Goldberg Talks Biggest Challenge of Going From Football to Wrestling

Bill Goldberg isn’t the first football player to transition into pro wrestling, but he’s probably the best known. At the height of the Monday Night Wars, he was WCW’s top fan favorite, though his aura has faded some in the years since with modern fans critiquing his lack of in-ring technique. Bret Hart, whose career was ended by a stiff Goldberg kick to the head, is always willing to remind fans of that fact.

Hart might get triggered anew from Goldberg’s latest interview. Speaking to a student intern at the Memphis in May barbecue competition, Goldberg discussed what for him was the biggest challenge of shifting from professional football to wrestling.

“There were two very difficult things for me,” he said. “First and foremost, it was not to hurt people, because you go from a sport that’s 100% full contact to more of a drama-filled kind of profession, right? And the second thing was kind of blending with the existing wrestlers because I’m coming in from a professional background trying to take the job of one of these guys who have aspired to do that their entire lives.”

“For me, I was born in a football helmet and I’ve wanted to be a football player my entire life. And I transitioned to wrestling because I had to retire from football cuz I got hurt, right? And I had to figure out something first and foremost that I would be passionate about and that I could translate all the things I’ve been doing with my life and my body for the past 20 years prior. And it’s tough to enter a profession as an outsider and there was a lot of pressure on me.”

“But the reality is I came from a sport where I got two guys that are 320 lbs trying to kill me at the same time. So for me, anything beyond the football field was easy.”