Former Universal Champion's free agency has ignited a bidding war between WWE and AEW, says Jim Cornette 

Tensions between AEW and WWE have seemingly been growing more intense over the past few months, and now Jim Cornette speculates that Goldberg could have ignited a bidding war for his contract between the two promotions.

While online fans are very critical of Goldberg today, during the late 90s, the star was arguably one of the biggest names in pro wrestling. While this initially translated well into his early 2000s run in the Stamford-based promotion, by his last run, he was still presented as a main eventer, which was not well received by the fans.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Jim Cornette's Drive Thru, the veteran speculated that Goldberg could likely have ignited a bidding war in order to get a massive payout for his retirement match.

"Isn’t he [Goldberg] starting this because [WWE] have let his contract expire and he’s got to know that the only way he’s gonna get a big f**king payoff for his last match is if two people are bidding for it, so is he trying to open that up?" (03:07 onward)

MJF has often teased a bidding war between AEW and WWE once his contract expires in 2024, but now it seems that Goldberg might have beaten him to the punch.

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Missed out on last week's AEW Rampage? Catch up with the results before tonight's show right here.

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Cornette believes that Vince McMahon would prevent Tony Khan from signing the veteran to AEW

Reports indicate that Tony Khan could likely already have reached out to Goldberg's representatives to potentially sign him to AEW. While nothing is public at this stage, this could mean that Khan is very serious about acquiring the legend.

Earlier during the same podcast, Jim Cornette speculated that McMahon would personally try to block deals that Khan would make to sign Goldberg.

"If Tony Khan makes any offer, then one would suppose that the WWE and specifically Vince McMahon – is there any way Vince is gonna let that happen anywhere else but the WWE? (…) In the end, the WWE will not let Goldberg have a retirement match for any promotion the United States audience will see or hear about besides them." (01:50 onward).

It remains to be seen if the AEW President will manage to scrounge up a big enough offer for Goldberg, but with the likes of Sting and Chris Jericho signed, it could be more likely than some believe.

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If you use quotes from the article, please credit Jim Cornette's Drive Thru and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.