During the World Heavyweight Championship match on Saturday Night’s Main Event, Goldberg went for a spear, but Gunther moved out of the way – which led to Goldberg accidentally hitting veteran referee Charles Robinson (age 61) with a vicious spear.
You can watch it below:
.@Goldberg just accidentally speared the ref, Charles Robinson! š²@nbc | @peacock pic.twitter.com/dmMI93qoQI
— WWE (@WWE) July 13, 2025
Charles revealed on Instagram that he suffered a rib injury due to the spear:
“Still friends with @goldberg95 after having the honor of officiating the match against @gunther_wwe for @wwe #SaturdayNightMainEvent in #Atlanta! Ribs are still sore but so whatā¦I got SPEARED!
Thanks @goldberg95! Never fearā¦I am ALL MAN and I canāt be kept down! I will return for @wwe #smackdown next week in #SanAntonio! #wrestling #nofear”
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show today, Goldberg had the following to say about Charles’ injury:
“Here’s the deal. I asked for Charles to be in there. Charles and I have a long history, and Charles has taken that before, and I might have broken a rib last time. And Charles is a freaking… he is… I’m not gonna say renaissance, but that dude’s indestructible. I don’t know how old he is, but he’s taking the spear a number of times, a lot of times actually, and more power to him. And I love him to death. But I do apologize for the rib. You know, it’ll heal like the other one (smiles).”
Charles took a nasty bump at the hands of WWE Champion John Cena a few weeks earlier at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia as well.
“They wouldn’t do that to Taker. They wouldn’t do that to Cena” – Goldberg On WWE Cutting Off His Retirement Speech
Goldberg revealed that he wasn’t happy about the fact that his final match took place on LIVE TV on Saturday Night’s Main Event:
“I can’t say that I was too thrilled about part of that. I mean, this Saturday Night’s Main Event and LIVE TV in Atlanta. I mean, you always have your dreams of how you’re gonna do things. And ultimately to have a little bit more control over the time and the space would have been much more preferred, let’s just put it that way. But to be given that opportunity on such a special show with the lineage of the show, to be able to go against the World Heavyweight Champion, to be able to go against Gunther, it was a honor and a privilege to be able to be given that opportunity and I had to make the most of it in other.”
When asked if he wanted his retirement match to be on a PLE, Goldberg said:
“100%. (Because you get more time) Yeah, absolutely. 20 seconds with the microphone in my hand for God’s sake. It was a little less than to be desired. But again, I’m not gonna complain because nobody, not many people get that opportunity.
There are a number of variables that were such that you know, you’re put behind the 8 ball and to be able to go out there and perform and I don’t know, 12-13 minute match, 15 minute match. Felt like 115 minutes. But you know, it was a great opportunity and Gunther was an unbelievable guy to work with. It was awesome. I had a good time, man. I was laughing in there when he was chopping me. I mean, I actually had fun, by the way.”
When asked if WWE cut off his retirement speech on purpose, Goldberg replied:
“Everything throughout the years have built up to something like, man, the ultimate rib. I guess that was the ultimate rib. I’m not saying it was done on purpose by any stretch of imagination. I’m saying that it wasn’t prepared for on purpose. That’s all. So I mean, they wouldn’t do that to Taker, right? I don’t think. They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t do that to Cena.
Cena is going around the world doing this, doing his retirement thing. You know, mine was just that. Mine was just the World Heavyweight Championship match. And to be honest with you, I mean, I’m gonna catch hell for I don’t care.
It was a World Heavyweight Championship match. I dude… I had World Heavyweight matches all the time. That doesn’t do anything for me. I mean it does, but you gotta make it different than just an angle, at least at the end and do something, say something. I don’t know. I just, it just spelled a little meh for me, that’s all. That’s it. And like I said, man, I’m not here to b*tch and moan because I don’t do that. And I’m not complaining by any stretch of the imagination. You asked me a question and I’m answering.”
WWE uploaded Goldberg’s entire farewell speech on YouTube the next day. You can watch it below:
RELATED: WWE Officials Apologized To Goldberg After Retirement Match
