During the latest edition of his “The Kurt Angle Show” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle commented on the backstage reaction to the Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania XX, Goldberg’s issues with WWE in 2004, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Goldberg’s issues with WWE in 2004: “He made it pretty clear. I did discuss it with him one day. But I felt kind of bad for Goldberg. You have to remember when he was in WCW, he was marketed differently. He was a killer. He was a beast. His matches lasted two or three minutes tops. In WWE, when they brought him in, they tried to make them into it like a long-term worker where he’s wrestling 10 or 15-minute matches and that didn’t work for Goldberg. The WWE eventually smartened up because after Goldberg left after this, and he came back in 2014, 2015, 2016, they decided to market him as a beast, as a killer, and his matches were one minute, two minutes, three minutes. That’s how you make money with Goldberg and WWE finally smartened up.”
On having a conversation with Lesnar about leaving WWE: “Brock had a private conversation with me about a month before Wrestlemania. He told me that he wanted to try out for the NFL and that he didn’t like the travel that the WWE produced for him every year. He just didn’t want to be on the road that much. He told me he wanted to try out for the Minnesota Vikings. He actually contacted the recruiter and they were interested. He asked me, ‘What should I do? Should I tell Vince now or should I wait?’ I told him, ‘Listen, if I were you, I’d wait until after WrestleMania and then tell Vince that you’re unhappy and that you want to leave the company.’ But Brock decided to go back home and he told Vince right when we got back home from the tour. So, he ended up contacting Vince. That’s what enabled Vince to decide that Brock would do the job. Vince already knew Goldberg was leaving. He didn’t know Brock was leaving at this particular time. But when Brock came home for that tour and told Vince, it hurt Vince. It stung. So everybody knew that if Brock was leaving and Goldberg was leaving, most likely Vince is going to probably stick it to Brock because Brock was younger. He was full-blown WWE. He was in WWE his whole career. Goldberg came from WCW. So Vince, when you’re part of his company when you start out, he wants you there forever, and when you leave, Vince can be a little bit unforgiving.”
On his backstage reaction to the Goldberg vs. Lesnar match: “I was backstage watching it on the monitor and it was crazy. The fans really turned on those guys. They shit on the whole match. This was a big feature match, this was a money match for the WWE. It’s a dream match that everybody wanted to see, but because both guys were leaving the company, the fans didn’t want to see it anymore.”
On the backstage reaction from other talent: “They were surprised, but then again, they weren’t surprised. We do understand that the fans are loyal to us, as long as we’re loyal to them and I do believe they felt cheated that Brock and Goldberg were leaving. The boys, they weren’t laughing, but they were like, ‘Holy shit, I can’t believe this is happening.’ The match was such a big match, it was something everybody wanted to see. Even the boys wanted to see it. When the fans crapped all over it, it was like, oh gosh, this is crazy. Some guys were laughing, some guys were like, oh crap, this is horrible. Everybody treated it differently.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
