WWE fans are going off on the company over what they are terming as a disrespectful slight towards Goldberg during his formal retirement at Saturday Night Main Event July 12, 2025. Although his last match against Gunther had a tearful build-up, the actual backlash was not by losing per se, but how his retirement speech went down. According to reports, viewers who tuned in to NBC and Peacock got interrupted in the midst of his speech as the sporting channel skipped to a commercial break before he could complete them.
There was an intense response online. A fan on X (formerly Twitter) was especially to the point with a reply that said: “HHH really does not like this guy wowwwwwwwww,” he clarifies. Others joined in with the same venom: that is deada-- wrong cutting off his speech and what the f-ck was that. It was not only the casual viewers who were angered by it; even the people who have not been die-hard Goldberg fans were infuriated by the fact that a legend that has spanned decades was never given the closure.
El discurso de 40 segundos y cortado de Goldberg con el que acaba #SNME Saturday Night's Main Event. No le han dejado ni terminar 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/qs02z7SBcQ
— LuigiWrestling (@LuigiWrestling) July 13, 2025
A legend short‑changed
When Goldberg received his beatdown by Gunther and made a brief apology admitting that he had never lost in his hometown before--the fans wanted a legitimate send‑off. They were instead plagued with an embarrassing advert break, and the feed went black when the action was getting sentimental. People who watched it live in Atlanta received the entire pyro and speech, but those at home were left hanging.
Such dis-integration smarted. This was not a match but the end of an era with Bill Goldberg, a two-decade icon, who had been at the top of WCW and WWE rosters, and who was more than just a performer. To most, retaining some of that moment off-air was tantamount to WWE pushing his legacy aside, and that further cemented a perception that neither Triple H nor the company in general are really viewing Goldberg as a priority.