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For other people named Bill Goldberg, see Bill Goldberg (disambiguation).

Bill Goldberg
Goldberg visits USS Ronald Reagan in 2005
Born
William Scott Goldberg

(1966-12-27) December 27, 1966 (age 57)[1]
Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States[1][2]
Other namesGoldberg
Occupation(s)Football player, wrestler, actor
Years active1990–1995 (football player)
1997–2004, 2015-present (wrestler)
1998–present (actor)
1990–present (overall)
Spouse
Wanda Ferraton
​
(m. 2005)​
ChildrenGage Goldberg
Ring name(s)Bill Gold[3]
Bill Goldberg[3]
Goldberg
Billed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[4][5]
Billed weight285 lb (129 kg)[4]
Billed fromDawsonville, Georgia (WCW)[6][7]
Atlanta, Georgia[4]
Parts Unknown[6][7]
Trained byWCW Power Plant[1][4]
Debut1997[8]

William Scott "Bill" Goldberg (born December 27, 1966) is an American actor, former professional football player, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1997 and 2001, and in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2003 and 2004. Within WCW, he had a lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition from 1997 to 1998: the official count was given as 173–0, which exaggerated the number of matches actually staged.

Goldberg is a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE. He is also a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart). Goldberg headlined many pay-per-views for WCW and WWE, including closing WCW's premier annual event, Starrcade, on two occasions. WWE Hall of Famer and industry veteran Arn Anderson likened Goldberg's popularity at his peak to that of Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, saying that he "was as hot as anybody has ever been in the history of this business".[9]

Before he was a professional wrestler, Goldberg was a professional football player. After retiring from wrestling, he began working as a commentator for the mixed martial arts promotion EliteXC until its closure. As of 2010, he has been the host of Garage Mahal on the DIY Network.

Football career

Bill Goldberg
No. 71, 73
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:266 lb (121 kg)
Career information
College:Georgia
NFL draft:1990 / round: 11 / pick: 302
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:14
Games started:1
Tackles:11
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Goldberg earned a scholarship to play for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team where he served as a defensive tackle. He was taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round, with the 302nd overall selection, in the 1990 NFL draft.

He played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1990 NFL season, followed by a stint with the CFL Sacramento Gold Miners and Atlanta Falcons from 1992 to 1994. After being cut from the Falcons, in 1995 he was selected by the new expansion team, the Carolina Panthers, in the 1995 NFL expansion draft, but never played a game with the team. He was the first player to have been cut by the Panthers.

Goldberg's NFL career ended when he "tore his lower abdomen off his pelvis". He had hopes of returning to the league after rehabilitation but, due to his lack of success, wasn't considered a major asset. Goldberg has described playing in the NFL as "a mixed emotional experience" because, despite reaching the goal of simply playing in the NFL, he didn't obtain the level of achievement that he desired.[10]

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling

Training and early matches (1996–1997)

During the rehab following his NFL injury, Goldberg began powerlifting and mixed martial arts training. He was spotted by Lex Luger and Sting who urged him to try professional wrestling.[11] Although not a fan of professional wrestling, he saw it as an alternative to his fledgling football career and began training at the WCW Power Plant.

Working as Bill Gold, Goldberg made five appearances. The first was on a dark match at a Monday Nitro event on June 23, 1997 where he defeated Buddy Lee Parker.[12] He would also face and defeat Buddy Landell (Saturday Night dark match), Hugh Morrus (house show), Chip Minton (Nitro dark match) and John Betcha (house show). His final pre-televised appearance was in dark match on July 24 at Saturday Night taping, a loss to Chad Fortune.

Undefeated streak (1997–1998)

