Goldberg Opens Up on Meng/Haku: ‘An Idol and One of My Biggest Mentors’

Bill Goldberg has some high praise for a man widely considered one of the most legitimately dangerous figures in wrestling history — and, notably, says the legend never scared him.

In a recent interview on the Going Inside podcast, Goldberg was candid about his admiration for Meng, the Tongan powerhouse known to WWE audiences as Haku. “Meng was an idol of mine, and Meng was one of my biggest mentors,” Goldberg said, and when pressed on whether that mentor relationship was genuine, he didn’t hesitate: “Thousand percent, absolutely. How could you not look at a guy like Meng both in and outside of the ring and not think that he could be an unbelievable person to follow in their footsteps.”

Goldberg, whose own tough-guy credibility is hardly in question, did push back on the idea that Meng’s fearsome reputation left him rattled. “You know who I am, right? And you know what I’ve done. No one on the planet scares me. I hate to break it to you. No, Meng never scared me. I just greatly appreciated everything that he did, most of all the person that he was, the human being that he was outside of the ring.”

He made clear that inside the ropes, though, Meng’s physical standard was something Goldberg actively aspired to. “Inside the ring, I mean, it’s like you hear a whistle in a football game. I put my helmet on, when I hit that last strap, it’s all going. So, it didn’t matter who I was in there against. But it was awesome because he was up here as far as physicality is concerned, and that’s what I wanted to do.”

It’s a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain from one of wrestling’s most celebrated hosses. Meng — a former WWF Tag Team Champion alongside the late Andre the Giant, and a WCW Hardcore Championship holder — built a reputation over decades that made even veterans nervous. His family legacy continues in WWE today through sons Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga, both currently part of the main roster’s Bloodline faction. Haku was on hand at this year’s WWE Hall of Fame ceremony to induct Demolition, alongside Arn Anderson and Warlord, and made notable appearances at WrestleMania 41 and Saturday Night’s Main Event earlier this year.

At 67, Haku himself has yet to receive a Hall of Fame induction — but with that family presence in WWE and moments like this keeping his name in the conversation, that call seems increasingly inevitable.