Goldberg speaks on what he thinks of young wrestlers disrespecting him and other wrestling legends.
The WCW icon was recently on WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves. He was on the show to promote his match with Drew McIntyre this Sunday at Royal Rumble. The topic of the negativity of younger wrestlers towards legends and particularly the negativity surrounding Goldberg’s matches came up.
“When legends came in when I was in the business, in the beginning, I was greatly appreciative of the eyes they brought to our product. And one day, those young kids are gonna be in the position just like me, and I hope that karma comes back to bite them in the ass, that’s all I can say. Because at 54 years old, I don’t know one of them that could be doing what I’m doing.”
What Legends Is Goldberg Talking About?
When Goldberg came into wrestling he was in WCW. He didn’t come up through the indies and pay his dues for years and grind for years sleeping in his car. He was trained at the Power Plant which was WCW’s performance center basically. Once he graduated he got pushed straight to the top. So let’s not pretend he came across legends in the indies.
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This also lets us pinpoint who these older legends are. Ric Flair was already in WCW, so was Hulk Hogan, Terry Funk was no longer a big name draw. So the only legend I can think of is Ultimate Warrior. Which is a perfect comparison to Goldberg. Both had huge egos in their prime, were notoriously bad wrestlers, and had very short careers.
Goldberg Is The Only Person Who Can Perform Over 50?
As far as big names and performing at as high of a level as Goldberg goes I have two names to bring up. Chris Jericho won Wrestler of the Year in 2019 and is only four years younger than Goldberg. What Goldberg was doing in 2019 well as I recall he gave himself a concussion and almost dropped Undertaker on his head.
Here is another legend, Flair, who at 54 won the number 2 wrestler of the year from Pro Wrestling Illustrated. I doubt Goldberg will be regarded in the top 100 wrestlers this year or next. Goldberg is giving himself way too much credit.
Goldberg also responded to people criticizing his workrate and how short his matches are.
“I have a standard that I set myself to. And I have to be realistic in what I can provide to my opponent, to the company, to the people, and so if I’m cool with it myself, I don’t give a damn what anybody says….I want to satiate the crowd, I want to make them happy, but at the end of the day, they certainly don’t drive my life. There’s no doubt about that.”
Goldberg Is Old And WWE Is Soft Like The Food Goldberg Has To Eat
This is a really honest and respectable thing to say. He is getting older and he can’t keep up physically anymore so he has to pace himself. Also he has to be realistic as to what he is capable of doing in the ring. I’m glad he can take a critical look at himself and his abilities in the ring.
The veteran wrestler also added to Undertaker’s view on the WWE product being “soft” and a byproduct of that is the wrestlers look “soft.”
“I believe comparatively the business is ‘soft.’ But the business is in 2021, so things have to change and things have to be different. Mega superstars that are bigger than life, it’s hard in this generation seemingly to build those people,”
This statement about wrestler’s being “soft” is misleading. When Undertaker was saying that he meant the PG Era has taken away the edge of WWE wrestling. This was a direct comparison to the Attitude Era with DX telling people to “suck it,” but I agree with WWE being too soft.
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He also addressed his promo on RAW’s Legends Night saying McIntyre doesn’t respect legends. Fans had a big problem with Goldberg trying to say McIntyre, who is a face, doesn’t respect legends.
“I think mainly, when I was talking to Drew in the beginning, I was speaking to the locker room. I was speaking to everybody, and he’s the leader, right, so you gotta go to the leader, and you gotta make sure that everything is taken care of in the right way,” Goldberg said.
Respect Is Earned Goldberg
I don’t think there is as much disrespect towards legends as Goldberg thinks there is. It’s just really hard to believe if Flair, Shawn Michaels or Mick Foley walk into a room young wrestlers not getting awestruck and showing respect. Riddle freaked out and talked with Gillberg who is nowhere near that level.
People just don’t respect Goldberg. I have no problem with him wrestling even as much as a few times a year. However, what I have the problem with is who he beats. When The Fiend is destroying everyone and if he loses it is a hard fought victory, but Goldberg demolishes him. It kills all of Fiend’s momentum.
We’ll see if Goldberg kills all of McIntyre’s momentum this Sunday at Royal Rumble.
Do you think younger wrestlers aren’t respectful enough of legends? Do you think Goldberg deserves the same level of respect as Stone Cold, Bret Hart or Undertaker? Spear those comments below and let us know what you think.
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