On the September 22 episode of Nitro, Bill Goldberg defeated Hugh Morrus in his debut match. Soon afterward, he began to dish out quick lessons to his fellow WCW wrestlers in the range of 1–2 minutes. Goldberg's succession of wins saw him quickly advance up the card, and he was pushed as a singles wrestler. The newcomer captivated fans with his monstrous yet silent charisma, brute strength, and agility that saw him vault the ropes, perform high kicks and even the occasional backflip. Goldberg made his pay-per-view debut at Starrcade defeating Steve McMichael.[1][2] In early 1998, Goldberg squashed Brad Armstrong at SuperBrawl VIII and pinned Perry Saturn at Spring Stampede.[1][2] In mid-March, WCW stopped referring to him by his full name, shortening it to simply "Goldberg".[13] Around this time, WCW began counting Goldberg's consecutive wins on television as he continued to climb up the ranks. Goldberg's win over Saturn was his 74th consecutive without a loss, and the next night on Nitro he challenged Raven for the United States Heavyweight Championship that Raven had won the night before at Spring Stampede. Despite interference from Raven's Flock, Goldberg overpowered them all and defeated Raven to win his first professional wrestling championship.[14] Two days later, on the April 22 edition of Thunder, he made his first successful title defense against Mike Enos.[15] Goldberg then started a feud with Raven and The Flock. At Slamboree, he ended his feud with the Flock after a successful title defense against Saturn.[2] Goldberg would continue to make successful title defenses against Konnan at The Great American Bash and Curt Hennig.[2] By this time, he had adopted the catchphrase "Who's next?" in reference to his rapidly expanding winning streak.[16]

As Goldberg was getting over as a main eventer, he continued to defend the United States Heavyweight Championship and was slowly becoming a contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship that was held by New World Order (nWo) leader Hollywood Hogan. Hogan eventually promised Goldberg a title match, which was to take place on the July 6, 1998 edition of Nitro. However, Hogan elected instead to make Goldberg earn it in a match with his stablemate Scott Hall which Goldberg won. Goldberg was able to defeat Hogan later in the evening to become world champion, in turn vacating his United States Heavyweight Championship. At Road Wild, Goldberg won a battle royal, consisting of nWo members.[1][2]

After Diamond Dallas Page became the number one contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Goldberg and Page began a feud with each other. At Halloween Havoc, the feud was settled after Goldberg defeated Page to retain the title.[1][2] According to Goldberg, his match against Page was the favourite match of his career.[17] At Starrcade, Goldberg's undefeated streak was ended at a cited 173 victories[4][18] when he lost his title to Kevin Nash after Scott Hall, disguised as a ringside security guard, made a run-in and shocked Goldberg with a taser gun.[1][2] Goldberg, however, avenged this act by facing Hall at Souled Out, in a ladder taser match. Goldberg won when he used the taser, which was hung high above the ring, requiring the ladder to obtain it.[1][2] At the same time, the WWF began mocking Goldberg with the character Gillberg, a perennial jobber who dressed similarly to Goldberg and mocked his signature entrance and mannerisms, but was small and scrawny, using the catchphrase "Who's First?" since he never won.

Exaggeration

Goldberg's win-loss record at WCW events from 1997–1998 differs from that which was perpetuated by the company; the official 173–0 figure exaggerates the number of staged matches in which he actually participated.[19][20][21][22][23] Goldberg's then-WCW peer Chris Jericho said that the actual match count did not "even come close to the number of matches they were claiming".[22] Manager Jimmy Hart, also a colleague of Goldberg's in WCW, regarded the level of embellishment as "kind of funny".[23] Veteran wrestler The Miz summarized: "The number would just go on and on and on, to where it was like, 'Wait a second. How did he get this many wins in such a short time'?"[23] In their book, The Death of WCW, pro wrestling journalists Bryan Alvarez and R. D. Reynolds recalled how the exaggeration damaged the credibility of Goldberg's streak among the pro wrestling audience:

One week, announcer [Tony] Schiavone's number didn't jive with the number the hardcores [fans] had. Then, the next week, it was even farther off. As it turned out, in a lame effort to make his streak appear more meaningful, the company had started to add imaginary numbers to the total. This had the exact opposite of its intended effect, as once fans figured out that the streak number had become fiction, all those signs fans had been bringing to the arenas trumpeting Goldberg's record disappeared.[19]

Championship pursuits and last feuds (1998–2001)

