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Alex Marvez interviews Bill Goldberg

Posted: Mar 16th 2007 By: CMBurnham

Fans can now watch Bill Goldberg and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on Spike TV but not together. On March 13, Spike debuted Bullrun ? a reality show featuring 2 two-man teams competing in a cross-country race ? that has Goldberg as host. Goldberg, though, continues to remain at odds with TNA management about a possible debut. In the following interview, Goldberg discusses Bullrun, his own love of cars and his standing with both TNA and EliteXC.

A copy of my Goldberg column can be found at http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=PROWRESTLING15-03-15-07.

Q: The last time I talked to you, Spike was talking to you about a lot of developmental projects for them. Why Bullrun?

Goldberg: ?I?d say it?s because it?s a show with an attitude and bad cars that obviously caters to Spike?s core audience, which is wrestling fans, fight fans and car fans. I think it?s a pretty logical fit. Did I want to be on the road for three weeks living out of a Winnebago? I didn?t think I did, but the reality is I would do it all over again tomorrow. I had a wonderful time. First of all, I saw an unbelievable part of the country and some places that were breathtaking at 4 and 5 a.m. And there were guys driving just some awesome cars participating in great challenges. It was really cool. At the end of the day, the teams were cool. It was a very eclectic group of people and cars. Not only were [the participants] funny but they were confrontational, which is what you need reality contestants to be. You need interesting characters for the audience, but these were good people at the end of the day and they knew their cars. That was really cool. I have to say the only thing that sucked was not being able to be a participant.?

Q: How did you begin getting involved with cars?

Goldberg: ?My dad was always a Jaguar guy growing up throughout the years. I?m younger than my brothers, but I remember them taking those cars out and I the stories they would tell. My brothers would go out with the Jags and race guys and tear the cars to s*** and fix them and bring them back and my dad really never knew what was going on. They became gear-heads out of necessity. It seems like it was passed down to me through osmosis. I have many memories of all sorts of cool cars and that?s what started me in it. That can explain my passion for cars, like whether it?s my orthodontist having a ?67 GT 500. That?s the only thing that brought a smile to my face when I went to his fricking office with my mom. I also took my first test drive when I was 16 in a 600 horsepower ?70 Trans Am that would hop sideways when I took off. I also had a bunch of friends as kids with older brothers who were really into the car scene.?

Q: How many do you own and which is your favorite?

Goldberg: ?I have 21. All of them are great for certain reasons. It just totally depends. If I had to narrow it down and get rid of every one but one, I would keep the Super Boss I have. It?s a Lawman?s car [a 1970 Lawman Boss 429 Ford Mustang] that was part of [entertainment] campaigns over in Vietnam back in the early ?70s. Over 250,000 servicemen saw this car. There were only two of them built. One of them got crushed in transit to Vietnam and there was one backup car. I own the only one left in existence. It?s got a serial number at the end that says 0429. It was kind of unheard of in the 1970s that it cost $25,000. Imagine what that thing would cost now? But we won?t know because it?s my baby.?

Q: Why do you think you?ve been able to make a successful transition to life after pro wrestling?

Goldberg: ?I?m lucky to have a fan base in this business where I owe everything to anybody who showed appreciation for what I did. I developed a fan base and tried to get out there for them even when I wanted to break away from the business. But the reality is I?m also a greedy S.O.B. I like the way I live and I do deserve to be spoiled. I don?t want to have to worry about money or how my kid is going to pay for college. That?s one way I look at it.

?I also don?t settle for second-best in anything I do. My parents really did a good job raising me and my brothers and sister to want to be the best in everything. You?re only as good as what you do tomorrow, not what you did yesterday. You can?t live on past accolades because they?re not going to get you anywhere. When you get out of the wrestling business, you?ve got to grow up a little bit and reinvent yourself. I have other passions and I?m very lucky I can earn money following one or two of them. One of my passions right now is working with Showtime with EliteXC. Two things that are huge in my life are cars and MMA. I?m one of the luckiest guys in the world. But don?t take this out of context. I?ve worked my ass off for a long time. My body has done me very well and I deserve to take care of it now. I deserve not to have to worry about my son not having to worry about paying for college or my wife heaven forbid if something should ever happen and she was left here alone with him. She?ll never have to worry. I?m just a guy that has to be busy all the time and likes to entertain and get out there for the people. Hopefully with this show, people will follow me and it will be a huge success.?

Q: It seems like it would be natural for you to do something with TNA because of the Spike tie-in, but obviously that doesn?t seem to be the case. What is your situation with them and how upset were you that they dropped your name and Brock Lesnar?s name during a recent telecast?

