– During a recent interview with Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg discussed his career, his past talks with AEW and Tony Khan, Khan reminding him of former TNA President Dixie Carter, his view of WWE executive Triple H, and more. Below are some highlights of Van Vliet’s chat with Goldberg provided to us by Insight:
His thoughts on his match with The Undertaker: “I knocked myself out before [the match] walking to the frickin’ ring. Intensity is something very hard to replicate and I had forgotten my sequence to the ring. I’d forgotten my preparation. It had been so long and I had put it away, I had put it in a dark place in my mind. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to get ready for matches anymore. I was just detached. I remember then that I gotta headbutt the door. I headbutted the door right when they played my music to wrestle Taker, which was the most unbelievable opportunity ever and I knocked myself out. I was walking to the ring, I was on that street.”
On what he remembers from the match: “I remember the referee asking me if I could go on and me saying yes, then him turning away and then me saying no. Then me saying yes and then me saying no, I remember that. Then he [Undertaker] shot me to the turnbuckle and if I’m going to be hurt, I like to make it look as real as possible. Sometimes actually making it real, and I unintentionally headbutted the frickin’ post and yeah, it knocked me for another one. So I had two concussions leading up to me dropping him on his head. Then the nice little payback was the tombstone straight up and down on my head. Thank God for that neck machine right there or I wouldn’t be talking to you. But I deserved it, 100%.”
Goldberg on his talks with AEW’s Tony Khan, Khan reminding him of TNA’s Dixie Carter: “I just think we have a different perspective on it. I don’t know. I mean, it’s hard for me to really pass judgment on their production because I don’t watch it. I see clips of it and it’s hard to give a rational breakdown of how they are if I don’t really watch it, so I don’t really know. He reminds me of a Dixie Carter, but a male version. I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing. But he reminds me of that scenario. It’s just a different feel, it’s just different.”
On how close he came to making a deal with AEW: “I don’t think I was ever close to making a deal with him. I think it was much more a realistic transition when Sting was involved. I reached out to Sting because I wanted to be a part [of it], I thought he and I could do a farewell thing at some point together. But it wasn’t about me. It was about Sting and I could never overshadow anything that he does. But I don’t want to convolute the waters. It would have been a nice crescendo but it wasn’t about me.”
His thoughts on Triple H: “I haven’t talked to Triple H in a long time. It was extremely rocky in the beginning but I think we’re at a good place. I have nothing but respect for him, man. He’s turned an interesting situation into a very successful situation and very profitable. I’m proud of it, good job.”
