23-year claim about Goldberg might be inaccurate, WWE Hall of Famer suggests

Over the last 23 years, Bill Goldberg has been blamed for causing the injury that ended Bret Hart's wrestling career. However, according to Eric Bischoff, Hart's claim that he suffered a severe concussion as a result of Goldberg's mule kick might not be true.

On December 19, 1999, The Hitman defeated his former tag team partner in the main event of WCW Starrcade. The head injury he sustained in the match ultimately led to his retirement ten months later.

Bischoff, a WCW executive when both men wrestled for the company, speculated on his 83 Weeks podcast that Hart could be wrong about his concussion:

"I'm looking at Bret bouncing his head off the concrete or the ring post, whatever it was, and if I had to put my money, I would put it on that concussion occurring on that bump as much or more so than the kick to the head." [From 1:53:47 – 1:54:02]

Midway through the 12-minute contest, Hart hit his head on the ringside floor while locking in a submission move on Goldberg against the ring post. You can view the moment at 02:35:50 on the WWE Network version of Starrcade 1999. The mule kick spot occurs from the 02:40:40 mark.

Bischoff clarified that his theory might be false, but he still thinks the topic is worth debating:

"I'm not saying that to be controversial, I'm not saying that out of disrespect to Bret. I'm just pointing out what I think is something that is at least worthy of discussion if we're going to keep blaming Bill Goldberg for that concussion. Because I'm not sure, if this was played in front of a jury, you could convince a jury that that was true." [From 1:54:04 – 1:54:22]

Bischoff mentioned that he would like to review the Starrcade 1999 match with Christopher Nowinski. The former WWE Superstar co-founded the Concussion Legacy Foundation after retiring from wrestling.

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What does Goldberg think about Bret Hart's remarks?

Hart has repeatedly stated that Goldberg is responsible for ending his career. He even claimed that the two-time Universal Champion should be removed from the WWE Hall of Fame.

In August 2022, Goldberg explained on Chris Jericho's Talk Is Jericho podcast why he has no plans to apologize to Hart again:

"There was absolutely no malicious intent whatsoever. None. Zero. So, does it bother me? Yeah, I'll take it to my grave. But, also, I've gotta say, man, and I'm at a turning point, I'm done saying I'm sorry. I've said it a million times and I'm not gonna continue to tear myself down. I'm done. I've said I'm sorry. If he can't accept my apology, it is what it is. You've gotta move on, and I've moved on."

On the latest episode of his podcast, Bischoff also addressed Ric Flair's scathing criticism of his recent documentary comments.

Do you think Bret Hart might have suffered a concussion at a different point in the match? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

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Please credit 83 Weeks and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Eric Bischoff's quotes from this article.