Eric Bischoff has addressed the controversy surrounding Bill Goldberg’s retirement match and the criticism aimed at WWE over how the farewell was handled. Speaking during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the former WCW President admitted he was “shocked” by Goldberg’s reaction and defended WWE’s actions, calling them “pretty generous” in how the Hall of Famer’s final match was presented.

Helwani brought up the situation by referencing a previous interview he conducted with Goldberg, where the former champion expressed disappointment that his farewell speech was cut short. Bischoff acknowledged seeing the interview but questioned the core of Goldberg’s frustration, noting that there may have been factors out of WWE’s control.

From a production perspective, Bischoff speculated that the timing of a live broadcast may have been the main issue. He said, “My first thought is, I would like to know why. Because, for example, did they go over in their match? I mean, you have a finite amount of time when you’re doing a live show and you have to get commercials in… So did Bill’s time get cut short because the match went too long? Or was the match before him? Was it a timing issue? I’d have to know why it happened before I could really pass any kind of judgment on it.”

Despite Goldberg being upset about not delivering the speech he wanted, Bischoff felt WWE still honored him in a significant way. “I was shocked that he was upset. Because, to me, without knowing how he felt behind the scenes, I’m thinking, ‘wow, they did him a righteous,’” he said. “I mean, they basically served him up on a silver platter for the fans… the build-up, the Doug Dellinger thing. I mean, they gave him a lot.”

Bischoff acknowledged the disappointment but encouraged a broader view of the entire moment. “I understand he didn’t get the promo that he wanted at the end. He didn’t get to say his goodbyes the way he wanted to. I understand that,” he continued. “But if you look overall at what they did for Bill Goldberg, in Atlanta, too… I think they were pretty generous.” He closed by stating, “Not a lot of guys get a send-off like that… I know a couple hundred of them that would have loved that opportunity.”

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