In recent years, Goldberg has consistently been one of the featured attractions at WWE’s controversial shows in Saudi Arabia. From facing The Undertaker to beating The Fiend, “Da Man” has competed in some major matches at these special events. But at first, he wasn’t thrilled to compete in the country.
During the December 28 episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Goldberg cited his religious background as the reason why he was “terrified” the first time he went to Saudi Arabia. That being said, he shifted gears and expressed his appreciation for the response he gets from its fans before he noted that WWE should take a lot of pride in the way it helped “westernize” the country.
“…You know, you hear the praying going on in the evenings, and you know, as one of the most visible Jewish guys on the planet, I was extremely, I was terrified to go over the first time, I really was. It was under the auspices of the WWE, so obviously, the security was there. And I’ll be perfectly honest, man, I mean I haven’t gotten a reception like that anywhere around the world that’s much better. I mean those people are so appreciative of what we do, the characters that we are, the business that we provide for them, the entertainment we provide.
And let’s be perfectly honest man, we were there at the groundbreaking stage of the westernization of that part of the country, of that part of the world. And we caught a lot of sh-t in the beginning. And I think, you know, look at all the people who jumped on board right now. Look at all the talent, all the events that they’ve been able to put on to westernize, to bring Saudi Arabia up to date. We caught a lot of sh-t in the beginning but I think we should be very proud of the precedent we’ve set.”
WWE’s shows in Saudi Arabia remain a polarizing topic, but most fans can agree that Goldberg’s match with The Undertaker back at WWE Super ShowDown 2019 was a disaster. It remains a low point in the legendary careers of both icons, and Goldberg has previously commented on the negative response to the match. Over two years removed from what he called a “debacle”, the WWE Hall of Famer looked back on what went wrong with this bout. He emphasized how headbutting a door before the contest and subsequently hitting his head early in the match threw him off right out of the gate.
“You know, I’d been out for a while, and your routine, you have a routine as a punter, everybody’s got a routine, right, so I kinda forgot my routine,” said Goldberg. “But I remembered the headbutt, so on the way out, I headbutted the door, and man, I don’t know where I am after that. I have no idea what’s going on. And I’m kinda getting to the ring and then we’ve got the spot where he moves and I hit the turnbuckle.
“Well I didn’t go out and look at the turnbuckle beforehand, and it was a different setup than what we normally would have at RAW or SmackDown. And yeah I took that one. I try to take things as realistic as possible, right? So I took it wrong, and let’s just say I got another concussion right there and opened myself up pretty good.”
Goldberg then recalled how, though the referee for the bout could tell he was messed up, he tried his best to push through the difficult conditions. Still, he knows he should have handled his injury differently, and he regrets the way the clash with The Undertaker turned out. “Da Man” also noted that he was just trying to do his job and entertain the fans, but it didn’t work out this time.
“…The referee, I remember, he came up to me ten, fifteen times during that match, ‘Hey, how ya doing?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’ And then by the time he’d walk away, I’d go, oh man, I don’t know what’s going on. So it was a different answer every time, and the fact is that I never should have done what I did. But I did, I tried to go through with it, and unfortunately, it turned out to be a debacle. It’s a wonder that we both didn’t get smashed during that match. It was one of those, a very bad missed opportunity but hey, at the end of the day, I was just trying to provide a better show for everybody else.”
Thankfully, Goldberg later redeemed himself and perhaps silenced his doubters; his most recent match, in which he defeated Bobby Lashley, was seen as his best performance yet at a Saudi Arabia show.
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