Bret Hart Slams Goldberg While Discussing Wrestling Safety
Goldberg ended Hart's career with a botched thrust kick in 1999.
Bret Hart does not like Bill Goldberg. As history tells it, Hart was one of the most successful professional wrestlers of the 1990s and a certified face of the WWF's New Generation Era. He headlined two editions of WrestleMania and captured the WWF Championship on five separate occasions. Hart ended up having a hard falling out with the WWF, as Vince McMahon infamously screwed Hart out of the WWF Championship at WWF Survivor Series 1997 after Hart declared that he would not lose to on-screen and real-life rival Shawn Michaels in his hometown of Montreal. Following the Montreal Screwjob, Hart joined WCW shortly after and collected gold on numerous occasions.
Hart's WCW run ultimately ended before it could truly flourish. At WCW Starrcade 1999, Hart took a stiff thrust kick to the head from Goldberg. This botched maneuver concussed Hart, who was unaware of it at the moment, as he went on to wrestle nine more matches in the subsequent weeks. Hart would officially retire from in-ring competition in October 2000.
Bret Hart Slams Goldberg While Discussing Wrestling Safety
The Hitman never forgets.
Speaking to Fox Sports Australia, WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart noted that he believes wrestlers who execute maneuvers that legitimately hurt their opponents should not be in the squared circle.
"In my understanding of pro wrestling, anytime anyone does anything to you that hurts, for real – chopping, putting blisters on your chest when you go to your room or bed, anytime anyone does things to you for real, they're in the wrong business," Hart said. "They're doing it wrong because you're not supposed to get hurt. You're not supposed to come back to your dressing room that night, or to your hotel room and have a big lump on your head and a black eye and your teeth are knocked out."
Hart continued by providing an example of someone who wrestlers that aforementioned unsafe style.
"That's Bill Goldberg wrestling. That's not how it's done," Hart continued.
Casting shade on Goldberg is a pastime for Hart, as he has been regularly labelling the man that forced him into retirement as reckless for years.
"I'm a human being like everybody else. There was absolutely no malicious intent whatsoever," Goldberg reflected on Hart's constant comments during a 2022 interview. "Does it bother me? Yeah, I'll take it to my grave, but you know, I'm done saying I'm sorry. I've said it a million times. I'm not going to continue to tear myself down. You got to move on and I moved on. I won't be breached in this subject too much more."
