Goldberg On If WWE Resents His WCW Run, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Returning To Wrestling, Del Rio Fight

I spoke with former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg last week. Below is the full interview.

Goldberg will be one of several legends appearing at this Sunday's Legends of Wrestling event at Citi Field in Queens, NY, which is being organized by Louis "Uncle Louie" Gregory. Other legends scheduled to appear include Bret Hart, Ric Flair, The Nasty Boys and Scott Steiner.

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You just returned from Amsterdam, you were doing a little training with Rico Verhoeven for Glory, right?

"Yeah, doing a little countdown thing for GLORY. I went and trained with Rico, and one of the lightweight contenders for the tournament."

How was that experience?

"Unparalleled to get that type of opportunity and experience. It was a trip, but it was a lot of fun. It was like a kickboxer's dream come true."

It's been over a decade since fans have seen you in the ring. When did you get the itch to compete in MMA or kickboxing?

"I don't really have any desire to compete in MMA, by any stretch. I don't think I was ever prepared to do something like that due to my inability to actually wrestle. I've been doing muay thai for a long period of time. I've dabbled with it for stretches over the past 10-15 years. It's something I've enjoyed, it brings me inner peace. I think it's mind, body and spirit, it's all encompassing. It's an activity for myself that my son is involved in."

You've been involved with MMA as far as announcing for EliteXC and now Glory. As a fan, do you have a preference between MMA or kickboxing?

"My preference is kickboxing and GLORY is far superior to watching mixed martial arts. I'm not just saying that because I'm involved in GLORY, I used to be involved with MMA. We're in the day in age of people wanting to be insatiated in a very short amount of time. Three, three minute rounds where guys are going to go out there and smash each other in the face. A limited number of weapons and no takedowns, I think that sets it up for an extremely volatile mix that could explode. I think it's a much cooler product."

It seems like fights MMA fans go crazy for are a lot like kickboxing, like the Andrei Arlovski – Travis Browne fight [at UFC 187]. How do you think GLORY can tap more in to that audience?

"I don't know. I'm helping them, and I believe with my presence and my background I can help them steer the ship into that direction. I truly believe that there's many things that need to happen. First and foremost, people need to be able to view the product. It does nobody any good if people don't see it. I believe if you sat every MMA fan down, every martial arts fan down for 30 seconds, a 30 second clip of knockouts and techniques from show to show on GLORY. If you have a heartbeat, you're going to be a fan of GLORY. Most of the MMA casual fans, if they list their top 10 fights, I guarantee 9 out of 10 are all stand up fights. The casual fan doesn't know what goes into the process of what goes into a fight on the feet or on the ground. If you want to be insatiated very quickly, there's nothing more apparent."

I think having you involved could be a big transition for a lot of pro wrestling fans. How far off do you think you fighting is?

"My biggest opponent is myself, because I tend to hurt myself in training. Before I think about it realistically, I need to heal up. I had a torn bicep, three broken toes, a contusion on my thigh. All of these are from training or the flip I did off of my four wheeler. That's the biggest obstacle, staying healthy in training to prepare to fight. I think it's extremely realistic. It's something I do several times a week depending on my schedule, but I think there's a high likelihood that it's going to happen."

You mentioned you were scheduled to fight Alberto Del Rio at one point.

"I was never scheduled to fight him, it was thrown out there as an option. You can guess as to why that wasn't a good idea at a time. I read that they never asked him, and he's oblivious to it."

Is that a fight that you'd still be interested in?

"I think so, you never know. It'd be interesting. If it was done properly, yeah. The last thing I want to do is bring any professional wrestling goofiness to GLORY Kickboxing, because it's the antithesis of what we do. It's the other end of the spectrum. I have nothing but the utmost respect. It's very traditional. There's not a lot of trash talk, and that may be one of its downfalls because you have this ingrained tradition of stand up fighters. They don't want to misrepresent, that's one of the issues of the growth of the business is that you don't have guys disrespecting each other."

I know you get asked about this a lot, but CM Punk is in the same boat, without pro experience. What are your feelings about him debuting in the UFC?

