Bill Goldberg recently spoke with Shakiel Mahjouri of SHAK Wrestling for an in-depth conversation about all things pro-wrestling. During the discussion, Goldberg talked about his win over Bray Wyatt at the 2020 Super Showdown PPV event in Saudi Arabia. Goldberg denied a rumor that he had the finish changed. Here are the highlights:
On changing booking of the match against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt:
“Let’s put it this way. I’ve never said anything that wasn’t true in the wrestling business. I’m a talent and I do what the boss tells me to do. I flew to Saudi Arabia knowing I was going to lose. Then somehow it changed and the finish was different. It surely wasn’t me because it’s an extremely selfish move to do. Number two: truly it wouldn’t be about the business. It would be about myself. Number three: who the hell am I as a part-time guy to come in and demand anything? Truly, I’m not. Vince gave me opportunities that maybe I didn’t deserve in the past. I owe that man just about everything… First and foremost, I’ve never said no to putting anybody over. Maybe back in WCW I didn’t agree with putting [Chris] Jericho over or something like that. If I can remember correctly because I didn’t think it was time for the character [Goldberg] to be involved in any comedy. But not in a million years in that Fiend situation in Saudi [Arabia] would I have done that. No way in hell. I’d love to see him [Bray Wyatt] face-to-face and make sure there is not one percent of his being that believes that I changed that match.
“That’s the first time I’ve actually been able to defend myself in that situation.”
On his relationship with Bret Hart before the kick:
“I was a sponge and he taught me. I learned through osmosis from Bret. To have a talent like that down in WCW at a time when I felt as if everyone was trying to expose me and push me in the wrong direction, I saw in him an ally. For what happened to have happened, I’ll be remorseful to the end of my days. For anybody who thinks that was intentional, that is extremely foolish and I’ll just leave it that way.”
On his brief run in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW):
“Nothing but happiness. I mean truly. When I started the formation of the character Golberg — I’m an old school guy, I’m a football guy so I watched a lot of film and did a lot of due diligence. I came to the realization that the guys who were the badasses were the ones who could transfer over to Japan. It was a completely different style of wrestling. It was more serious, it was more MMA, it was more Pancrase. It was more reality. Those guys didn’t b–ch if you hit them. They loved it. It was more of an initiation. It was just a completely different deal. The fans were sitting on their hands the whole time. You didn’t hear anything. You could hear a pin drop but it doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy what they’re watching. It’s out of respect. It was a completely different culture. It was a place I wanted to go to for a really long period of time. I played in the Japan Bowl in football in 1980-whatever the heck it was but that was the only time I had been there and I wanted to go back. Like I said, [Hulk] Hogan and the big badasses were able to translate over to the Japanese audience. It was an honor and an absolute privilege to be over there and to perform.”
You can watch the complete interview below:
