Speculation that Bill Goldberg “complaining” about retirement match could be a work for AEW appearance

As seen during WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 12th 2025, world heavyweight champion Gunther defeated Bill Goldberg in what was Goldberg’s final match. While speaking to Ariel Helwani, Goldberg said the following about his retirement…

“Let’s just say I’m pissed off at the way that I went out. I put so much into it and I don’t feel the effort was reciprocated to put a stamp on what I accomplished.”

Ariel Helwani, who was interviewing Goldberg when the comments were made, addressed what was said while appearing on Busted Open Radio…

“I will be 1,000% honest with you. I was not expecting that. I got the sense maybe that because the post-match interview got cut off, that maybe he was a little perturbed. But I didn’t think that that would cloud the entire thing, because I do agree with you, it’s very rare… to get an opportunity like that.”

“I will say at one point I was like, ‘Is he working me right now? Is this like, part of the story that he’s upset?’ Maybe he does pop up in two weeks on AEW and say ‘these guys screwed me’ and all that stuff, you know, workers work, so who knows? I’m not putting that one past them either.” (quotes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)

In 2024, Goldberg stated that there was “not a chance” of him going to AEW because “the product is too cheesy.”