When Bill Goldberg boldly declared in an appearance on 93.7 The Ticket that he had no plans of joining AEW in the foreseeable future, calling the promotion “cheesy,” it got a few laughs and a few eye rolls from around the professional wrestling world.

Sure, Goldberg is still a person of note and still has enough name recognition to garner headlines some 30 years after his peak in WCW, but is he really a mover and shaker in 2024, worthy of drawing strong interest from the second-biggest wrestling promotion in the world today?

Well, despite being the butt of the Knife Or Death host's recent joke, Tony Khan still has an interest in his friend Goldberg, as they've apparently had multiple conversations over the years regarding a potential spot in the promotion; an opportunity TK is apparently still very much into, as he explained in an appearance on The Superstar Crossover podcast.

“Bill wanted to work here! I met with Bill several times. Bill was looking to work here. It's funny because I had a bunch of really nice meetings with Bill and would have honestly been interested in doing something. Since you brought it up, I have a lot of respect for Bill, but I was surprised by that because certainly, that wasn't what he said to me when he was talking to me about maybe working here at some point, which I've always been open to and I really like Bill. It's all about timing, and we're doing a lot of exciting things here right now,” Tony Khan explained on The Superstar Crossover podcast via F4W.

“I know Sting and Bill are good friends, and I really like Bill and have respect for him, but when I saw that, I mean, Bill's talked to me about working here, so I don't think he had any problem with any of that content. Anybody who saw Sting's send-off has had positive things to say, so I'm not sure what that was about, but I do respect Bill and like him very much. He's entitled to his opinion, but certainly, when I've talked to him in person several times, in person and in zooms and phone calls, we've had very nice conversations, and he hasn't said that, but it's good to know that's how he feels. Maybe that's an opinion he holds now, but certainly, in our past conversations, he's always been a very positive, nice guy.”

Would Khan still sign Goldberg if the opportunity and the storyline made sense? Sure, there are plenty of interesting ways to work him into AEW, from serving as Khan's personal bodyguard against The Elite, to wrestle someone like MJF and/or Wardlow in a passing of the torch moment, or to working matches against another former WCW performer like Chris Jericho, even if they have far more history together in WWE than WCW. Either way, it sounds like Goldberg might have to make amends with Khan before that can happen, as his comments certainly didn't grease the wheels toward a brand new, high-value contract.

Bill Goldberg is putting off his retirement match.

Elsewhere in his appearance on 93.7 The Ticket, Bill Goldberg was asked about his retirement match, which was initially promised by Vince McMahon in WWE but never happened. Is the former WWE Champion looking to work his final match on the indies a la Ric Flair, or does he instead hope to land with a new promotion beforehand? Well, according to the former Atlanta Falcon, that idea is currently on the “back burner,” as he has other things on his mind at the moment.

“Oh god, who knows, man? I'll be perfectly honest with you, I've kind of put that on the back burner. Right now, I've segued into dad first and foremost. Dad and husband and car host. I'm just having fun at my garage. I really don't have a lot of time right now to dedicate to prepping for a retirement match. You know as well as I do when you were a senior in high school, and you were preparing to make that transition to go to college and play football, that was one of the most tumultuous times of your life. I don't know if that's the right word to use to describe it, but challenging… so I'm trying to do everything I can in my power 24/7 to get our boy prepped for the next stage of his life. In all honesty, that's the most important thing I could ever have going, whether I was ready to step in the ring right now or not. I put it all on the back burner for this boy because it's gonna be tough,” Bill Goldberg told 93.7 The Ticket via Fightful.

“So in an extremely long-winded answer, that's where I am, man. Yeah, Vince kind of let me down, but it's the business. It is what it is. It's kind of like football. I remember I was with the Rams my first year, and my defensive line coach told me after I tore my hamstring in the first preseason game that there was no way I was going to be cut, and lo and behold, the next week, I was cut. So it's just a business.”

Welp, there you go, folks; Goldberg isn't actively looking for a retirement match at the moment, but if the right opportunity arises, who knows, maybe he'd be down to do it, especially if someone like Tony Khan is willing to pay up to make it happen.