CM Punk was raw and ready to be honest as the post AEW Revolution media scrum and one of his targets was Bill Goldberg and how, because of him, Bret Hart isn’t making millions in Saudi Arabia in his place.
Talk about Goldberg and Bret seemed to come out of nowhere when Punk shared how a young AEW wrestler made him cry at the pay-per-view. Special thanks to wrestlinginc.com for the transcripts used in this article.
“I love Bret Hart. His career was cut short [by Goldberg], and it’s a god damn tragedy because there are people who go over to Saudi Arabia and get paid millions of dollars… that should have been Bret.
“I just feel super fortunate and grateful that I got a second chance. I’d give it up in a heartbeat to give it to Bret. I just love that mother f—er so much. He’s the greatest of all time.”
The kick that ended it all
Of course, we’ve all heard the reasons behind the kick from Goldberg that reportedly resulted in Bret suffering a concussion and then a stroke.
It effectively ended Bret’s in ring career, though he did come back for a brief run in 2010.
To this day, Bret is labeled a “hater” and other terms for occasionally going back to that moment. It’s been reported that Bret’s forgiven Goldberg for the incident, but he’s remained critical of Goldberg’s lack of in ring ability.
The two have gone back and forth on social media a couple of times, and Goldberg has been more defensive when others bring the kick up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc-EPF2WY8M
Goldberg’s even used the reasoning of wanting to make it look real for the kick.
It was a mistake and he’s owned up to it, but it’s understandable that fans and wrestlers would still have a problem with it. Especially give how it’s been widely believed by many that Goldberg’s unsafe to work with.
Bret’s fandom lives on
Bret Hart was one of the greatest ever, but over the years his reputation and legacy has taken some serious hits by fans that are tired of hearing his criticism.
Often, they point to the lower draw numbers in the United States, but elsewhere his draw was reportedly high.
He had the unfortunate timing of being one of the main bridges between the time of the giants to smaller, more athletic wrestlers as WWE sought to shake off the stigma of the steroid trial.
There’s no telling if Bret would still be wrestling and going to Saudi Arabia for the shows, but he doesn’t have that option anymore and we think that’s Punk’s point, but only he’d know for sure.
Do you agree with Punk’s statement? Let us know in the comments below.
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