In October 2016, Bill Goldberg set foot in a WWE ring for the first time in 12 years, launching a quick, yet memorable comeback that saw him briefly hold the Universal Championship and make up for his WrestleMania XX debacle against Brock Lesnar with a quick, yet solid match against the Beast at WrestleMania 33. WWE’s welcoming back of Goldberg continued this year when he headlined the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018, but in a recent interview, he expressed his disappointment in certain aspects of the ceremony.
In a recent appearance on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling, Goldberg was asked about what he felt about his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this month ahead of WrestleMania. He called his induction “bittersweet,” saying that he was indeed honored and thankful that he became a part of the Hall of Fame this year, but stressed that he wasn’t quite happy when he came on last and saw that half of the audience left at the time he was ready to speak. Goldberg called this an “unfair and unceremoniously strange” send-off, though he also acknowledged it wouldn’t be fair to tell other inductees to make their speeches shorter than they should be.
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“At the same time it makes for an extremely excruciating experience sitting out in that crowd,” Goldberg added. “[It’s] even more excruciating for someone that has to follow them and capture their career in a short period of time, which is what I tried to do.”
Like many ex-WCW main eventers who joined the WWE after they bought out the competition in 2001, Goldberg didn't have the easiest of times adjusting to his new environment. While he held one World Heavyweight Championship, winning the big gold belt from Triple H at Unforgiven in 2003, his one year in the company saw him look weaker than he should have appeared on many an occasion. He ended his first WWE run on a low note, defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX in a match that has often been savaged as one of the worst 'Mania matches of all time, mainly because both men were on their way out of the company and were arguably dogging it in what many felt was a "boring" match.
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Despite his underwhelming first WWE run and his previous unsavory reputation in both WCW and WWE locker rooms, Goldberg turned things around in the years that followed and seemed to have the respect of his mostly younger colleagues during his second run. That, in part, makes it baffling as to why many of the wrestlers in attendance left at the time Goldberg made his Hall of Fame acceptance speech. However, it must be added that this is mostly on WWE, which, as Goldberg suggested, needs to figure out a way to give everyone a chance to speak without saying too much in future Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, so that people don't walk out before the show is over.