Bill Goldberg
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William Scott (Bill) Goldberg (born December 27, 1966 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a former football star turned wrestler, often promoted simply as Goldberg. From March 2003 until March 2004, he was in the WWE on Monday Night Raw.
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Pre-Wrestling
He played college football at the University of Georgia, and then played pro football with the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams, and then was signed by the Carolina Panthers, until his football career was ended by an abdominal injury, when he tore all his abdominal muscles from his pelvis, and had them surgically reattached.
Wrestling history
World Championship Wrestling
Goldberg became a wrestler, training in the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Power Plant wrestling school and entered the ring professionally on September 22, 1997, defeating Hugh Morrus. He then started on the path of what made him a wrestling superstar, his undefeated winning streak. WCW kayfabe said that he had one hundred and seventy-three wins before wrestler Kevin Nash handed him his first loss. The count of 173 wins came from a record of televised matches and pay-per-views.
He would become the WCW United States Champion on April 21, 1998, by defeating Raven. He would vacate the title when he gave it up after winning the World Heavyweight title.
He became the WCW World Heavyweight Champion on July 6, 1998 when he defeated the at the time nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. He would hold the title until wrestler Kevin Nash handed him his first loss in the WCW on December 27, 1998. Goldberg's streak was booked so that it took wrestler Scott Hall getting involved with a tazer gun for Kevin Nash to win.
He would become a second time holder of the WCW US Championship on October 24, 1999 but would be defeated by Bret Hart the next day, losing the title. Amazingly enough, he would later team with Bret Hart to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship on December 7, 1999. They would hold the title for only a week, losing the titles to The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall).
In October 2000 Goldberg began a new streak, with Vince Russo threatening to fire him if he lost. The streak was broken after 35 victories on January 14, 2001 when he was pinned by "Totally Buff" (Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger) while tagging with his trainer, Dwayne Bruce in what would emerge to be his last ever WCW match. As a result of the defeat, Goldberg was obliged to "leave" WCW (in reality, he was given time off to have shoulder surgery), and WCW declared bankruptcy just two months later, with Goldberg still rehabbing his shoulder.
Due to the fact that Goldberg was signed through Time Warner instead of directly with World Championship Wrestling, when the WWF had purchased WCW, the WWF did not get Goldberg's contract with the purchase. At the time, the WWF chose not to buy out Goldberg's contract.
Goldberg suffered only six official losses in his WCW career in singles matches. Three of those losses were against Bret "Hitman" Hart. Including an unofficial loss when Bret made his own three count, which makes 4 losses.
After WCW
Goldberg would wait out his contract after his run in the WCW. He would make his biggest splash in Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling, becoming one of the biggest pulls in the country. This would finally prompt the WWE to sign Goldberg.
World Wrestling Entertainment
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Goldberg would make his WWE debut on the March 31, 2003 episode of RAW, the night after WrestleMania XIX. He immediately started a feud with The Rock, culminating in a victory by Goldberg at Backlash 2003. His first win on RAW saw him defeat Christian inside a 15-foot high steel cage.
Later that year, he would defeat World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, winning the title at Unforgiven 2003 on September 21. He held the title until Armageddon 2003 on September 21 when he lost the title back to Triple H in a triple threat match which included Kane.
During the 2004 Royal Rumble Royal Rumble Match, Brock Lesnar stormed the ring and hit Goldberg with the F-5, enabling Kurt Angle to eliminate him and thus costing him a WrestleMania title shot. This led to Goldberg appearing at the No Way Out 2004 the following month, as an "official audience member." After Brock Lesnar taunted him, Goldberg entered the ring and gave Lesnar a Jackhammer. SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman had Goldberg removed from the building by security, but he returned in the midst of Lesnar's WWE Championship title defence against Eddie Guerrero, costing Lesnar the match and the belt. This led to a match being booked between the two for WrestleMania XX.
At WrestleMania, Goldberg faced Lesnar with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the match's special guest referee. Goldberg was victorious, but both Lesnar and he received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin. Lesnar and Goldberg had both gone undefeated for long periods of time, leading many fans to label a match between the two a "dream match". However, as both Lesnar and Goldberg (whose contract had expired) were known to be leaving the company immediately after WrestleMania, the match was poorly received by the audience, who soundly booed both competitors.
In March 31, 2004 Bill left WWE after Wrestlemania XX due to the way the creative team was promoting his character. Bill has reportedly entered into negotiations with the WWE to get a new contract with the company. He obviously has a list of demands, including more pay, less dates, more control, and a storyline with Steve Austin.
After WWE
Reportedly, Goldberg will continue his wrestling career in Japan, where he remains a major draw.
With aspirations to do work in film, Goldberg has two movies that are both due out in 2005. The first film of the two, Santa's Slay, is due to be released soon. The second is a remake of the 1974 Burt Reynolds film The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler, in which he co-stars with other wrestlers Kevin Nash and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Neither of these two movies are his first movies, as he has starred in others. See below for more information about the movies in which Goldberg has starred.
Recently, it has been noted that Bill Goldberg has been married to Wanda Feraton, a stunt woman whom he met while filming The Longest Yard. Bill and Wanda were married on April 10, 2005.
