Goldberg’s retirement address was cut off due to TV timing restrictions on Saturday night.
The 58-year-old wrestled his final match in a losing effort to Gunther on Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC.
Due to a “hard out” on network television, his post-match speech was cut off, but WWE uploaded the full segment to its YouTube channel on Sunday.
The former multi-time world champion thanked the fans, crediting them as the reason for his accomplishments in wrestling, including his historic WCW World Heavyweight Championship victory over Hollywood Hogan in Atlanta.
He spoke about the importance of treating everyone with respect, regardless of their background.
Treat everybody with respect. Treat everybody the way you wanna be treated. Black, green, purple, Christian, Jewish, I don’t give a damn. You treat every single human being with respect.
Goldberg dedicated his speech to his late father-in-law and to those affected by recent flooding in Texas and the Carolinas. He praised the community spirit of his home state of Texas.
This goes out to all the flood victims, 30 miles from our house in Texas, North Carolina… everywhere where people have been negatively affected. And the one thing that I’ve learned is that you’re never too good to lend a helping hand.
He commended his neighbors for their selfless efforts to assist those in need.
I’m a damn proud Texan right now. Because all my neighbors dropped everything. And they went west, or they went south, or they went east, or they went north to lend a helping hand to those who needed a helping hand.
While the tone of the speech was valedictory, Goldberg stated that he was not disappearing from public life, telling the audience, “This ain’t goodbye. I’m gonna be doing other stuff, I can guarantee you that. I’ve only just begun.”