At Spring Stampede, Goldberg gained his revenge against Nash by defeating him.[1][2] Then at Slamboree the following month, Goldberg was "injured" in an attack by Rick and Scott Steiner and took some time off to prepare for his movie debut in 1999 film Universal Soldier: The Return alongside Timecop film star Jean-Claude Van Damme.[2] He returned two months later and defeated Rick Steiner at Road Wild.[2][24] Goldberg then restarted his feud with DDP also involving Page's allies, The Jersey Triad, which culminated in a match at Fall Brawl that Goldberg won.[2] After Goldberg settled his rivalry with Page, he began focusing on Sid Vicious and challenged him to a match to end Sid's winning streak.[2] The two feuded with each other, which culminated in a match at Halloween Havoc for Sid's United States Heavyweight title. Goldberg defeated Sid via referee stoppage, and thus won his second United States Heavyweight Championship.[25] Later that night, he answered an open challenge from WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting and defeated him to win the championship.[1][2] On the next night's edition of Nitro, commissioner J.J. Dillon ruled that the match had not been sanctioned by WCW and that, therefore, Goldberg's victory was void.[2] Sting, however, was not given the title back due to his attack on a referee during the event and Dillon announced a 32-man tournament for the now-vacant title which included Goldberg.[2]

Goldberg wrestled Bret Hart on the same Nitro in the first round of the tournament in a match that also served as the first defense of his newly won United States Heavyweight Championship. Sid Vicious managed to interfere in the contest and cost Goldberg the match, thus giving him his second career loss, costing him the title, and eliminating him from the tournament which was eventually won by Hart at Mayhem in November.[2] Goldberg continued his rivalry with Vicious and defeated him in an "I Quit" match at Mayhem to close their feud.[2] Shortly thereafter, Goldberg joined forces with Hart, teaming with him to defeat Creative Control for the WCW World Tag Team Championship.[26] One week later, they lost the title to The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash).

At Starrcade, Goldberg challenged Hart for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship; in the course of the match, Goldberg delivered a stiff kick to Hart's head, legitimately giving him a concussion and tearing a muscle in his neck. Hart continued on, suffering what he believed to be at least one other concussion when he hit his head on the floor while executing a ringpost-assisted figure-four leglock. The match ended when Roddy Piper, the special guest referee for the contest, declared Hart the winner despite Goldberg never having tapped out to the Sharpshooter.[1][2] Hart vacated the title the next night on Nitro, saying he did not want to win that way, and gave Goldberg a rematch.[27] Goldberg was defeated again due to outside interference from Hall and Nash, who came to the ring brandishing baseball bats which they used to attack Goldberg.[27] In a swerve, Hart took one of the bats from The Outsiders and began beating on Goldberg himself, doing enough damage to score the pin and regain his championship.[2][27] After the match, Hall, Nash, Hart and Jeff Jarrett announced the reformation of the nWo[27] and gave Goldberg a new target for a feud that, however, would not last long.

Shortly after his title match loss, Goldberg injured himself on the December 23, 1999 edition of Thunder, during a sequence where he chased the nWo limousine into the parking lot. A spot in the sequence called for Goldberg to pound on the windshield of the limousine with his hands. To ensure his safety, Goldberg had assistance from a piece of metal pipe and his hands were covered in black tape. After this, Goldberg was to break some of the vehicle's windows. There were four windows on the side of the limousine and Goldberg broke the first two with his hands. He then got aggressive, putting his forearm through the third window and immediately gashing it. Goldberg finished the sequence by pounding on the hood of the limo with his bloody arm, but immediately after it ended he was taken from the arena and rushed to a nearby hospital where the wound was patched. Goldberg lost a large amount of blood due to the accident. The injury caused Goldberg to miss the January 4, 2000 New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) Tokyo Dome show, where he was scheduled to face Manabu Nakanishi. After taking time off to recuperate, Goldberg returned to WCW on the May 29, 2000 edition of Nitro interfering in a handicap match between Kevin Nash and the team of Tank Abbott and Rick Steiner .[2] At The Great American Bash, Goldberg betrayed Nash during Nash's world championship match against Jeff Jarrett and turned heel for the first time in his career, aligning himself with The New Blood faction.[1][2] This did not last long, as Goldberg would again be lost to injury and miss time. As a result of this betrayal, Goldberg feuded with Nash and defeated him at Bash at the Beach, with help from fellow New Blood member Scott Steiner.[2] Goldberg participated in a triangle number one contender's match against Nash and Steiner at New Blood Rising, which Nash won.[2] Goldberg walked out of the match midway through while Nash had him ready for the Jackknife Powerbomb and swore at Vince Russo as he left the ring, turning face again. He then began a rivalry with Steiner, culminating in a no disqualification match at Fall Brawl which Goldberg lost due to outside interference.[2]

