Bill Goldberg has built an indomitable reputation around his pro-wrestling career. However, he is also infamous for being unsafe, injuring his colleagues inside the ring. During an interview (via X), ‘The Myth’ recalled the time when he broke Scott Steiner’s orbital bone ahead of their match at WCW’s Fall Brawl 2000. Goldberg stated that Steiner, who was on his left, yelled, “Hit me.” Check out the clip below:
Goldberg on breaking Scott Steiner’s orbital bone
“Right when I dropped him I went right down…. I didn’t care about the cameras bc I hurt a friend of mine and the business went completely 2nd.”pic.twitter.com/dMv3HVMOj8 https://t.co/0KmCpr0Xoh
— Vick (@Vick_8122) September 10, 2025
He emphasized that he was not good with his left punch but was getting constantly yelled at by Steiner. ‘The Man’ punched him on “accident” and instantly realized that he “broke something,” reminding the interviewers that the mask that ‘The White Thunder’ was wearing at the PPV was its consequence. He said,
Right when I dropped him, ‘what do you think?’ I’m like ‘Jesus Christ!’ I went right down. You know, I didn’t care about the cameras, I ain’t caring what was going on in the match. I did not care because I hurt a friend of mine, and the business went completely, it was second, it was backdoor.
The 2-time Universal Champion emphasized how he was primarily concerned about hurting his friend. But he also praised Steiner because he “didn’t cry” when he was punched, because that was what the fans wanted to see.
Scott Steiner Respects Goldberg Despite Suffering an Injury From Him
Scott Steiner is one of the hottest names in the pro-wrestling world and has been part of some of the most epic matches in WCW and WWE. His face-off against Bill Goldberg at the 2000 Fall Brawl in a no-disqualification stipulation was one such match. The encounter was epic and one of the best matches of the icons’ careers.
During an exclusive interview with the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling
I knew what kind of match that we had to have. It was basically we had to beat the s**t out of each other. People like that action-packed beat the sh**t out of each other style.
That was not all, because Steiner stated how he respects Bill Goldberg, who had been a pro athlete before but eventually switched careers and became an entertainment wrestler, in high regard. He said,
You know, when most athletes that played in college and or play pro like Bill did, there’s a certain amount of respect that you have. If you think about it, it’s really hard to get a college scholarship. So there’s a certain amount of respect for guys that actually played sports, I would say more so than anybody else that gets into wrestling. So we had a certain amount of respect.
However, not everyone holds the same opinion of Goldberg, as Bret Hart holds a longstanding hatred against him. After all, the WCW United States Champion was the one who led to his premature retirement.
Goldberg vs. Bret Hart: The Stiff Kick That Ended The Hitman’s Career
In 1997, after the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Bret Hart parted ways with Vince McMahon’s WWE and joined WCW. The fans believed that he would recreate the same success with the brand as he did in World Wrestling Entertainment. However, everything went sideways for him when he faced Goldberg.
In 1999, the two greats of the game locked horns at the WCW Starrcade, where Hart was defending his WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg in a no-disqualification match. During the match, ‘The Myth’ hits Hart with a stiff kick to the head, resulting in a concussion. Ultimately, he was forced to hang up his boots and harbored a deep loathing for him.
During an interview with Lucha Libre Online, ‘The Hitman’ shared how he holds a “sore spot” for Bill Goldberg, who became a part of several high-profile matches and earned fat checks from the company. He said,
I think, for me, it’s always been a bit of a sore spot; it always makes me kind of mad that some guy is flying all the way over to Saudi Arabia and making 3 million dollars in a match and the same guy is the guy that kicked me in the head and never thought about me or what he cost me and my family and what he did to me.
On a separate occasion, at the Who Killed WCW documentary (via TJR Wrestling), Bret Hart called Goldberg a “gorilla” who would turn a deaf ear to any instructions given to him. He said,
How do you fight Bill Goldberg? He’s like a gorilla, slamming guys through the mat, running them over like a car. I would pull him aside and say I wanna teach you how to actually not hurt guys and when I walked out to the ring with Bill that night I really looked him in the eye and said, ‘Don’t hurt me out there, you need to trust me’ and it all went in one ear and out the other.
He added,
I really think Bill just saw me as another job guy, someone that was cannon fodder. If you’re watching that match, Bill goes “Watch the kick” and I’m like “Watch the kick?” I don’t understand what he’s doing. He kicked me as hard as he could, you can see me grab my neck, I was concussed.
Hart emphasized that for Goldberg, he was nothing but mere “cannon fodder” to him and allegedly blamed him for being kicked with maximum force, leaving him concussed. Thus, ‘The Myth’ established his reputation as not being a safe wrestler to work with.
With so much controversy around Bill Goldberg’s in-ring reputation, do you think he went overboard while working? Or was it a clever way of eliminating competition? Let us know in the comments below!