Title History
World Championship Wrestling
- April 20, 1998 – WCW United States Title (1)
- Defeated Raven - Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Vacated on July 6, 1998 after winning World title
- July 6, 1998 – WCW World Heavyweight Title
- Defeated Hulk Hogan - Atlanta, Georgia
- Lost to Kevin Nash on December 27, 1998
- October 24, 1999 – WCW United States Title (2)
- Defeated Sid Vicious - Las Vegas, Nevada
- Lost to Bret Hart on October 25, 1999
- December 7, 1999 – WCW World Tag Team Title
- Teamed with Bret Hart
- Defeated "Creative Control" (Ron & Don Harris) - Madison, Wisconsin
- Lost to the Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) on December 13, 1999
World Wrestling Entertainment
- September 21, 2003 – WWE RAW World Heavyweight Title
- Defeated Triple H - Hershey, Pennsylvania
- Lost to Triple H on December 14, 2003
Other information
Movies and television
Goldberg has starred in several movies:
- His first role was in The Jesse Ventura Story and it was followed by an appearance in Universal Soldier: The Return. Both movies were released in 1999.
- His next movie was in 2000 in the WCW movie, Ready to Rumble, in which he would play himself.
- During his time in the WWE, he would star in the 2003 Warner Brothers movie, Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
- He was Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher any ways, after the exact copy of his motorcycle was supposed to crashed into the truck but it did not crashed to the truck. Goldberg felt sorry about Ashton for causing to end Punk'd after two seasons (but relaunched on April 25, 2004), because Ashton Kutcher screwed up this prank.
- He has a brand new movie coming, that is due to be released in (2005). The name of the movie is Santa's Slay.
- He also has a role in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard, in which he co-stars with other wrestlers Kevin Nash and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- In his first television hosting role, he has a show on the History Channel called AutoManiac (but Goldberg calls it "Inside the Ride" in an interview). To quote Goldberg from an interview he did: "It’s a 30-minute show with 13-episodes, talking about the history of automobiles and motorcycles, and what’s their historical perspective. The first (episode) that we shot was, mob cars. We’ve also shot police cars and extreme bikes." It is unknown when this show will debut.
Trademark moves and sayings
His favorite catch phrase is “Who’s Next?” or “You’re Next!” He also recently used “Believe the Hype” coming into Unforgiven 2003 PPV Event.
He has two of the most famous wrestling moves in recent wrestling history; the Spear and the Jackhammer. The Jackhammer has been regarded as the most powerful and destructive finishing move of all time.
He leads with the Spear. He waits on the opposite side of the ring, waiting for his opponent to get up and turn around. When they do, he charges at them like a linebacker in football, tackling them to the ground. Then, in a move called the Jackhammer, after doing the Spear, he picks his opponent up over his head, legs up in the air, then slamming them to the ground, covering immediately for the pin. Only once has anyone kicked out of a pin following this combo of moves, and it was due to a timing issue during a six-man tag match done to Hollywood Hulk Hogan and was supposed to be interrupted by Kevin Nash who was outside the ring at the time.
Other wrestling moves: Gorilla Press into a Spinebuster, Side kick
Trivia
- He used to be a bouncer. It is unknown where this was however.
- He has a degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia.
- Goldberg steadfastly kept his real last name as his wrestling moniker against the advice of many. Goldberg has stated that he does so as a show of pride in his Jewish ancestry (other Jewish wrestlers of his "peak" era included Barry Horowitz, Raven, and Dean Malenko). Ironically enough, he would later star in a movie, Santa's Slay where he plays a murderous Santa Claus.
- His character was criticized by some (including Vince McMahon) as being a copy of that of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Despite character history and storylines being different to the extreme, the aforementioned similarities include both men wearing short black tights, sporting bald heads and goatees, using similar wrestling styles, and uttering similar catchphrases. However, Eric Bischoff has stated that his character was created to mock Ken Shamrock when he was in the WWF, not Austin.
- He is an advocate for animal rights and a vegetarian.
- Many Internet wrestling fans consider Goldberg to be the one responsible for the ending of Bret Hart's career, although Goldberg and Bret Hart are not feuding in real life and have become friends in recent years. Goldberg had delivered a mule kick to Bret Hart while in WCW, and the injuries Bret suffered due to this kick essentially put an end to his career although Hart had a concussion going into the match.
- Regards WCW wrestler Meng as the real-life toughest guy he's met.
- Has the most impressive undefeated streak in all of "modern" professional wrestling history (with Lou Thesz having the most impressive with 900+ wins between 1948-1956) with 174 wins before suffering his first loss to Kevin Nash. The loss to Nash came soon after Nash became part of WCW's booking team.
Books / Autobiography
- I'm Next: The Strange Journey of America's Most Unlikely Superstar (with Steve Goldberg)
External links
- http://www.billgoldberg.com – The Official Bill Goldberg website
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- http://www.billgoldberg.net – A popular fansite/message board dedicated to Bill Goldberg
- http://www.billgoldberg.com/new/latestnews10.29.04.htm – An interview with Goldberg done by former WCW MAGAZINE editor Ross Forman
- http://www.gast-gazette.com/Portal/Sports/Panthers/History/expansionDraft.htm Intersting Site about Bill Goldberg
| WCW World Heavyweight Championship | ||
| Preceded by: Hollywood Hogan | First reign | Followed by: Kevin Nash |
| World Heavyweight Championship | ||
| Preceded by: Triple H | First reign | Followed by: Triple H |
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Awards
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 75 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
- He also won two PWI Awards in 1998. He won Rookie of the Year and Most Inspirational.de:Bill Goldberg