WWE News: Hall Of Famer Says Goldberg Should ‘Start Thinking Of Something Else’ Instead Of Wrestling
On the most recent edition of his podcast, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T commented on Goldberg’s current part-time status in the company, suggesting that the 54-year-old wrestler should think about other things aside from stepping into the ring for another match.
As quoted by Sportskeeda, Booker and his co-host Brad Gilmore discussed Goldberg’s WWE Championship match against reigning titleholder Drew McIntyre at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view on this week’s episode of their Hall of Fame podcast. While Gilmore admitted that he liked how the veteran grappler was fine with putting McIntyre over in the two-minute bout, Booker suggested that Goldberg “did as good as he could” and asked if it was necessary for fans to see the legendary wrestler compete again.
After Gilmore mentioned that Goldberg has three matches remaining in his current contract, Booker stressed that he isn’t a fan of older wrestlers getting lots of exposure in major pay-per-views and that WWE should “embrace the change” and give its younger performers a chance to shine. Citing another specific example, he said that he also doesn’t agree with how Sting, who turns 62 next month, is expected to wrestle occasionally in AEW.
“I just feel like when you get to a certain age in this business, you’ve got to definitely start thinking about something else. Is it healthy? I was just talking about Sting… you know, at 61, stepping into the ring again. Someone said, ‘should he do it?’ and I go, ‘it wouldn’t be wise for Sting to step into the ring and take a bump’. You know, taking a bump at 25 is different to taking a bump at 61, 58.”
This isn’t the first time in recent weeks that Booker has been critical of Goldberg’s most recent in-ring return. As quoted last week by Ringside News, he aired his thoughts on the former World Championship Wrestling standout’s match against McIntyre on WWE’s The Bump, saying that people love the nostalgia factor of a past icon playing a key part in present-day storylines but emphasizing that wrestling is a “young man’s game.”
For his part, Goldberg acknowledged in a December interview that he isn’t the same performer he was during his heyday in WCW in the 1990s and his first WWE run in the early 2000s. However, he pointed out that he has no immediate plans of retiring, as he feels his body still can take the demands of being an in-ring competitor and that at this point, he still has to “put food on the table” for his family.
