Bill Goldberg is no longer under contract with WWE, but the former WCW star still wants to go out on his own terms.
The 56-year-old last wrestled at Elimination Chamber against Roman Reigns in Saudi Arabia in 2022. Goldberg has been out of action since then, but he wants a proper send-off before he hangs up his wrestling boots.
Fans have linked the WWE Hall of Famer to AEW, which president Tony Khan hasn't outright denied. But the pro wrestling icon finally put rumors about his future to bed -- while also adding more speculation fuel to the fire.
"I'll stop the rumor mill right now," Goldberg said on "93.7 The Ticket" on Monday, per the Wrestling Observer's Ian Carey. "The reason why these rumors are out there is because Vince McMahon and I had a handshake understanding that after the Roman Reigns match, I would have a proper retirement match and that hasn't come to fruition through them, and so therefore, nobody puts a stamp on my career, nobody tells me when I'm done, period, end of story. And when somebody tells me that, I kind of like to fight against it. I like to do things my own way and I go out my own way and I certainly don't go out under Roman Reigns three weeks after I have COVID and agreed to a match.
So, if I go on a world tour and promote it myself, that's a possibility. Hey, I'm a businessman and I'm fortunately in the position, I firmly believe, to where I can still make it happen. At the end of the day, like I said, I do believe that my character deserves a proper send-off and until that happens, I don't believe I'm hanging them up. So, anything and everything is an option.
I'm very much leaning toward promoting it myself and doing a four-city world tour. So, let the rumor mill start up after that."
Goldberg has wrestled 11 matches since he returned to pro wrestling after a 12-year absence at Survivor Series in 2016. He's received big reactions in his second WWE run, and the nostalgia from his dominant WCW career continues to be on the mind of fans.
The big question is who ends Goldberg's career? Many of his past WCW opponents, like Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan, likely are off the table since they are not up to task when it comes to in-ring shape. Would Diamond Dallas Page say yes? Sting is contracted to AEW, so Khan would have to sign off on his talents being used. Goldberg could go with a deep-cut and bring in Satoshi Kojima.
Also, is this tour going to be on television or pay-per-view?
It's possible Goldberg goes the Ric Flair route, as the latter pro wrestling legend headlined the "Ric Flair's Last Match" event at SummerSlam in 2022. You can have other matches on the card before finishing with a Goldberg match. This would be better for fans since his matches rarely exceed 10 minutes.
Regardless of what he decides to do, Goldberg's retirement should gain a ton of buzz -- even if pro wrestlers rarely stay retired -- and fans will be left to ponder who will wrestle him for the final matches of his in-ring career.
