It was twenty-four years ago today, in WCW Starrcade 1999, that the thrust kick felt around the World was delivered by Bill Goldberg to Bret “The Hitman” Hart (suddenly I feel old). According to legend, the kick was badly executed by a stiff and unsafe worker, Goldberg, and caused a concussion that prematurely ended Hart’s career. Hart was a magnificent in-ring performer – possibly the best ever – and his career was tragically cut short, giving rise to all kinds of speculation about what might have been. Goldberg, for his part, has never stopped apologising for his role, while pointing out, with some justification, that accidents happen in the ring, and he never set out to injure Hart. Bill could have added that Hart not only finished the match, but was able to wrestle eight more times in the following days – including another match against the supposedly unsafe Goldberg - before deciding he was too badly hurt to continue his career.
Retired wrestler, Stevie Richards, is carving out a new career making thoughtful and analytical YouTube wrestling videos, and I strongly recommend that TK wrestling fans follow the above link to see a different perspective on the thrust kick incident.
Richards, who has a great deal of respect for both men, suggests that Hart had already suffered his concussion well before the infamous kick. This might have been due to prior incidents in the match, or he might even have gone into the match concussed. His behaviour was erratic, and Goldberg was clearly bewildered by it. Hart admits that Goldberg called the kick, and the video footage shows he kept his eye on the target area until the moment the kick landed. The point of contact was supposed to be just below the jaw, and Hart had his hands up to cushion the impact, but he was struck higher - around the unprotected temple! Either Bill got his foot up too high, which is unlikely with two wrestlers of roughly similar height, or Bret made a mistake and came on to the kick too low, which could easily be explained if he was already concussed.
Goldberg has had to carry around the “unsafe” tag for most of his career, yet this is the only verifiable incident in which an opponent was hurt by him, and I remain unconvinced that the accident was Bill’s fault. The naysayers might argue that The Undertaker could have been seriously hurt in a match in Saudi Arabia in 2019, when a badly concussed Goldberg was unable to execute his signature jackhammer slam correctly – but he wasn’t! This match took place in hundred degree heat and both wrestlers were many years past their best. If the WWE had considered their duty of care, they would have stopped the match, or possibly not booked it in the first place, but concepts like “duty of care” tend to take a back seat when oil kingdom petrodollars are on the table. Even so, being involved in two dodgy incidents in 25 years hardly justifies the “unsafe” tag.
In Goldberg’s salad days of WCW and early WWE, wrestlers were queuing up to work with him, and why wouldn’t they? Nobody put bums on seats quite like Goldberg in his pomp, and a match with him was typically a 90 second squash, followed by a satisfyingly fat pay cheque for the squashee.