"A**hole" - WWE veteran slams Goldberg for not being "gracious"

The fallout from Goldberg's retirement match at Saturday Night's Main Event XL isn't over. The former WCW star took on Gunther for the World Heavyweight Title and put on a good show before passing out to a sleeper hold. However, his retirement speech in front of his family and friends was cut abruptly, and since then, Da Man hasn't been shy about how things ended.

Now, a WWE veteran has come out and slammed the Hall of Famer for complaining and being "ungracious." Dutch Mantell, known to wrestling fans as Zeb Colter, criticized the former Universal Champion for his comments following the match on his podcast, Story Time with Dutch Mantell.

"I don't think he wanted to be on the losing end, but he lost in such a way that he didn't get pinned. He didn't get really beat [sic]. He just kind of passed out from the from the sleeper [hold], which was actually, I think, the best way to go out. But yet, instead of him being gracious on his way out, he got pi**ed off with a bunch of people," Mantell said. [1:26 - 1:55]

Mantell then discussed what WWE might have paid Goldberg for the match and suggested it could have been between $500 and $750K.

"$500 to $750,000 for a period of work for what lasted less than what 14 minutes. And that counts, probably walking to the ring. I would do it. Would you do that for that type of money? Yes, I would. But I wouldn't get up and just be a complete, and I think Goldberg was actually, I'll call him this. I don't know him anyway. If he ever runs across me, he can just beat the hell out of me. I just think he's just an a**hole just for doing that." [4:11 - 4:43]

The former Zeb Colter added that Goldberg should be thankful to the company and fans. He felt Da Man should appreciate the fact that the promotion reached out to him for a retirement match.

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Goldberg was unhappy with how his retirement was handled

Goldberg made no secret of his unhappiness with how things were handled and made it clear that not everything went well. On The Ariel Helwani Show, Da Man said that some things could have been done differently.

"Let's just say I'm pi**ed off at the way I went out. I put so much into it, and I don't feel as though the effort was reciprocated to put a stamp on what I've accomplished. I'm not gonna say that I'm not ecstatic about the opportunity that I got, but I was a WCW guy, man. I was—I don't know, man. I don't know. I think it could have been done a little bit differently." [14:38 - 15:15]

The Hall of Famer might be retired for now, but fans could expect more drama to unfold in this saga in the coming days. There has also been speculation that the veteran may not be done with his in-ring career after all.

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If you use quotes from the first half of this article, please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.