Goldberg expresses disappointment in his WWE retirement match, says he “put the brakes” on his son signing an NIL deal with WWE

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Goldberg spoke about his WWE retirement match during an appearance on Tuesday’s The Ariel Helwani Show. He said he started talking with WWE about a retirement match back in November, and the date was officially confirmed in early January.

Goldberg expressed disappointment that the match was held on Saturday Night’s Main Event. “You always have your dreams of how you’re going to do things, and ultimately, to have a little more control over the time and space would have been much more preferred, let’s just put it that way,” he said. “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, again, it was an honor and a privilege to be given that opportunity, and I had to make the most of it.”

Goldberg was asked whether he would have preferred the match to take place on a premium live event where he would have been allotted more time. “A hundred percent…” he said. “Yeah, absolutely. They cut me off freakin’ 20 seconds with a microphone in my hand for God’s sake. I got two weeks, man. I’ve got two weeks before I can really spill the beans and make my feelings kind of known about the entire rundown from the inception of the idea to its delivery. It was a little less than to be desired.

“Again, I’m not going to complain because not many people get that opportunity. There are a number of variables that were such that, you know, you’re put behind the eight-ball, and to be able to go out there and perform, I don’t know, a 12-13 minute match, a 15-minute match, it felt like 115 minutes, but it was a great opportunity and Gunther was an unbelievable guy to work with. It was awesome. I had a good time, man, I was laughing in there when he was chopping me. I actually had fun.”

Goldberg was asked if he had mixed emotions about his retirement match. “Let’s just say I’m pissed off at the way I went out,” he said. I put so much into it. I don’t feel as though the effort was reciprocated to put a stamp on what I accomplished. Again, I’m not going to say that I’m not ecstatic about the opportunity that I got. But, I was a WCW guy, man. I don’t know, man. I don’t know. I think it could have been done a little bit differently. That’s all. I’m happy with my performance. I’m happy with the setting. But could it have been better? Absolutely. I can always be better.”

Goldberg also spoke about his son, Gage, and said WWE wanted to sign him to an NIL deal. “When I found out how much they were going to try to give him, I put the brakes on that one,” he said.

Goldberg also said he apologized for “clipping” Gunther with a right hand. He said he laughed when Gunther chopped him. He said the chops are loud, and they look like they hurt, but he thought it would hurt more. He said he didn’t mean to laugh and apologized for breaking character. Check out the full interview below or via YouTube.com.

Powell’s POV: Holy mixed messages, Batman. Goldberg made it clear that he wasn’t happy about having his post-match promo cut short, then said he couldn’t complain. He went on to confirm that he has an NDA that expires in two weeks. He also said he wished the company had announced the match back in January, rather than with just three weeks’ notice. I don’t know if it needed to be announced in January, but I’m with him in that it should have been announced sooner and given more fanfare. It will be interesting to see what he complains, er, talks about once his NDA expires.

Watch the full interview below with the Goldberg interview starting around 49:30. I also added the footage of his full retirement speech that WWE released over the weekend.