During an interview with Inside The Ropes, Bill Goldberg discussed the match with Bret Hart from Starrcade 1999 and the kick to the face that ultimately ended Hart’s career:
“I would have loved to work a little bit more with Bret Hart, and I would have loved more than anything to have not kicked Bret Hart in the head, and what happened, happened. There been things said on the internet, either by Bret or other people, that I was malicious and he shouldn’t have been in the ring with me, hey, I’m really sorry, man, but if I really wanted to hurt the guy, he would never have gotten up, OK? No joke. He would never would’ve gotten up. But accidents happen. He was an idol of mine and still is, and that’s one thing that I’ll forever be remorseful for is the misplaced kick, and he did kind of know it was coming, but there are a couple of things in my career that I wish 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. I didn’t want to present a character that, no offense, but was like a Ric Flair, I’m not the ‘Woooo,’ I don’t run around and be goofy and entertain people like that. I’m a competitor, I’m not an entertainer. So if what I do in competing entertains, then I’m ecstatic, but I didn’t set out to be a sideshow by any stretch of the imagination. My two to five to 10 minute, I’m stretching it a little bit, matches were basically like throwing people to the lions. It was messy, and it was violent, and it was over before you knew it, and that’s what people loved. It was something different.”
