Goldberg recently came out fighting against speculation that he had retired.
During an interview, the star fired back at the claims and reiterated his desire to have a retirement match. Interestingly, he also revealed that he had been promised a retirement match by Vince McMahon following his clash with Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in February 2022. This is currently the WWE Hall of Famer’s most recent match to date.
However, there was no retirement match with WWE and his contract with the company expired at the end of that year, making him a free agent.
It has now been reported that the prospect of a retirement match with WWE was a very real possibility. Speaking on the Mat Men Podcast, Andrew Zarian noted that plans for a match were underway and being led by Paul Heyman.
It is believed that Goldberg was on board with these plans, but progress came to a halt once Vince McMahon became embroiled in the sexual misconduct allegations that ultimately led to his short-lived retirement.
“This story is interesting because Vince [McMahon] told him that he could have a proper retirement in the company and Paul Heyman was working on it. Apparently the idea was good. He liked Heyman’s idea, and Vince’s scandal happened and it put the kibosh on everything.
Same time this was happening you heard the story that Brock was p*ssed off, Brock left, then the TV-14 stuff was going on…”
How Much Did Goldberg Earn For His Matches In Saudi Arabia?
During the same interview, Goldberg explained that he was leaning towards the idea of self-promoting a short retirement tour. This is despite speculation linking him with a big farewell with AEW.
It has been reported that a deal with AEW could be very difficult to make due to the financial expectations of the WCW legend. Goldberg is said to have made a staggering $2 million per match in Saudi Arabia while with WWE, figures Tony Khan and AEW would struggle to match.
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