10 Lies About Famous Wrestling Matches That You Probably Believe
6. "One Botched Kick Ended Bret Hart's Career"
The shorthand, reduced history is written in a way that might make one somewhat sympathetic to Goldberg, even if you're an ardent fan of Bret Hart.
The man himseld rued his infamous error on the public speaking circuit in the years later, admitting to rocking Hart with reckless force in the main event of Starrcade 1999. He contextualised the kick as a sloppy, one-off mistake, the likes of which we're all capable, and expressed remorse.
In reality, Goldberg was a hazard throughout. He smashed Bret with an elbow strike that Hart described in his biography as comparable to being hit with a "pillowcase full of bricks". Goldberg sensed that he'd over-committed and even apologised mid-match. In addition to that, Goldberg, barely trained up and lacking a true wrestler's instinct to protect his opponents, failed to grab hold of Bret's head when he executed his ring post figure-four. Bret, already reeling from the elbow, slumped to his head. Dazed, and not operating at his sharpest, he was then smashed full-force in the head with a stray kick.
This wasn't an isolated incident. This was inevitable.