After his loss to Steiner, Goldberg's rivalry with Russo accelerated and in October, having finally had enough, Russo gave Goldberg an ultimatum. If Goldberg was to lose another match at any point in time, unless he managed to duplicate his undefeated streak from 1997 to 1998, his career would be over and he would be forced to retire from professional wrestling. Goldberg defeated KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) at Halloween Havoc in a handicap elimination match.[1][2] He then started a feud with Lex Luger.[2] This culminated in a match at Mayhem, which Goldberg won.[2] They continued their rivalry and battled in a rematch at Starrcade.[1][2] Goldberg won the match, but afterwards, he was attacked by Luger's partner Buff Bagwell.[1][2] Goldberg feuded with both Luger and Bagwell, who called themselves "Totally Buffed". His streak was broken at Sin when Goldberg, teaming with his Power Plant trainer Dewayne Bruce, lost to Totally Buffed in a tag team no disqualification match after a "fan" maced him, enabling Totally Buffed to pin him.[1][2] The storyline was intended to enable Goldberg to have shoulder surgery, but WCW was sold to the WWF in March 2001, while Goldberg was still recuperating. The WWF did not buy out Goldberg's contract with Time Warner (the parent company of WCW) as they had done with several other WCW employees, so he was not involved in the WWF "Invasion" angle. Goldberg instead remained under contract to Time Warner until May 2002, when he agreed on a contract buyout.[1][2] He was WCW's highest paid athlete, alongside Bret Hart, earning 2,5 million dollars per year, a sum which would've risen to 3,5 million in the final year of his contract, due to have expired in July 2003.[28]

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2003)

Goldberg had suffered an arm injury during the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the Long Beach Grand Prix in April 2002. In August 2002, he returned to the ring in Japan. He initially joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), defeating Satoshi Kojima and Taiyō Kea. He went on to defeat Rick Steiner in a match for the W-1 promotion, and teamed with Keiji Mutoh to defeat KroniK. His success in Japan led to the WWF – now renamed World Wrestling Entertainment – to begin contract negotiations with him.[1]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2003–2004)

World Heavyweight Champion

After leaving Japan, Goldberg signed a one-year contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in March 2003, debuting on the March 31 edition of Raw, the night after WrestleMania XIX. Immediately, he began a feud with The Rock by spearing him.[1] Their rivalry intensified when The Rock held a segment entitled The Rock Concert, where he taunted Goldberg along with Gillberg. He defeated The Rock in his debut match at Backlash. The match was won by Goldberg following three spears and a Jackhammer.[29] Goldberg went undefeated over the subsequent half-year, defeating 3-Minute Warning in his first match on Raw.[1] Goldberg defeated Christian on the following edition of Raw in a steel cage match.[1]

Goldberg next feuded with Chris Jericho. During Jericho's first edition of the Highlight Reel, an interview show, where Goldberg was the guest, he complained that no one wanted Goldberg in WWE and continued to insult him in the following weeks. On May 12 on Raw, a mystery assailant attempted to run over Goldberg with a limousine. A week later, Co-Raw General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin, interrogated several Raw superstars to find out who was driving the car. One of the interrogatees was Lance Storm, who admitted that he was the assailant. Austin forced Storm into a match with Goldberg, who defeated Storm. After the match, Goldberg forced Storm to admit that Jericho was the superstar who conspired Storm into running him over. On May 26, Goldberg was once again a guest on the Highlight Reel. Jericho expressed jealousy towards Goldberg's success in WCW and felt that since joining WWE, he had achieved everything he had ever wanted in his career and all that was left was to defeat Goldberg and challenged him to a match. At Bad Blood, Goldberg settled the score with Jericho and pinned him.[1]

