Goldberg's return to WWE brought a lot of eyes to the product and generated plenty of excitement among fans. However, it was clear from the start that he was unable to perform at a high level and the WCW icon's match with The Undertaker was a good example of that.
Even so, WWE enlisted him once again in 2022 for a match with Roman Reigns. He was defeated by the Head of the Table and that was the end for him in WWE. There's been some speculation about Goldberg signing with AEW for a retirement match, but it turns out Vince McMahon already promised him one of those.
He just failed to deliver on it.
"Vince is like Dana White," Goldberg said on the Steven & Captain Evil podcast. "He's the big boss and he makes everything happen, and in all honesty, he gave me the opportunity to put my wife and son on the front row and gave me the ability to perform again in front of them. So, I owe him everything, until we went to Saudi Arabia and he asked me to put Roman Reigns over, and I had COVID."
"I remember calling him from my house and said, 'Listen, here is the deal. I'll do it if you give me a retirement match.' I did what he asked. As a performer, I was 56 years old. As a human being, you're conscientious about how you look in a bathing suit, especially two months prior to being in that bathing suit, you couldn't work out because you had COVID."
"I put myself in a horribly shitty situation to get what I wanted to, but to satiate him and give him what he wanted," he continued. "Problem is, he never held up his bargain. Vince is a piece of shit as far as I'm concerned."
With McMahon no longer in charge of WWE Creative, there's always a chance Triple H will be able to tempt Goldberg back for one final match. Unfortunately for him, the company is red hot and doesn't need another Legend. The WWE Hall of Famer has plenty of fans, but it would be unfair to say any of them are demanding a retirement bout.
Still, it's a shame he was messed around in this way and that's just another reason WWE and the wrestling business as a whole are better off without Vince.
Our thanks to Fightful for the transcription.