Goldberg Reportedly Was Offered 'Legitimate Retirement Run' by AEW amid WWE Rumors

In the aftermath of Goldberg expressing frustration at how his retirement match was handled by WWE, AEW reportedly tried at one point to sell him on a final run with the promotion.

Per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), AEW offered Goldberg a "legitimate retirement run" before he decided to go with the deal WWE presented.

It's not a secret that Goldberg and AEW had talks at one point. He even confirmed in an April 2024 radio interview with 93.7 The Ticket (h/t M. Gomez of Cageside Seats) having met with AEW president Tony Khan, but described the product as "too cheesy" for him.

Khan pushed back against that by saying he met with Goldberg "several times" and he "was looking to work here."

After appearing at Bad Blood in October 2024 in an angle with Gunther, Goldberg later confirmed he would have a retirement match in WWE at some point in 2025. He returned to television on the June 16 episode of Raw to issue a challenge toGunther for the world heavyweight title on the Saturday Night's Main Event show taking place on July 12, the same day as All In Texas.

Gunther retained the title on the show by technical submission when Goldberg passed out from a sleeper hold. WWE immediately went to commercial after that, then came back with about 30 seconds of television time remaining for Goldberg to give his farewell speech.

Even though the full speech was posted on WWE's YouTube page, the entire build and follow-through didn't seem to sit well with Goldberg.

Goldberg went on Ariel Helwani's podcast on Tuesday to vent his frustration, saying he was "pissed off" because he "put so much into it and I don't feel as though the effort was reciprocated to put a stamp on what I've accomplished."

Sapp noted giving Goldberg his moment in the spotlight wasn't WWE's "priority" for the show, but rather trying to put a show head-to-head against AEW's biggest show of the year in an attempt to drag it down.

Instead, it seems like WWE failed in all regards because Goldberg is unhappy, ratings for the show were down and All In Texas is believed to have been a financial and critical success.