Goldberg entered a rivalry with Triple H, challenging him for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam in the second Elimination Chamber match in WWE; after squashing and eliminating Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels and Jericho, he was pinned by Triple H after Ric Flair threw a sledgehammer inside the Chamber. Triple H proceeded to attack Goldberg with the sledgehammer and as a result, Triple H retained the title.[30] Goldberg continued his feud with Triple H and finally defeated him for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven, after agreeing to put his career on the line.[31][32] The next night on Raw, Goldberg successfully retained the championship against Chris Jericho. A week later, Triple H issued a $100,000 bounty to anybody who could take Goldberg out of the game. Steven Richards, Mark Henry, La Résistance and Tommy Dreamer all attempted to collect the bounty, but were unsuccessful. On October 20, Batista collected the bounty after he interfered in Goldberg's title defense against Shawn Michaels on Raw and attacked Goldberg, placing a folding chair around Goldberg's ankle and jumping off the middle rope onto the chair, shattering his ankle. Furious, Goldberg demanded a match against Batista. Triple H, however, got involved in the match between Goldberg and Batista trying to cripple Goldberg, but Goldberg fought back and speared Triple H before attacking Batista with a sledgehammer. At Survivor Series, Goldberg retained his championship against Triple H despite interference from Evolution.[33]

On November 17, Goldberg faced Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista in a handicap match on Raw, but was pinned following an RKO, a Batista Bomb and finally a Pedigree. After the match, Kane unexpectedly came out to seemingly assist Goldberg after Evolution continued their assault on him following the match. After scaring off Evolution, however, he turned on Goldberg and chokeslammed him. The following week, Kane attacked Goldberg again while he was defending his championship against Triple H in a rematch from Survivor Series and later that night, expressed his desire to face Goldberg for the title. Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that Goldberg would be defending his championship against both Kane and Triple H in a triple threat match at Armageddon. Goldberg teamed with Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam to face and defeat Kane, Batista and Orton in a six-man tag team match. On December 8 on Raw, Goldberg faced Kane in a lumberjack match which ended in a disqualification when Evolution and Mark Henry entered the ring and assaulted Goldberg. At Armageddon, Goldberg ultimately lost the title when Triple H pinned him after interference from Evolution and a chokeslam from Kane.[34]

Feud with Brock Lesnar and departure

The Survivor Series 2003 also marked the first time Goldberg crossed paths with a physically similar Brock Lesnar by interrupting Lesnar after the latter remarked that he could beat anyone in the world. At the time of Survivor Series both men were World Heavyweight and WWE Champions respectively. The feud escalated at the Royal Rumble when Goldberg (now an ex-champion) was in the midst of dominating the Rumble (he eliminated Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn and Nunzio) as the 30th entrant until Brock Lesnar interfered in the match and hit Goldberg with the F-5 (Lesnar was still WWE Champion at that time and wasn't a participant in the Rumble). Angrily distracted at Lesnar's cheap shot, Goldberg left himself vulnerable for an elimination as Kurt Angle threw him over the top rope from behind.[1] Vowing revenge after defeating Mark Henry and Jonathan Coachman in a no disqualification handicap match the following Raw, Goldberg declared Brock Lesnar his next victim. On February 2, Goldberg was given a front row ticket to No Way Out by Stone Cold Steve Austin. SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman appeared on Raw and, along with Mr. McMahon attempted to get Goldberg to back off in his vendetta against Lesnar which resulted in Goldberg spearing Heyman and accidentally spearing Austin when he was aiming for McMahon. Goldberg attended No Way Out as a fan, confronting Lesnar at the event and, after several insults by Lesnar, entered the ring and speared Lesnar, costing him the WWE Championship. Goldberg was then detained and escorted out of the arena by security guards. During the main event between Brock Lesnar and Eddie Guerrero, Goldberg reemerged from the crowd and cost Brock Lesnar the WWE Championship.[35] Lesnar then demanded a match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX, with Austin serving as special guest referee. Fans knew this would be the final WWE match for both Goldberg and Lesnar, and thus gave largely negative reactions through the performance. Goldberg won the match, causing Lesnar to show Austin a middle finger, but in return, he received a Stone Cold Stunner. Goldberg then celebrated his victory with Austin, only to also receive a stunner.

Legends of Wrestling (2015-present)

Goldberg signing an autograph in 2010

Goldberg made his return to professional wrestling on June 7, 2015 at Entertainment Impresario Uncle Louie's Legends of Wrestling show at Citi Field in New York. While he was not scheduled to wrestle at the event, Goldberg would come to the aid of Rob Van Dam after his match with Scott Steiner, where he would hit both of his finishing moves on Steiner and Doc Gallows.[36] On January 23, 2016 Goldberg made a second return for the "Legends of Wrestling's" event in Miami, where he hit another spear on Scott Steiner.

