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Bret Hart Credits Bill Goldberg for His WWE Returns in 2005 and 2009

Bret Hart is widely considered to be one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot in the squared circle, but his career was ended prematurely by a kick to the head by Bill Goldberg. It's been over 20 years since Starrcade 1999 when the fateful kick occurred, so Bret has probably let go of any resentment he's been holding onto toward Goldberg by now, right? Wrong!

On the latest episode of Bret Hart's web series Confessions of the Hitman, which can be subscribed to for $35 on his website, The Hitman laid into Goldberg. During the show, Hart said Goldberg "was a guy that nobody seemed to have taught how wrestling really works. He seemed to think he could just pick a guy up and just slam him through the mat as hard as you could and that was good wrestling."

Surprisingly, Bret Hart said he always liked Golberg as a person. However, "his work rate was 0 out of 10. Everything he did hurt. Everything. He could tie-up with you and hurt you. He'd tie-up with himself and hurt himself. Bill was one of those types of guys that I don't think understood ever that it's supposed to look like it hurt but it's not supposed to really hurt."

Despite the recklessness Hart talks about, Goldberg still occasionally wrestles for WWE today and makes big paydays. However, Hart said Goldberg cost him $15 million by injuring him before WCW went under and blamed the lack of that money for needing to work with WWE years later. Hart had a contract with Time Warner and therefore could have received the full payout the way wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Goldberg did, but because of his injury, he was terminated just a few months before WCW folded. And to make matters worse, Hart said Goldberg didn't even apologize. Instead, he told Hart that's just "the nature of the business."

"The nature of the business is to not hurt the guy you're working with," Hart disagreed. So in other words, if Goldberg had never kicked Bret Hart in the head as if wrestling was real, Hart would have gotten a huge Time Warner payout, and he never would have had to reconcile with Vince McMahon in 2005 and make a WWE return in 2009. So we have Goldberg to thank for that, I guess.

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