Goldberg has given an insight into his preparation for his final WWE match and what fans can expect from the retirement bout.
Making the announcement shortly before Crown Jewel, Goldberg will officially retire from in-ring competition in 2025. Having been out of the ring for 3 years and at 57 years old, many are curious as to how the match will be booked and if the dominant former World Champion will give the fans a strong final send-off.
Discussing the upcoming match on his CarCast podcast, Goldberg referenced Mike Tyson stepping back into the ring at 58 years old and how he will also be significantly older than whoever his opponent will be in 2025:
“I just have to be me again. This is something I’ve tried to teach my son because at 18 years old, he’s going up against 25-year-old kids. Graduate assistants and grad students that have played for six years. It’s a difference in reality. Mine is a difference in reality also. I’m at least twice the age of whoever I’m going to wrestle. At least.
Your mind is a very powerful thing. Your mind can make you do things that your body completely tells you no, but it can only go a certain distance. It puts things in perspective, but I’m a different person than Tyson is and I’m being asked to do something different than Tyson did. The amount of pressure I feel after watching Tyson and Paul does not weigh heavier on me by any stretch of the imagination compared to the pressure I’m going to put on myself.”
“I’m Putting It All On The Line”: Goldberg On Final WWE Match
Continuing, Goldberg added that as this will be his final match he is not concerned about recovery time, adding that this time he has a significant amount of time to get ready and that the match could go 15 minutes:
“I’ll have a long time to recover after this one, so I’m putting it all out there on the line. The fact is, I have a number of months to get ready for something that will take 15 minutes in the ring. The preparation is always much harder than the actual performance. At the end of the day, you try to do whatever you know and whatever is at your fingertips to prepare for whatever you’re about to embark on.
I don’t give a flying fart if I’m 57 or 58 years old. This time, I’m actually getting some prep time and the ability to get ready. Comparatively, even though I’m at the age that I’m at, I will have five times as much time to prepare than I have for any other match. If I can’t get ready in that period of time, with what I have to offer, then it’s not going to be enough. I do believe that I’ve set my standards quite high and at the end of the day, I think people will be pleasantly surprised by the outcome and my performance.”
When discussing his training for the match, the Hall of Famer stated that he is already in a much better physical state than the last time around:
“My shoulder is probably the worst part of my anatomy at the moment other than my neck and my knee. It’s been widely documented, and I’ve been the one to admit it, that I blew my shoulder apart. As I worked out last night around midnight, I’m able to do things right now with that torn up shoulder that I haven’t been able to do in ten years. This is prior to a number of matches that I’ve wrestled.
My shoulder is in a better position months before I have to perform than it was days before leading up to matches in the past. That is a huge change. If I think about that as a positive attribute to my training, I’m way ahead of the curve. I can’t wait. I couldn’t lift my arm the last time I got in the ring. I don’t think about my shoulder anymore, and that’s unbelievable. Even though I’m behind the eight ball with a lot of things leading up to it, I will be much better prepared than I have been in the past.”
“There are few things in the world that you get the opportunity to plan out yourself as far as an end game. I get to help plan it. That’s pretty awesome. That puts me in a position where I’m forever grateful.”
While it is unknown who the Hall of Famer’s opponent will be, many are expecting it to be Gunther.
In a previous interview, Goldberg explained why he once headbutted a wall.
H/t to Fightful.