Mixed martial arts

On July 22, 2006, Goldberg served as color commentator in mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion World Fighting Alliance (WFA) King of the Streets pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California. When asked whether he was interested in becoming a mixed martial artist, Goldberg stated, "I'd love to, especially if I was 21 or even 29, but these guys are so far ahead of me in terms of experience. I never say never, though. But I don’t see myself stopping my movies, my shows, my commentating, or being a dad to do that". On June 2, 2007 Bill Goldberg also commentated on K-1 Dynamite USA.

Goldberg became a color commentator for the EliteXC organization during their inaugural event. The event, EliteXC Destiny, was broadcast live on Showtime, on February 10, 2007. He has continued in this role through all of EliteXC's showcase and combined cards, including Dynamite!! USA, Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, EliteXC: Renegade, and EliteXC: Street Certified.

Other media

Goldberg began acting while working for WCW in 1999. His appearance in Universal Soldier: The Return corresponded with him being featured in the music video.[37][38] He was a special guest star on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. On the show he showed the contestants his various power moves and also how to hit an opponent with a steel chair. He went on to host three seasons of the Speed Channel show Bullrun.

In 2005, Goldberg also starred in the Happy Madison produced Adam Sandler movie The Longest Yard, as an inmate, along with fellow wrestlers Kevin Nash, The Great Khali, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, as well as actors Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds among others. In the same year he was also the host of The History Channel documentary series "'Auto-Maniac" and later starred in the movie Santa's Slay where he plays a homicidal Santa Claus who goes on a killing spree on Christmas.

In March 2010, Goldberg appeared on the ninth season of Donald Trump's reality series The Celebrity Apprentice and was eliminated in the sixth episode.[39]

In September 2010, Goldberg joined forces with Louis Gregory, CEO of Uncle Louie Music Group and Uncle Louie Management when Bill placed "Uncle Louie" on Team Goldberg.[40]

Goldberg makes frequent guest appearances on 4th & Pain, a pro-wrestling show co-hosted by Adam Carriker.[41]

Goldberg is featured in video games such as WCW Nitro,[42] WCW/nWo Revenge,[43] WCW/nWo Thunder,[44] WCW Mayhem,[45] WCW Backstage Assault,[46] WWE WrestleMania XIX, WWE Raw 2,[47] WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain[48] and WWE 2K14.[49]

In 2014, Goldberg started his own Podcast entitled Who's Next?! With Bill Goldberg. The show can be found for free on his official homepage. Notable guests include Deion Sanders and Terry Crews. He has weekly guests from all facets of his professional life, from football, to MMA, to sports in general, to movies and television.

In 2016, Goldberg starred in the documentary film Nine Legends alongside other notable wrestlers, former boxing star Mike Tyson and UFC fighter Randy Couture.[50]

He also sponsored the Monster Jam truck "Goldberg", which was driven by Tom Meents in the early 2000s.

Personal life

Goldberg's mother, Ethel, is a classical violinist, while his father, Jed, who attended Harvard University, was an obstetrician and gynecologist. They divorced, and Jed died in late 2006.[51] In addition to playing the violin, Ethel breeds flowers, and once succeeded in creating an award-winning hybrid orchid which she named after Goldberg.[52] Bill's brother, Michael, is the owner of the premier music club in Aspen, Colorado named Belly Up.[53] Bill is proud of his Jewish heritage and refused to hide it in the wrestling world, including refusing to wrestle on Yom Kippur.[54][55] Goldberg's Jewish ancestors came from Russia and Romania. His Romanian grandfather, Marcel, emigrated from Bucharest and came to America through Ellis Island.[56] His other great-grandfather, Willie, was an immigrant from Russia.

Goldberg was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he had a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel[57] and graduated from Tulsa Edison High School.[58] He acquired a love for football early in life and was a bouncer at age 16.[10]

On April 10, 2005, Goldberg married Wanda Ferraton, a stunt double whom he met while filming Santa's Slay, as stated in that movie's audio commentary. The couple have one son together named Gage Goldberg.[59]

Goldberg during his tour of USS Ronald Reagan.

