“I don’t want to work here,” Former World Champion says he was set to quit WWE after getting squashed by Goldberg

One of WWE's most decorated names was peeved by what the company had in store for him in 2019, including a squash match with Goldberg.

“I don’t want to work here,” Former World Champion says he was set to quit WWE after getting squashed by Goldberg

Goldberg [via- WWE]

Having the unwillingness to continue with a promotion could be one of the lowest phases of a wrestler’s career. And for Dolph Ziggler, that window came right at the stroke of fall in 2019. Lost in the shuffle, the 44-year-old was potentially at his nadir at that juncture. And things got even worse when he was told that he’d be getting squashed by Goldberg at SummerSlam.

Speaking to the Busted Open Radio, the reigning TNA Champion revealed that his match with Goldberg and the Raw after SummerSlam were going to be his final dates with the company. He was done. Moreover, Ziggler wasn’t over the moon when he learned about his two-minute bout with WWE Hall of Famer. He went to his boss, who then was Vince McMahon.

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Dolph asked McMahon to replace him with any of the local talent. It’s worth mentioning that SummerSlam back then was held in Toronto. The Showoff basically told Vince that he didn’t want to continue working for WWE. The actual match that the real-life Nic Nemeth had with Goldberg lasted 1:50 minutes. The fans in attendance ate that up and loved every second of what the two men did out there.

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I go to the boss, and I am begging. Boss, you could have a local do this. If I can't do this, you can't trust me to do this, then you can't trust to me do anything. I don't want to work here.
Dolph Ziggler aka Nic Nemeth via Busted Open Radio

It was a night that Dolph would like to forget. He endured a trifecta of spears to his gut. In the aftermath of it, the former 6-time Intercontinental Champion didn’t leave WWE. Despite having palpable resentment over jobbing to The Icon, Nemeth found a way to stay with the Stamford-based promotion. But that didn’t work out either for the man who almost had a two-decade-long career with WWE. Nic was finally released from his WWE contract in September 2023.

Is Goldberg at solace with how his WWE career ended?

In hindsight, Goldberg had a brusque but underwhelming exit from WWE. His swansong fell way short of being memorable for the 57-year-old. The WCW legend succumbed to a much-superior Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber in 2022.

Goldberg
Goldberg (via WWE)

Despite having contacted COVID three weeks prior to the show, Bill made it anyway. However, in return, the former Universal Champion asked WWE to give him one more match afterwards. It would’ve probably been his actual retirement match. However, Vince McMahon backpedaled from his promise.

It even led to Goldberg publicly chastising the former WWE Chairman. Once Triple H took over as the creative spearhead, he didn’t renew the WWE legend’s contract. There were even talks of Da Man’s potential AEW switch at one point. But it just came off as nothing.

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