Eric Bischoff Says Bret Hart Was Not at Fault for Goldberg’s Injury at WCW Slamboree 1999

– In the latest 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff looked back at the WCW Slamboree 1999 PPV event, and Goldberg suffering an injury due to Bret Hart at the event. According to Bischoff, Goldberg took responsibility for moving when he wasn’t supposed to during a Hart chair shot to his ankle which caused the injury and Bret Hart was not at fault. Highlights are below:

Bischoff on Bret Hart apparently injuring Goldberg during the Sting/Goldberg match: “Obviously, I wasn’t in the ring, but going back and looking at it and looking at Bill’s responses to it, it wasn’t Bret’s fault. From a technical point of view, and you may have heard me say this on the Dark Side of the Ring series on VICE, I don’t think anybody from a technical perspective will ever surpass Bret Hart in terms of what he was able to do and how he executed in the ring technically. He was one of the best maybe there’s ever been. He and Ric [Flair] too. Those guys are neck and neck in that regard in my opinion, and I’m not a wrestler, so people may disagree with me.”

Bischoff on Goldberg taking responsibility for the injury: “When it comes to Bret Hart, I don’t think anybody can ever accuse — nobody ever should accuse Bret of taking liberties or being sloppy or not looking out for his opponent because that’s just not true. It doesn’t mean accidents can’t happen, and I think Bill did the right thing by taking responsibility. It takes two in this dance. You have to dance together. And if you get a little bit out of step, or if you get out of rhythm, then accidents do happen, and I think that’s what happened here. I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that. Bret did feel horrible. He really did. It was just a bad situation.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.