Goldberg: Retirement speech cutoff shows ‘what disrespect’ WWE has for me
Goldberg still sounds bothered about the way the final night of his wrestling career ended.
In July 2025, Goldberg wrestled his final match when he lost to Gunther at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Goldberg had fun in the match and came away from the night with a lot of respect for Gunther. But Goldberg was not happy about the way his retirement speech was abruptly cut off on the broadcast.
Goldberg was in Nashville on Sunday (March 29) for an autograph signing. During the appearance, TikToker Pop the Chain met Goldberg and recorded their interaction. Goldberg said cutting off his speech showed the disrespect WWE has for him — and he agreed with Pop the Chain that Paul “Triple H” Levesque is a “jackass.”
- Pop the Chain: You know what really pissed me off? Was when WWE cut off your mic at your final performance.
- Goldberg: Well, what do you think it did for me? It made me really happy [sarcastic]. It just shows what disrespect they have for me.
- Pop the Chain: What jackass — was it Hunter? Who did that?
- Goldberg: Probably.
- Pop the Chain: Yeah, he’s a jackass, man.
- Goldberg: 100 percent
Goldberg was the first wrestling legend that Gunther retired. Gunther has now adopted a “Career Killer” persona after going on to defeat John Cena and AJ Styles in their final matches.
It was announced last month that Goldberg has been named a partner and CEO of Patriot Tactical, a brand that sells knives and other protective equipment.
Though it was cut off on the broadcast, WWE did upload Goldberg’s full retirement speech online.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.