Goldberg: ?I didn?t know about it until Brock called and told me. I don?t watch any of that stuff. If they were smart, they would give me what I want because it would put them on the planet. That?s all I have to say. That doesn?t take anything away from the guys there like Kurt Angle and Sting and those guys. But if they were smart, they would give me what I wanted to put them on the map. If they want to be a competitor with Vince, there?s only one of three options [wrestling talent] ? me, Brock and God only knows who the other one is. That?s the reality of it. I don?t think I?m being greedy, but if they want to put asses in seat and fill stadiums, I can do it.?

Q: What would it take for you at this point to work in TNA?

Goldberg: ?It would take the right price, the right schedule and mainly the right working environment. Money is not everything to me. Contrary to many fans and a lot of wrestlers, I am not money-hungry because I want to be the highest-paid. I?m realistic. If I put more asses in seats, I deserve more money. That?s simple and a really easy equation. If [TNA] were smart, they would make me happy and let me do what I want to do. Obviously they?re not, so good riddance.?

Q: How did you like working for EliteXC and what is your situation with them?

Goldberg: ?I?m honored. Those guys are idols of mine. Anyone who?s got the nuts to step in the ring and put it on the line on pay-per-view and be judged by everyone else out there puts them in the top one percent of athletes out there. I don?t want to steal a little line from [Jay] Glazer, but you?ve got pro athletes all over the country that don?t have the nuts to step in the ring. I might be one of them. I probably am one of them. I?m definitely past my prime and I don?t think I would consider doing it. The reality is I?m too old and it never really was my forte. If you got me at 25, I would have fought Mike Tyson and anyone else at the same time because I thought I was invincible. But you?ve got to look at reality.

?I was very honored working with Showtime and honored to be able to call a fight with two friends of mine [Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie] who are idols of mine in the sport. It was great working with the guys we had in the booth in Mauro Renallo and Glazer. I don?t know my situation in the future, but I think they have me [under contract] for four or five more fights. All I can say is the production of the fights and my performance can do nothing but get better and better. It was tough for me. I was trying to please everyone. The reality is Showtime didn?t get me to please everybody. Showtime wants me to be myself. I wasn?t myself [during the EliteXC debut]. I was nervous. It was my first deal on Showtime. It?s a very big network and you?re being judged by so many people. It?s the first time I?ve really worried about what people said about my performance. I?m not a set-up guy. I add color and I know some of the guys. I?ve gone through more physically than just about 100 percent of those guys who go and fight in there, like Randy Couture. Randy is about my age and has been through the physicality of high school, college and Olympic wrestling. I?ve been doing contact sports since I was 10 years old. When I got out of football, I went into wrestling. I was not the biggest guy by any stretch of the imagination, but when I picked it up after along time, I think I got pretty good guy. I definitely have a little bit of a following. I hope I can bring new fans to [EliteXC]. And I?m going to lighten up. I talked to Josh Barnett and Stephen Quadros about my performance. They said not to care about the schmucks on the internet who don?t like seeing a ?pro wrestler? out there. I put 42,000 people in the Georgia Dome. It would be great to see some of those fans get turned on to EliteXC.?

Q: What are your thoughts on the Shamrock-Gracie finish?

Goldberg: ?I really don?t know. Many thoughts were running through my mind as far as what did happen. Both are great friends of mine and I didn?t want to see either lose. I wanted to see a very entertaining fight and have the fans be entertained. I wanted Showtime to have the best initial main event on its first card as possible but it just wasn?t the night. I don?t know what happened. I really don?t. I think they were two veterans in there that were put on a big platform. Frank hadn?t been involved in a big production on TV in a while. Everyone who knows this sport has been waiting for this guy to come back and everyone knows about Renzo and the Gracie deal. There was such a build up to it. If it wasn?t a landmark fight, I think people would have been disappointed no matter what.?

Q: Was it the right finish?

Goldberg: ?I don?t know. I?m not in there getting kneed in the head. I know watching Renzo that he?s never going to fake anything. If anything, he?s not going to show pain and I saw him show pain. But I did say, ?My God, is this building toward a rematch in the IFL or Showtime?? I don?t know ? Frank is one of the best fighter and fight promoters in the world, so he knows how to make money.?

Q: My final question isn?t who?s next but what?s next for Bill Goldberg?

Goldberg: ?God almighty, who knows? I have the Showtime fights coming up and I?m looking at a couple of projects. I?ve looked at some scripts that I?ve turned down and gotten a couple of offers for some TV stuff. I?m a Spike guy now. I just pray this [Bullrun] thing works for the next two, three, five years.?

Alex Marvez's weekly pro wrestling column can be found in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Biloxi Sun-Herald, Abilene Reporter, Boulder Daily Camera, San Angelo Standard-Times, The Oklahoman, Honolulu Star-Bulletin and other select newspapers that subscribe to the Scripps-Howard News Service.