Cooper Neill/Getty ImagesWWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg claimed last week that Vince McMahon reneged on a promise to give him a WWE retirement match.
Appearing on Steve & Captain Evil: The Podcast (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), Goldberg said he agreed to face and lose to Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia in February 2022 on the condition that he would get to go out on his own terms in WWE:
"I owe [McMahon] 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 s--tty situation to get what I wanted to, but to satiate him and give him what he wanted."
The retirement match never happened, and the loss to Reigns turned out to be the final appearance on Goldberg's WWE contract, prompting him to say, "Vince is a piece of s--t as far as I'm concerned."
Goldberg broke into pro wrestling in 1996 and became an instant phenomenon the following year when he debuted in WCW and went on a 173-match winning streak.
After holding the World Heavyweight Championship and being one of WCW's top stars, Goldberg finally made the leap top WWE in 2003 after WWE purchased WCW.
Goldberg's first run with the company lasted only about one year, and he largely remained outside the world of pro wrestling for over a decade before returning to WWE in 2016.
As a part-time performer, Goldberg had memorable matches against the likes of Brock Lesnar, Bray Wyatt, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and others, and he went on to hold the Universal Championship twice.
At 57 years of age, Goldberg is no longer part of WWE, and it is unknown if he will get the retirement match he desired.
McMahon is the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, which is the name of the company that WWE and UFC merged into this year, so he still has a significant position of power within WWE.
However, every indication is that head of creative Triple H and president Nick Khan are primarily in charge of making creative and personnel decisions related to WWE, so it is possible Goldberg's grudge with McMahon wouldn't prevent WWE from bringing him back at some point.
If that doesn't happen, though, Goldberg could have other options, such as working out a deal with AEW or setting up a retirement match independently, which is something he expressed interest in this year.
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