Goldberg Says His Brief Run In All Japan Pro Wrestling Brought Him ‘Nothing But Happiness’

Goldberg was undoubtedly an unstoppable force in the pro wrestling scene. Goldberg wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2002 and 2003 and for WWE between 2003 and 2004. It came after WCW’s closure in 2001.

Goldberg became a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE. He rejoined WWE in 2016 after a 12-year absence, winning the WWE Universal Championship twice, the first time in March 2017 and the second time in February 2020. In his professional wrestling career with WWE and WCW, he won four world championships and served as the event’s keynote speaker in 2018.

Goldberg recently appeared for an interview with SHAK Wrestling. The veteran wrestler discussed a wide range of topics that included the rumor about him sabotaging Wyatt and considering Bret Hart as an “ally.” Goldberg also shared that his brief run in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) brought him nothing but happiness.

Nothing but happiness. I mean truly. When I started the formation of the character Golberg — I’m an old school guy, I’m a football guy so I watched a lot of film and did a lot of due diligence. I came to the realization that the guys who were the badasses were the ones who could transfer over to Japan. It was a completely different style of wrestling. It was more serious, it was more MMA, it was more Pancrase. It was more reality. Those guys didn’t b–ch if you hit them. They loved it. It was more of an initiation. It was just a completely different deal. The fans were sitting on their hands the whole time. You didn’t hear anything. You could hear a pin drop but it doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy what they’re watching. It’s out of respect. It was a completely different culture. It was a place I wanted to go to for a really long period of time. I played in the Japan Bowl in football in 1980-whatever the heck it was but that was the only time I had been there and I wanted to go back. Like I said, [Hulk] Hogan and the big bad-sses were able to translate over to the Japanese audience. It was an honor and an absolute privilege to be over there and to perform.

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AJPW undoubtedly played a pivotal role in shaping the Goldberg character. According to Goldberg, it was way more serious just like MMA. Check out his entire interview in the video below.

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!

h/t to SHAK Wrestling.