If you read, listened to, or watch any Bret Hart interview he's given over the last twenty or so years, you will see “The Hitman” take one more maybe more shots at Bill Goldberg, the former WCW standout who ended Hart's career back at Starcade in 1999 with a thrust kick in the head that lead to a bout of post-concussion syndrome.
While Hart has let his feelings be known about Goldberg, calling him unsafe, malicious, and an all-around bad wrestler, the WWE player-turned-WCW/WWE Champion has been far less inclined to relive one of the worst moments of his in-ring career, as there's only so many ways you can tell the same story.
Still, when afforded a chance to talk about his life and career in an interview with fellow former Atlanta Falcon Tim Green on Nothing Left Unsaid, Goldberg ran through the situation once more, noting that he had no desire to hurt Hart, as he looked up to him as a mentor.
“For you, Mr. Tim Green, I will talk about it. For any other piece of the media or any other podcast, I won’t talk about it anymore. Bret Hart. I was a baby in the wrestling business, I was in WCW. I had a rocket in my butt as far as trajectory is concerned, character-wise. Bret Hart had just left WWE. We all know about Bret Hart being one of the best wrestlers in the history of the world. I was looking for as many mentors as humanly possible, and this guy was one of the best ever. I was enthralled with him. I didn’t idolize him by any stretch; I don’t idolize anyone, but I put him up on that pedestal to be someone to very much learn from. They put us together, and I did learn a lot from the guy. I wouldn’t trade that for the world. We had a match, and unfortunately during the match, something went wrong, and I kicked him in the head. It was very stiff, and it was an accident. I never maliciously would try to hurt anyone. Let me rephrase that, I would never hurt anyone in a situation like that where they give me their trust. Wrestling is like a dance. You can’t perform properly if both people aren’t doing their thing. I didn’t do the thing right. He caught it in the head. It ended his career, and I never lived it down,” Bill Goldberg told Tim Green via Fightful.
“You [Tim] know me. You’ve known me in situations to where I had to fight Fralic [NFL guard Bill Fralic] just about every day to survive. I’m not a malicious person, and I would never take advantage of anybody, especially in a physical sense like that. It was a complete accident, but to this day, he thinks that I did it on purpose. I felt horrible for what I did. It just happened. That’s the Bret Hart story. I’ve heard it for 15 years. I’ve heard about him b**ching and moaning about me kicking him in the head. I can only say I’m sorry so many times, and I can only be remorseful for so long. That’s where we are. I still want to kill him [laughs.]”
Though you don't have to give Goldberg too much credit, as he had some other questionable comments elsewhere in his conversation with Tim Green, it must be hard to receive such consistent hate from a performer he used to look up to. Fortunately, Goldberg at least has a little bit of humor about the situation, as he's able to make light of the situation instead of taking all of Hart's comments personally.
Goldberg takes a shot at Asuka and anyone who uses a spear.
Speaking of Bill Goldberg having “questionable comments elsewhere in his conversation with Tim Green,” the offending take had to do with Asuka breaking his winning streak, something that wouldn't be horrible if he didn't make a point to purposefully sound out her name in a very dismissive way.
“That happened after I got there. A girl beat my undefeated streak. I can't even remember. Ah-soo-ka [Asuka] is her name. Some Japanese girl,” Goldberg said via Fightful. “They touted her as being the one to have the longest winning streak. It just so happened that it culminated when I got there. Then, it just so happened that every single wrestler uses the spear in their moves. Pretty ironic that happened when I got there.”
Does Goldberg have a point that his Spear, a move that was once his big maneuver, has become as common as a Superkick? Yes, but making fun of Asuka and his accomplishments is a bridge too far, as she worked far more big-time matches than Goldberg, as his stats were largely inflated by easy wins over jobber foes.
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