goldberg said. “The July 4 floods in the Hill Country were completely devastating. It’s something that I can’t even put into words, being a resident there.”
Goldberg did not expect to wrestle for one last world championship at 58. The WWE Hall of Famer planned to have a retirement match soon after wrestling Roman Reigns in 2022. That didn’t pan out, and with everything Goldberg is juggling, it would make sense for him to push the date back. But Goldberg isn’t seeking an easy out.
“Everybody would like the opportunity to go out on their own and to have a hand in that, and this is my way of doing it,” he said. “Not many people get that opportunity … I’m not going to miss the opportunity to put a stamp on my career, on my terms. It’s a privilege, it truly is.”
It’s not the first time Goldberg felt like he was fighting uphill. When every moment is big, every shortcoming is magnified. Bret Hart’s concussion, encountering Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 20, and squashing “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt are lowlights amplified under bright lights.
“There are highs and lows. Everybody goes through it,” Goldberg said. “I’m not immune to the realities of being a human being. And stuff like that hurts because I want everyone to appreciate what I do, and I want everyone to be entertained and excited about me coming out.
“At the end of the day, what I’ve taught my son is that you turn that into fuel. And you use that to push yourself.”
Check out the full interview with Goldberg below.
For every disputed career moment, there are many more memorable ones. Goldberg’s 86-second demolition of Lesnar was a legitimate shocker in 2016. His feud with Diamond Dallas Page is fondly remembered as Goldberg’s best in-ring work. The 173-match storyline win streak that catapulted Goldberg from rookie to WCW world heavyweight champion remains one of the most mind-boggling runs.
The moment Goldberg holds most dear, however, took place away from the wider public eye. Once WCW Nitro went off the air after Goldberg beat “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan to become champion, the New World Order handcuffed Goldberg and beat him down. Coming to Goldberg’s rescue were his former Atlanta Falcons teammates, including star athletes Cornelius Bennett and Jessie Tuggle.
“I look up and see guys that I bled, cried and sweated with on a football field — where my love and passion is — and they, for those five minutes, couldn’t be happier doing what they were doing,” Goldberg said. “They were defending me in a pro wrestling ring.”
He continued: “It was poetic justice. I felt I had come full circle because I wanted nothing more than to be like them. For that short period, I believe they wanted nothing more than to be like me. That’s by far the best moment.”
Goldberg, nearly 27 years to the day he so fondly cherishes, seeks one more timeless moment. He returns to his second home of Atlanta to challenge world heavyweight champion Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Goldberg will give it everything he has, damned his condition. Because not only is Gunther next — in Atlanta, he’s last.