Wrestling fans are no strangers to the tumultuous relationship between Bill Goldberg and Bret Hart. Both athletes met in the ring multiple times in WCW in the mid-90s. During the 90s, Bret Hart was an accomplished star who worked with major promotions like WCW and WWF. ‘The Hitman’ doesn’t have the fondest wrestling memories as he retired with injuries and a chip on his shoulder. The seven-time World Champion has meticulously detailed his life as a wrestler in his book “Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling ” published in 2007.
On the other hand, Bill Goldberg appeared in the world of wrestling and was presented as the most dominant force in the business. Goldberg went on to have a winning streak of 173-0 in WCW. Bill joined WWE in 2003 and had the same reputation though his first run with the company was short-lived.
If we juxtaposition both men’s careers, they were equally accomplished, however, many believe Bret was still a better and safe wrestler. On the flip side, Goldberg is notorious for his unsafe style of wrestling.
What caused the rift between Bret Hart and Goldberg
Tension started building between both wrestlers when Goldberg botched a swift kick to the face and injured Hart. The damage resulted in Hart having post-concussion syndrome. The match took place at the PPV event of WCW Starrcade in 1999 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
In an edition of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Session podcast, Hart claimed that Goldberg was an unsafe wrestler to work with. After the match, Hart’s professional career was curtailed.
Later in the interview, Hart also implied that Goldberg was responsible for ending Hart’s career. Bret Hart’s interview riled up the fans and everybody believed that Hart despised Goldberg for ruining his wrestling career and carried that resentment with him for years.
However, in his autobiography, Hart owned up to his side of error and stated that he held himself more responsible than anybody for “downplaying” his condition and that he had enormous respect for Bill Goldberg.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Bill. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, and what happened- it was just part of the job. I do wish he had been a little bit more careful, but we’ve always been friends over the years.”
It seemed as if Bret was past all the resentment he carried for years. In 2012, a fan asked Hart if he held a grudge against Goldberg. The Hall of Famer replied that he “never had one” and that he had great respect for Goldberg.
In 2015, Hart even tweeted a picture of him and Bill hanging out. Things came full circle again when Goldberg returned to WWE in 2016. The five-time World Champion was still as relevant as ever as he bellowed his way to the ring and defeated Brock Lesnar in under a minute.
@Goldberg pic.twitter.com/KLxkvjfzpR
— Bret Hart (@BretHart) June 9, 2015
Goldberg went on to win multiple titles and his second run in WWE proved to be more fruitful. Goldberg reportedly made millions for a ten-minute match held in Saudi Arabia. His success was not looked upon very kindly by Hart. During an interview in 2019 with Inside The Ropes, Hart claimed that Goldberg owes him $16M for ending his career.
Hart also stated that he was expecting a call from Bill when he was making millions but that never happened and that he should be inducted into the Hall of Shame.
Goldberg weighs in on Bret Hart’s personal heat with him
Speaking on Talk is Jericho, Bill Goldberg addressed Hart’s animosity with him and stated that he has apologized enough. The wrestling veteran even admitted that what happened to Hart bothered him even twenty years later and that he has moved on because he has been showing contrition for all these years.
“I’m done saying I’m sorry, I’ve said it a million times. And I’m not going to continue to tear myself down. I’m done. I said I’m sorry. If you can’t accept my apology”.
All in all, it seems as though the relationship between the two legends will never improve. It’s conspicuous that Goldberg entirely blames himself for what he did to Bret but his apology isn’t good enough for the Hitman.
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