"The truth is I don't like the guy" – When Triple H's former WWE opponent broke character

In 2003, Triple H was universally disliked by the WWE Universe. On-screen, the 14-time world champion portrayed a top villain on RAW. Off-screen, he did not always get along with his co-workers behind the scenes, most notably Bill Goldberg.

On the October 2, 2003, edition of WWE show Byte This, Goldberg disclosed his real-life thoughts about Triple H. The two were involved in a World Heavyweight Championship storyline on RAW at the time.

In a candid interview, the former football player admitted he disliked the man he had been booked to feud with. He also compared the WWE backstage atmosphere to the locker room environment he experienced in WCW:

"The truth is I don't like the guy and I enjoy wearing the belt that he so graciously called his own because, in reality, it was mine first (…) The one big thing here [WWE] is that we're all working for the common goal and you're not worried about one guy trying to one-up you, and that's coming from a situation [WCW] where that was commonplace. And let me tell you, this is a definite breath of fresh air," Goldberg said. [2:11:21 – 2:11:47]

The quotes were read out by Conrad Thompson during a 2018 episode of Bruce Prichard's Something to Wrestle With podcast.

The two men shared the ring eight times in televised matches between August 2003 and December 2003. The storyline ended with The King of Kings recapturing the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg and Kane at Armageddon 2003.

Why did Triple H apparently dislike Goldberg?

In 2022, Goldberg claimed Triple H had a problem with him due to his association with WCW. The Game was one of WWE's main attractions when RAW went head-to-head with WCW Nitro during the Attitude Era.

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@TripleH and @Goldberg battle for the World Heavyweight Title at #SurvivorSeries 2003. 👀ms.spr.ly/6018p1N5m

Courtesy of @WWENetwork https://t.co/t2C6OEA7qz

The WCW icon confirmed on Talk Is Jericho that the animosity between himself and the WWE Chief Content Officer was real:

"I was hanging out with Kevin [Nash] and Scott [Hall]," Goldberg said. "Their best friend was Triple H up at WWE. They had the whole Kliq thing. They'd always talk. There was some animosity between Hunter and I, and we just so happened to be represented by the same manager. There were things going back and forth."

Goldberg was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. During his speech, the two-time Universal Champion jokingly recalled the time he yelled at Triple H at a toy convention in the 1990s. The Game laughed at the story, seemingly confirming that they no longer have issues with each other.

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