Bill Goldberg
Bill Goldberg | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goldberg in 2021 | |||||||||
| Born | William Scott Goldberg December 27, 1966 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | ||||||||
| Occupations |
| ||||||||
| Years active | 1990–1995 (football) 1997–2004; 2016–2025 (wrestling) 1998–present (acting) | ||||||||
| Spouse |
Wanda Ferraton
(m. 2005) | ||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||
| Ring name(s) | Bill Gold[1] Bill Goldberg[2] Goldberg | ||||||||
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[3][4] | ||||||||
| Billed weight | 285 lb (129 kg)[3][4] | ||||||||
| Billed from | Atlanta, Georgia[3] Dawsonville, Georgia[5][6] Parts Unknown[5][6] | ||||||||
| Trained by | DeWayne Bruce[1] WCW Power Plant[2][3] | ||||||||
| Debut | June 23, 1997[2][7] | ||||||||
| Retired | July 12, 2025 | ||||||||
| Football career | |||||||||
| No. 73, 71[8] | |||||||||
| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 272 lb (123 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Edison (Tulsa, Oklahoma) | ||||||||
| College | Georgia (1987–1989) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1990: 11th round, 301st overall pick | ||||||||
| Expansion draft | 1995: 36th round, 64th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known mononymously as Goldberg, is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. As a wrestler, he is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
One of the most popular figures of the professional wrestling boom during the late 1990s and early 2000s,[9] Goldberg rose to fame in WCW with a lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition from 1997 to 1998, became the highest paid WCW wrestler, and led the company as its franchise player and public face until it was sold to WWE in 2001. During his time with WCW, he became a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart). Along with Hart, he is the fifth WCW Triple Crown winner.
Following WCW's closure in 2001, Goldberg wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling between 2002 and 2003 and for WWE between 2003 and 2004, becoming a one-time World Heavyweight Champion (2002–2013 version) in the latter. After 12 years away from wrestling, he returned to WWE in 2016, winning the WWE Universal Championship for the first time in 2017 and a second time in 2020. He has headlined multiple WCW and WWE pay-per-view events, including WCW's premier annual event Starrcade (in 1998 and 1999). He headlined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018, and is recognized as a four-time world champion in his career between WWE and WCW. He is also the only wrestler to have won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, the 2002–2013 version of WWE's World Heavyweight Championship, and the WWE Universal Championship, as well as the only wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, which happened with his second Universal Championship win. He had his retirement match at Saturday Night's Main Event XL on July 12, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia, a losing effort against Gunther for WWE's newer World Heavyweight Championship (introduced in 2023).
Before he became a professional wrestler, Goldberg was a professional American football player. Following his first retirement from wrestling in 2004, he began working as a commentator for the mixed martial arts promotion Elite Xtreme Combat before it closed down. He hosted 26 episodes of Garage Mahal on the DIY Network from 2009 to 2011 and has acted in various films and television shows, including Universal Soldier: The Return and NCIS: Los Angeles.
- ^ a b "Wrestlers Database - Goldberg". cagematch.net. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
slamwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d "Goldberg bio". WWE. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "Biography". Billgoldberg.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2010. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ a b "WCW Road Wild - Saturday, 08/08/98". ddtdigest.com. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
- ^ a b "WCW Monday Nitro - Monday, 02/22/99". ddtdigest.com. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
- ^ |retired = November 27, 2022 "WCW 1997 results". January 16, 2023., Saturday Night taping, against Buddy Landel
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Pfawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Winkie, Luke (July 26, 2016). "A definitive ranking of the top 101 wrestlers of all time". SI.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 25, 2020.