- Goldberg recently returned to WWE television in a confrontation with World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER
- Goldberg made his retirement announcement during an appearance on SEC Nation
- The 57-year-old last wrestled in February, 2022, against Roman Reigns
One of the most intense, interesting and ludicrously popular wrestling careers of all time will be coming to an end in 2025. Because Bill Goldberg will be joining John Cena in bringing the curtain down on a multiple-World Title winning career, next year.
The WWE Hall of Famer, who has not wrestled in almost three years, since his submission loss to Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber, in February 2022, announced that his retirement match would be happening in 2025, during an appearance on SEC Nation, this past weekend.
Goldberg recently returned to WWE television, turning up at the Bad Blood Premium Live Event in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, and becoming involved in a confrontation with World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER. Many expected the pair to be booked in a match for the Austrian’s title at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, although no such match took place, with GUNTHER instead facing off against Cody Rhodes in the main event.
Goldberg, who debuted in WCW back in 1997, rapidly became one of the hottest stars in the industry, embarking on a lengthy undefeated streak, which would eventually see him cleanly pin Hulk Hogan to become WCW World Champion in the summer of 1998, during an episode of Monday Nitro in his native Atlanta.
A crossover star, Goldberg has been a divisive figure for what some fans perceive to be a limited skillset. He also has drawn the ire of a number of fans for his role in Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart’s premature retirement, when he accidentally kicked Hart square in the head during a bout in 1999 and concussed the Hitman. Goldberg has apologised multiple times for the incident, but Hart has held onto the grudge for 25 years.
However, despite the misgivings about his skillset and the Bret Hart beef, Goldberg has remained immensely popular with many wrestling fans for his explosive in-ring repetoire, his presentation and his enormous charisma. After a poorly received (and poorly booked) run in WWE between 2003-2004, the 57-year-old wasn’t seen in a WWE ring again until 2016, when he returned for a match against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series that year.
Lesnar would win the pair’s return match in a stunning squash match, lasting less than two minutes, before winning the WWE Universal Title from Kevin Owens three months later. However, the former Atlanta Falcon would quickly drop the title to Lesnar just over a month later at WrestleMania 33 in an explosive match.
Goldberg’s second run with the company has proven to be a mixed bag. He has enjoyed a multitude of memorable moments, like his ridiculously fun destruction of Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam 2019, his matches with Lesnar and his immensely chaotic efforts with the likes of Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre. But he has also endured miserable nights against the likes of The Undertaker and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt, which have left a sour taste in the mouths of a lot of fans.
At 57, many may argue that Goldberg should have called time on his illustrious career a number of years ago, but given the shape that the former WCW Champion has kept himself in all these years, and his enduring popularity with so many fans, there is still a story to be sold to send Big Bill off into the sunset.
A date has not yet been set for Goldberg’s final match, but one would likely earmark WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, one of the company’s Saudi Arabia shows or perhaps SummerSlam in New York, which will be the first two-night event in the show’s history, as the likeliest of destinations for Bill’s last stand.
