WWE News: Goldberg Says He Wasn’t ‘Professional Enough’ When He Injured Bret Hart
Injuries can occur in any sport and that includes professional wrestling as WWE has dealt with thousands of them over the decades. One of the most infamous injuries was 20 years ago when Bill Goldberg kicked Bret Hart in the head and essentially cut his career short by many years. Two decades later, that moment in time is still being discussed, and Goldberg says he wishes things could have been different.
It was Starrcade 1999 and WCW put on a match pitting the Tag Team Champions against one another. Bret Hart took on Goldberg in the match, and the latter landed a mule kick to Hart’s head, which pretty much brought an end to his career for good.
After that event, Hart would go on to have just nine more matches in WCW and not participate in another WWE match until 2010. Hart suffered a severe concussion due to the kick landed by Goldberg, and he has since said that the injury cost him $16 million in future wrestling contracts. WCW terminated his contract soon after, and Hart announced his retirement later in 2000.
Hart has since said that he wished Goldberg hadn’t kicked him so hard and that he doesn’t know how Bill ended up in the WWE Hall of Fame. Now, Goldberg is saying that he wishes things could have been different, and he’s sorry for how they turned out.
On a recent episode of Inside the Ropes, Goldberg appeared to discuss a number of topics in wrestling and about his career. He was asked about working with Hart during his time in WCW and how he feels about the infamous kick.
Goldberg said that he is sorry, but if he had truly intended to hurt Hart, “he wouldn’t have gotten up.” Goldberg continues to say that it was simply an accident, and if people feel that there was malicious intent behind it, that’s on them.
“But accidents happen and he was an idol of mine, still is, and that’s one thing I forever be remorseful for is the misplaced kick. There are a couple things in my career that I wished I could have changed. That was one of them. The length that I had an angle with him and my ‘inability to be professional enough’ to pull the kick, but it meant very much to me to be believable.”
The former World Heavyweight Champion stands by the fact that he wanted to be “a competitor” in the ring and not just a character. Goldberg insists that he never meant to hurt Bret Hart with that kick to the head, which caused a severe concussion and cut his career short.
