WWE Denies Cutting Off Goldberg’s Retirement Speech on Purpose

WWE is pushing back after Goldberg seemingly hinted at his retirement speech was cut short on purpose—saying that’s simply not what happened.

Following his final match against GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Goldberg vented his frustration during an interview with Ariel Helwani. The Hall of Famer said he was handed a live mic to address the fans, only to be abruptly cut off before he could properly say goodbye.

“Yeah, absolutely. They cut me off for freaking 20 seconds with the microphone in my hand, for God’s sakes… I got two weeks before I can really, you know, spill the beans and, you know, make my feelings kind of known about the entire rundown from the inception of the idea to its delivery. It was a little less than to be desired.”

But now, a senior WWE official has responded—and they’re denying any bad intent. According to Fightful Select, a high-ranking WWE source confirmed the mic cutoff wasn’t done to disrespect Goldberg. They claim there was no malicious plan and no effort to silence him during his final WWE appearance.

“A WWE higher up denied that they intentionally or maliciously cut off Goldberg’s retirement speech on Saturday Night’s Main Event, after Goldberg’s retirement.”

Goldberg also expressed disappointment over the setting of his last match—a taped Saturday night TV show in Atlanta—saying it didn’t align with how he pictured his retirement.

“Not—well, I mean, the Saturday Night’s Main Event and live TV in Atlanta. I mean, you always have your dreams of how you’re going to do things. And ultimately to have a little bit more control over the time and the space would have been much more preferred, let’s just put it that way.”

Whether it was a technical issue, a production call, or just bad timing—WWE is standing firm that they didn’t intend to undercut one of their most dominant legends.