Goldberg Says WWE Return In 2016 Would Not Have Happened Without Paul Heyman

As previously noted, WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg was the second guest on The Broken Skull Sessions with WWE Hall Of Famer 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. During the interview, Goldberg talked about adding vulnerability to his professional wrestling character for his most recent WWE run.

"If you're a power wrestler and you come back 16 years far removed, and you used to eat people and frickin' spit them out their ass, you have to have an excuse to not be that guy, right?" Goldberg asked rhetorically. "So I added a layer to my character and I let my family in on it when I never in a trillion years would have let me family be on camera prior to the situation that I found myself in where Goldberg needed an excuse not to be 295 [lbs.]. I had to be vulnerable because what I presented was a different package that couldn't attain what I attained before based upon his ferocity, his mental makeup, and his physicality because I wasn't that guy. I needed a crutch."

During the show, Goldberg put over Paul Heyman, saying that the comeback would not have happened without the former Paul E. Dangerously.  

"If it was not for Heyman, my comeback would not have happened," Goldberg declared. "Not that he made the call to make it, it's just that creatively, that's part of my deal, right? And there are certain people that know you and certain people that don't know you. And, therefore, you try to set the stage in a situation to where if things can go wrong, they go really wrong, they are the most qualified people that know you better than anybody on the planet. It's not the time for a booker to come in and try to learn about you. We have to know what worked and apply it immediately. There's no trial and error. I mean, I trust him exponentially with my career."

Goldberg discussed beating WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at WWE Survivor Series and being in the moment at WWE WrestleMania 33. Goldberg called beating Lesnar at Survivor Series "the coolest thing in the world".  

"It was the coolest thing in the world," Goldberg admitted. "And for Brock, man, and Heyman, they made it happen. And Vince and those guys made it happen and they made it work. And I am forever indebted, and let's be honest, if they didn't make money, they wouldn't have f–king done it! Right? So I was in the right place at the right time again. And thank God that I have kept the mentality that I have kept throughout the years because it made it possible to step in that ring again."

On the subject of WrestleMania 33, Goldberg said he really enjoyed the moment.  

"This is my last WrestleMania ever. I'm going to try to enjoy some semblance of it. I was smiling! Usually, I'm going into gorilla [position], man, I had already headbutted something. I have blood flowing. I'm doing my thing. I've got to be that apex ass-kicking person. It's not easy. I can't just turn it on and off. I have to have 20 seconds, 30. Just give me a little bit of time. But I walk in there, and I hug him, and I was laughing, and I'm like, 'it's all good. I'm going to have fun this time!' And he's worried, right? Completely worried. And I got through that curtain, man, and I took a couple of steps. And I looked down at all the people and I just smiled. And for the first time, truthfully, I think for the first time walking to the ring, I actually enjoyed it. I just enjoyed being in the moment at that time."

Goldberg, who said he has not wrestled his last match for WWE, claimed that he lost in the squared circle so infrequently that he does not know how to act when losing.  

"'Is this how you lose? Am I doing it right?' Because it would happen so infrequently that it's just weird. When I lose, I don't know what to do. It's weird, so immediately, I'm just trying to play it right. 'How do I act?' It's just weird. It's true though. I know, so how am I supposed to act? It's just a weird deal."

Goldberg continued, "as stupid as it sounds, honestly, it's just very strange. 'How long do I stay here?' 'Is it disrespectful to?' 'He just beat me! I'm Goldberg! I'm undefeated decisively. What do I?' It's all a storyline thing and you just don't want to do anything to supersede the ability for you to do it again or to [go in another direction with a story]."

Check out the show by subscribing to the WWE Network here. If you use any of the quotations that appear in this article, please credit WWE Network's The Broken Skull Sessions with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.