As wrestling fans, we know about the real-life heat between Bill Goldberg and Bret Hart where Hart holds a grudge against Goldberg. But did you know about the real-life heat between Goldberg and William Regal? Here, Goldberg holds a grudge against Regal. On an episode of Monday Nitro in WCW, in 1998, the undefeated Goldberg’s wrestling skills were put to the test in the ring against The Gentlemanly Villain of wrestling, William Regal.
When Goldberg arrived in WCW, he was on an unstoppable winning streak. Known for finishing off his opponents in under a few minutes, it was a rare sight to see Goldberg wrestle long matches.
When his matches began, he laid waste to his opponent and made quick work of them. However, this was not the case in his match with Sir William Regal. Regal implemented his stiff style of wrestling to ward off Bill from making Regal look like an easy competition.
Although there were many awkward moments in the match, Regal successfully stretched the match up to six minutes. Eventually, Bill would hit his signature spear and finisher Jackhammer to pick up the win. Watching Goldberg struggle for the first time riled up the crowd.
William Regal’s take on what really happened
Not long after his match with Bill, Regal departed from the company. Many believe that his departure was linked to his match with the former NFL player Goldberg.
Over the years, Regal has been vocal about what happened. He believes that whatever happened between the two athletes was a result of “a lack of communication”.
In an edition of his podcast “Gentleman Villian”, Regal explained that he was only doing as he was instructed.
“I’ll say this much, I did as I was told by the person in charge of that match. This has all got twisted. Bill has different views. I feel as if I was thrown under the bus by the producer in charge of it”.
Regal further said that he took some flak from Eric Bischoff after the match. Regal, to this day has not revealed the name of the producer whose orders he was following.
Although he claimed that he did not intend to take liberties with Bill, he was reportedly fired by the company a week later. In his podcast, Regal expressed that he wishes to bury the hatchet with Bill. However, the latter has no interest in calling a truce.
Bill Goldberg’s take on what really happened
During an interview with Jim Ross in 2014, Bill brought up his issues with William. On being asked by JR if Bill thought that Regal took liberties with him during the match, Bill responded by saying “he did”.
“Let me know it’s gonna be a Japanese match, so I can give you some back, not so I can be led around by a guy that’s gonna kick me in the head when I’m on all fours”. Said Goldberg.
According to him, he was taken advantage of on National TV and wasn’t aware of how the match was supposed to play out. It remains to be seen if Goldberg will ever decide on addressing his issues with Regal in a face-to-face interview but, we do know that Regal is open to it.
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