Goldberg is an animal welfare advocate and an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) spokesman, and has addressed the United States Congress in order to raise awareness of illegal animal fighting.[60] Every year, Goldberg also plays golf in the Jimmy V Golf Classic and visits with children in local hospitals who are undergoing cancer treatment.

Goldberg co-owns and operates the "Extreme Power Gym" Muay Thai and amateur boxing training facility in Oceanside, California. He also owns over 25 vintage cars,[54] including a Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible, Shelby Cobra 427, and a Mustang Boss 429 "Lawman" (one of the two cars used in the Vietnam War to entertain the U.S. Army).

Goldberg has a long scar on the right side of his torso from a tear suffered during a college football game that required surgery to repair. He also acquired a scar on his right forearm from an altercation in WCW which kept him out of action for quite some time due to the surgery needed to fix.[61] He has a large tribal tattoo on his left upper shoulder (which became his professional wrestling logo) and a skull on the inside of his right biceps.

Philanthropy

In January 2016, Goldberg and Entertainment Impresario Uncle Louie started a joint venture with disabled Air Force veteran Reinaldo Horday called "Combat Crate" offering a crate of exclusive memorabilia with 100% of the profit from the inaugural crate to "Wounded Warriors of South Florida" of South Florida. "[1]".

Filmography

Film

Year Title role
1999 The Jesse Ventura Story Luger
Universal Soldier: The Return Romeo
2000 Ready to Rumble Himself
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Mr. Smith
2005 The Longest Yard Battle
The Kid & I Himself
Santa's Slay Santa Claus
2007 Half Past Dead 2 William Burke
2010 Kill Speed Big Bad John
Minkow Sax
Holly, Jingles and Clyde 3D Gus

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Love Boat: The Next Wave Lou "The Pariah" Maguire Episode: "Captain Courageous"
1999 Dennis Miller Live Himself
Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends Episode: "Wrestling"
E! True Hollywood Story Episode: "Hulk Hogan"
2000 The Daily Show
The Man Show Episode: "Holiday Show 2"
2002 Yes, Dear Big Guy Episode: "Walk Like a Man"
Family Guy Angry bus passenger Episode: "Family Guy Viewer Mail 1"
Arliss Episode: "In with the New"
Kim Possible Pain King Episode: "Pain King vs. Cleopatra"
2003 HBO First Look Episode: "Looney Tunes: Back In Action"
Punk'd Himself
2004 Monster Garage Episode: "Box-Truck Wrestling Ring"
2005 Modern Marvels Episode: "Private Collections"
Desperate Housewives Inmate Episode: "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
Biker Build-Off Host
Automaniac
The Contender Episode: "Who's Playing The Game?"
2006 Pros vs. Joes Episodes: "Can You PVJ Champ?" and "Can You Cover Jerry Rice?"
2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Cupid Episode: "Loophole"
2007–2010 Bullrun Host
2008 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling Himself Episode: "In-Ring Psychology"
2009 Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
The Rise and Fall of WCW
2010 The Celebrity Apprentice
Garage Mahal

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

1 ^ Goldberg became the fifth man to win the Triple Crown along with Bret Hart as they both won on the same day.

Undefeated streak statistics

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Bill Goldberg's OWOW Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on March 20, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag "Bill Goldberg's Accelerator profile". Accelerator's Wrestling Rollercoaster. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved March 21, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b "Bill Goldberg's Cagematch profile".
  4. ^ a b c d e "Goldberg bio". WWE. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  5. ^ "Biography". Billgoldberg.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Road Wild report on August 8, 1998".
  7. ^ a b "WCW Nitro report on February 22, 1999".
  8. ^ "WCW 1997 results"., Saturday Night taping, against Buddy Landel
  9. ^ The Rise & Fall of WCW. 2009. WWE Home Video. 78 minutes in. "Bill Goldberg was as hot as anybody has ever been in the history of this business. He was as hot as [Hulk] Hogan, he was as hot as The Rock, he was as hot as [Steve] Austin. Name it - doesn't matter."
  10. ^ a b Eye to Eye With Goldberg IGN (March 16, 1999). Retrieved 8–27–11.
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References

  • Goldberg, Bill and Goldberg, Steve (2000) I'm Next: The Strange Journey of America's Most Unlikely Superhero, ISBN 0-609-60780-4
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