Goldberg recently spoke with Chris Featherstone for Digital Spy; you can read a few highlights and listen to the full interview (from Featherstone’s Pancakes and Powerslams podcast) below:
Goldberg comments on working with Kevin Owens:
“It was cool. I mean, you know, it’s tough. I’m greatly appreciative that he was a professional storyline-wise, and I went out there and beat him in a very short period of time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to have a little program with him of any substance because it was a conduit to get to getting somewhere else.
“And he’s a great worker. Great heel. He’s a good kid. And it would have been exciting to be able to smash him a couple more times, as opposed to just once or twice. For a guy like me to go back, it’s tough to sit and have programs with all the guys that you want and with all the newcomers, because it’s just not apples to apples anymore.
“I’ve created something very fortunately with the help of a lot of people and that’s what I stand on now. And thank God for that, because I’d hate to have to come back and earn my stripes again. You know, Kevin’s a great talent, and like I said, there’s a number of guys I’d love to work with, but things are a little different now.”
Goldberg Throws Ceremonial Pitch; Shinsuke Nakamura Bids Adieu To Tokyo
Goldberg comments on fans popping for his October 2016 return, but booing him at this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony:
“I can understand a little bit in that I was extremely limited when I came back. I think I did three moves, and that gets old. I mean, when you’re in your prime and have three moves, that’s one thing, but when I’m asked only to do a pretty short skill set, it further reinforces why they’d probably want to boo.
“That, and I mean, let’s just take the Hall of Fame induction night. I mean, I spoke to Vince and that’s gotta be changed. It has to be. It does a disservice to the people being inducted, it does a disservice to the people watching at home, and as you watch the crowd dissipate, it does a disservice to the people watching in person.
“These days, it’s a whole new generation of kids, I mean, a couple generations since I’ve been in there, seemingly. But, you know, it’s all about them. ‘Hey, look at me. I wanna take a video on my cell phone and show everybody where I am and what I’m eating and what I’m wearing and what I’m doing’. It’s too much. They want to be the ones that start that goofy chant. They want to be the ones to mess the guy up when he’s doing his promo.
“I remember a day where they sat back and were entertained by what we did. They didn’t try to dictate everything. Now, they wanna dictate stuff. So, you know, I jumped on them a little bit after [WrestleMania] that night, when I got a little indifferent when I went out there and was speaking from my heart. I will have absolutely none of that.
“There are repercussions in this world still today, and some of these fans who are nothing but poison to the rest of them, they need to have repercussions, too. I don’t know what they are, but maybe the rest of the fans need to single them out.
“It’s not fair to the kids out there busting their ass, bleeding, you know, going night after night after night on the road, being away from their families only out there to entertain the fans. And it’s kinda gotten to a point where I wouldn’t put up with it anymore. Something’s gotta be changed. But, maybe that’s just me the old man talking.”
Goldberg comments on the influence Sting had on his career:
“You know, I’ll be honest with you, man. I was a professional football player, okay. And I met a number of these guys throughout the years being in Atlanta. And I always thought [wrestling] was kinda goofy. I did. Being a professional football player and going out there and trying to kill the guy every single play, and then I segue into a business to where I’m acting like I’m [doing that], it was just weird for me.
“And so, it was tough for me to make the decision, to pull the trigger and actually do it. Until I met Sting. And getting to know him, and getting to know the person that he was, the morals he had, the way he carried himself, I looked at him and said, well hell, if he can do it, I can do it. Period, end of story.
“With all the craziness that happens in the wrestling world, that can happen in the wrestling world, he was kind of a voice of reason. There was not a time that he didn’t help me, and I can never thank him enough for that… I’ve got so much respect for the guy, I don’t have a bad thing to say about him.”