"More power to him. I don't know him, I never watched him. I can only go based on what I'm told or read. My statement will go like this- not many people knew that I did muay thai. That doesn't mean that people's assumption of me not being good at it was correct. I respect this business to bring in any of the goofy bullsh-t from pro wrestling into this, I can't stand it. I don't know him or how much of his personal life he keeps to himself. Does he wear the fact that he trains jiujitsu on his sleeve, do people go to his Instagram and see jiujitsu pictures of him in a gi for ten years? I don't know this. This might be a guy who trains 5 days a freakin' week. I think it's a great idea for him. I think Brock [Lesnar] was a great one, he wanted to do something, he followed his dreams and succeeded. There's nobody in the world who can say you don't deserve to follow your dreams. It's a different circumstance when you bring in a celebrity as a fighter, I could see how some people are pissed off. I wasn't in the wrestling business very long. I was brought in and because of a lot of things aligning properly, I made it to the top of the ranks in a very short time."

You mentioned Brock. As a fan, were you disappointed that he decided to stick with pro wrestling instead of going back to the UFC?

"No, I'm not a fan anymore. I can't be considered a fan anymore, because I have too much invested emotionally to give an objective opinion anymore. I know from a personal level, whatever Brock wants to do, I'm good with. I like Brock, he's one of the few from that business I can even personally stand. I respect him, I admire him, and I appreciate him. "

How different is training for kickboxing than everything else you've done before?

"It's completely different, but at the same time, it's 100 percent the same. There are things you can call upon your body to do that you never would have thought you could. The mental aspect of it is quite similar. Self-respect, self-discipline, hard work. They're all the same in what they combine. It's a lot of fun."

If you end up not fighting, what do you see yourself doing with GLORY? Possibly announcing?

"I don't see myself doing that anymore, I've been there and done that. I'm too much of a fan to be able to do that, so I think my announcing days are over. Who knows, we'll see. I'll do whatever I can to help get GLORY to the forefront of the combat sports world. The show coming up in France on June 5th, after that there's a bit of a break before August. I think we're going to get something planned together to see if we can get this thing to the forefront."

You mentioned at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race last month that you would be wrestling again. Which do you think fans will see first, you wrestling or you kickboxing?

"It's a toss-up. 50-50 chance on each. I do not know, my friend."

What would it take for a promotion to get you to wrestle again?

"A hell of a lot of money. One hell of a sit-down meeting with me about the complete details of how they plan on doing it. With the option on the table of me doing it myself, that's pretty nice."

You mentioned the option of you doing it yourself, are you thinking of your own promotion, or a one off card?

"I would never run a promotion in this business, no. It'd be a one-time card, a special event."

You have a Legends of Wrestling event June 7 at Citi Field. What can fans expect?

"Any time you have an event with Flair, Hart, the Nasty Boys on it, it's a cornucopia of personalities. Whether it's the Q&A, the wrestling matches themselves, everyone will find something to be entertained by."

You released a promo telling Scott Steiner that you'd save a seat for him at the event. What did you mean about that?

"Oh man. He said some stuff about me, typical stuff, promos. Trying to goad me into this and that. Like I said, if he has anything to say, I'll save a seat for him right next to me."

If you did a one-time event, is Scott Steiner someone you'd be interested in wrestling?

"Um, yeah maybe. I loved working with him, he's awesome. I love everything he does with the Big Poppa Pump deal, it's great."

Do you feel like there was some sort of resentment from WWE for you making your name in WCW?

"It's kind of funny that guys like me who had the balls to say something about the WWE through the years, and their treatment, and they sound like they're crying or b—hing or moaning. People want to look down on them like they're crying. It's pretty funny how that crap is coming true. All of that stuff I've been saying for the past 10-15 years is coming true. Anybody who's never listened to me can kiss my ass (laughs). It's just speaking the truth. I don't have any ill will with them. They just don't know how to do business, their ego gets in the way. They're a successful company, they always have been and they always will be, but they could be a lot more successful."

Goldberg, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, The Nasty Boys, Rob Van Dam and Scott Steiner are among the legends that will be appearing at Sunday's event. Limited seats are still available for the event at Mets.com/wrestling.