Goldberg Recalls How Vince McMahon Was Not 'Warm And Fuzzy' During His Stressful First WWE Year
Since returning to WWE and pro wrestling in 2016, Goldberg has enjoyed a career renaissance of sorts, winning the WWE Universal Championship twice and taking on top stars like Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley. It's a stark contrast from his first run in WWE back in 2003-2004, which, in the words of Donald Sutherland from "JFK," was not so good.
In an appearance on "Talk is Jericho," Goldberg discussed why he had a bad feeling about his first WWE run, especially coming off a highly successful WCW run, and why he still made the move.
"It was totally different for me," Goldberg said. "It was something I didn't really feel comfortable doing, first and foremost, because I was hanging out with Kevin [Nash] and Scott [Hall]. And they're best friend was Triple H up in WWE, and they had the whole Kliq thing and they always talked. Then there was some animosity between Hunter and I, and we just so happened by represented by the same manager. There were things going back and forth. Plus, no offense, but I think we were kicking their ass in the ratings. So I was a bad guy, I was one of those guys that was leading the charge. How else are they going to look upon somebody like that? Was I go going to go up there and they were going to completely destroy the character, therefore turning me into the monster that many people thought that I was, in that I had to protect myself, even more, going up there.
"It was a really, really tough decision to make. But I wanted to be there for the kids. That jolt of energy you get when you're walking to the ring, or when you're in the ring and you look out to the crowd, or when you get out of the ring and you see those kids, and you see the smiles on their faces and the stars in their eyes. And all you do is you let them touch your title. You grab them and you pick them up, and you make them part of the show. I really missed that. And I was willing to put pretty much everything to the side just to get that feeling again and to be back there for those kids."
Goldberg also revealed that his relationship with then WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon could've been better.
"It was not warm and fuzzy by any stretch of the imagination," Goldberg said. "The first year that I was at the WWE, from what I can remember, was one of the most stressful years of my entire life. And like I say, some of the things may have been fabricated in my own mind, to lobotomize me. But I felt as though I was still the enemy, walking in the locker room, everyone going 'What the hell is this guy doing here?' I've always felt like an outsider, but never as much as I did then."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription