Goldberg "believed his own hype" and is wrong about real fight, ex-WWE star says
Bill Goldberg was one of WCW's most popular wrestlers in the late 1990s. In a recent interview, former WWE star Maven Huffman explained why the Hall of Famer is wrong to believe he is tougher than William Regal.
On the February 9, 1998, episode of WCW Nitro, Goldberg's win over Regal was widely criticized due to their lack of in-ring chemistry. In 2016, Goldberg made headlines when he implied on The Steve Austin Show that Regal deliberately tried to hurt him.
The WCW icon also suggested the end result would be "beautiful" if he and Regal fought each other in real life. However, speaking to James Romero of WSI, Maven disagreed:
"Bill's a nice guy, sweetheart of a person, but, I mean, he lived off of this aura and he believed his own hype. Like, for instance, take the match he had with Regal in WCW, and if you interviewed Bill he would talk about how, 'Oh, if it was a shoot, I would have killed him.' No, you would not have." [2:14 – 2:36]
In the same interview, Maven revealed what he saw when the former Universal Champion got involved in a real-life altercation with Chris Jericho backstage in WWE.
Maven on how a Goldberg vs. William Regal fight would have gone
Between 1983 and 2013, William Regal established himself as one of the toughest wrestlers of his generation. WWE's current Vice President of Global Talent Development won several titles during his career, including the Intercontinental Championship twice.
Maven views Regal in a similar league to Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle and thinks he would have easily won a real fight with Goldberg:
"William Regal would wipe the mat with you. William Regal's another one I'd put in that Kurt Angle [category of legitimate wrestlers], just upper echelon. Regal's taking it easy on Bill. If Regal would have wanted to, he could have ripped him [apart]. Regal's just in a different world of physicality than Bill was." [2:36 – 3:04]
In 2022, Regal said on his podcast he is willing to have a conversation with his former opponent to finally end their animosity.
What do you make of Maven's comments? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit WSI and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.