Goldberg Shares His Regret Over Not Turning Heel Like John Cena

Goldberg believes his potential heel turn could have had the same impact as John Cena's but he chose against it.

The 16-time WWE Champion turned heel during the Elimination Chamber event. This week on Raw, he elaborated on the reasons behind his decision, delivering one of the most intense promos in years.

Although Goldberg briefly turned heel in 2000 during a chaotic period in WCW, the shift didn’t last long as he quickly reverted to his face persona with minimal resistance.

During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Goldberg discussed Cena's heel turn and how it compared to what could have been Goldberg’s own heel turn at the height of his prime.

Goldberg drew a parallel between Cena’s transformation and Hulk Hogan's infamous 1996 turn, believing that, had he made the switch, he could have been just as significant a heel. However, he explained that his decision to stay face was influenced by his desire not to disappoint the Make-A-Wish children, a sentiment Cena, who is also well-known for his charitable work, would understand.

Goldberg on John Cena’s Heel Turn: “I think Cena’s turn is most comparable to Hogan turning. Yeah, I could have done the same thing, but I refused to. That was when I didn’t know the business, but to me, it meant more for the Make-A-Wish kid that was in my dressing room the night I was wrestling Hacksaw Jim Duggan,” Goldberg shared.

“He was coming back from some kind of surgery, and I turned heel that night. They wanted me to do the thing, and for the business, it would have been freaking unparalleled—like what these guys are doing with Cena, I believe.”

“I was the Make-A-Wish dude before Cena was doing his thing in WWE. That was kind of me in WCW. I was the antithesis of what people thought outside the ring—or at least I could be. I’ll rip your face off in the ring, but then when I get out of the ring, you give me your baby, and I’ll hold them up, smile, and give them a moment of their lifetime if that’s what they want.”

Goldberg continued, “I think Cena’s turn is freaking fabulous, no question about it. I don’t know how it all transpired week after week, but I know how it happened, and bravo to all of them. And bravo to John—he’s smart enough to understand how monumental it would be. At the time when they wanted me to do it, I wasn’t smart enough. But as I said, it meant more to me for one little girl to have a smile on her face than for me to come back and see her in tears—which is what would have happened. I don’t know, call me a mush for kids, man.”

Goldberg went on to explain why he never wanted to turn heel again, revealing the negative impact it had on his character and how it made him feel less invincible.

“Being a heel gives you the ability to get your ass kicked and not be that superhuman guy, right? There were a number of negatives to my character, and that was one of them—in that respect, it was one-dimensional. You can only be that good guy for so long, in my opinion.”

“I had such a bad experience with it when it happened that I didn’t want to go back to it. I didn’t understand the business enough at the time—or honestly, care about it enough in retrospect. And, to be fair, nobody really asked me to do it again. It was never really an option. I think I would have said yes wholeheartedly, but I don’t think it ever really came up again.”