Goldberg On If Hulk Hogan Deserves A Second Chance, If He Copied Steve Austin

WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg appeared on CBS Sports' In This Corner Podcast this week. Below are a couple of highlights:

If WWE and fans should forgive Hulk Hogan:

"Oh, that's not for me to judge. I think everybody deserves a second chance. I think you put [Hogan] in the locker room and give him the floor and let him speak his mind. That's what he deserves. Who knows what happens from there but it's not for me to say by any means. I can just give you my opinion and say that he deserves the floor and who knows where it goes from there."

His friendship with Steve Austin:

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: I never copied a damn thing from Steve Austin. But I did see how a character can be so grandiose, so all-encompassing and so successful that I took cues from his rise to better help me in my preparation for my hopeful rise. In the speech, I gave credit to a number of people who landed one thing or another to the formation of Goldberg as a character. Whether it was just the look from the Road Warriors or sticking the tongue out from Hawk, there were a lot of people that had a lot to do with my success. But it doesn't mean that I copied them in any way, shape or form.

"I watched [Austin] from afar and took notes on what to do and what not to do, and he was a very positive influence in my career watching from afar. It wasn't a hands-on approach, but then when I did get to WWE and he and I hooked up, it was nothing but respect. I greatly appreciated that coming from him — such a successful character and such a good person deep down inside. I appreciated that to the utmost degree. Since we became friends years and years ago, there is no question I keep in contact with him more so than anyone else in the business and there is a reason for that."

You can listen to the full podcast in the player below:

damien demento contributed to this article.