It wasn’t nearly as scathing as CM Punk’s criticism of AEW, but Bill Goldberg didn’t have flattering things to say about Tony Khan’s promotion when he was asked about working with AEW during a radio interview earlier this month.
The WWE Hall of Famer called AEW “too cheesy”, and said there were no “viable competitors” to WWE that he could work for and “still look myself in the mirror after I was a member of their roster”.
Goldberg’s comments were somewhat surprising in light of past quotes from Khan about what a great relationship he has with the WCW legend, quotes that seemed to indicate there was a decent chance of Goldberg showing up in AEW someday.
AEW’s owner, president & head of creative was asked about Goldberg’s comments during a recent appearance on Superstar Crossover with Josh Martinez:
“Bill wanted to work here! I met with Bill several times. Bill was looking to work here.
“It’s funny because I had a bunch of really nice meetings with Bill and would have honestly been interested in doing something. Since you brought it up, I have a lot of respect for Bill but I was surprised by that because certainly that wasn’t what he said to me when he was talking to me about maybe working here at some point, which I’ve always been open to and I really like Bill. It’s all about timing and we’re doing a lot of exciting things here right now.”
Khan’s particularly surprised by Goldberg’s criticism of the product considering the almost universal praise AEW got for the way the promotion handled Sting’s retirement run and final match at March’s Revolution PPV, perhaps especially because Goldberg’s been talking about his own retirement match over the past year or so:
“I know Sting and Bill are good friends and I really like Bill and have respect for him but when I saw that, I mean, Bill’s talked to me about working here so I don’t think he had any problem with any of that content. Anybody who saw Sting’s send-off has had positive things to say so I’m not sure what that was about but I do respect Bill and like him very much.”
Tony closed out his answer by emphasizing that Goldberg’s most recent public comments on AEW don’t match the private conversations they’ve had:
“He’s entitled to his opinion but certainly when I’ve talked to him in-person several times, in-person and in zooms and phone calls, we’ve had very nice conversations and he hasn’t said that but it’s good to know that’s how he feels. Maybe that’s an opinion he holds now but certainly, in our past conversations he’s always been a very positive, nice guy.”
There was at least one report about Goldberg’s substantial asking price, and lots of speculation that his critical comments came after it became clear that AEW wouldn’t meet it.
Let us know what you make of it all in the comments below, and check out Khan’s entire appearance on Superstar Crossover here.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login