William Scott Goldberg (born December 27 1966) better known by his ring name Bill Goldberg (or simply Goldberg) is a commentator for the mixed martial arts promotion EliteXC. He is also an American professional wrestler best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling from September 1997 to January 2001, as well as his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment from March 2003 to March 2004. He is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion.
During his career, Goldberg was booked to win several titles. He was a 1 time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, 2 time United States Heavyweight Champion and 1 time World Tag Team Champion with Bret Hart in WCW as well as a 1 time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE.
On October 11, 1998, episode of WCW Monday Nitro, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Goldberg defeated The Giant in a no-disqualification match, in an unbelievable feat of strength; Goldberg executed a delayed vertical suplex before hitting the Jackhammer on The Giant.
After Diamond Dallas Page became the #1 contender to the WCW title, Goldberg and Page began a feud with each other. At Halloween Havoc 1998, the feud was settled after Goldberg defeated Page to retain the title. After settling out his feud with Page, he got involved in a short feud with Bam Bam Bigelow, who had left ECW to wrestle Goldberg. On November 16 edition of Nitro, Goldberg defended the WCW title against Bigelow in Bigelow's WCW debut but the match went to a no contest.
Both his reign and his streak of 173 wins and 0 loses ended at Starrcade 1998 when he lost his title to Kevin Nash after Scott Hall made a run-in and shocked Goldberg with a cattle prod. However, Goldberg avenged this act by facing Hall at Souled Out 1999, in a Ladder Taser Match. Goldberg won when he used the taser. The match could only be won by using the taser, which was hung high above the ring, requiring the ladder to obtain it. After the match, Goldberg's rival Bam Bam Bigelow came out and attacked him, thus the duo began their rivalry once again. Goldberg defeated Bigelow at SuperBrawl IX to settle the feud. 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.
Goldberg took his revenge from Kevin Nash by defeating Nash at Spring Stampede 1999. Goldberg wrestled a match against Sting at Slamboree 1999 which was fought to a no contest. He was \\"injured\\" and took some time off, for his movie Universal Soldier: The Return. He returned two months later, and defeated Rick Steiner at Road Wild 1999 in a squash match. He started a feud with Diamond Dallas Page and his Jersey Triad, which culminated in a match at Fall Brawl 1999 which Goldberg won. Around that same time, United States Champion Sid Vicious began a winning streak by defeating two jobbers at the same time. After Goldberg settled his rivalry with DDP, he began focusing on Vicious and challenged him to a match to end his winning streak. The two feuded with each other, which culminated in a match at Halloween Havoc 1999 for Sid's US title and Goldberg defeated Sid, via referee stoppage, thus winning his second WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Later that night, he answered an open challenge from WCW World Champion Sting and defeated him to win the championship.
However, 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. The world title was vacated and a 32-man tournament was held to determine a new champion, which started that night. Goldberg participated in the tournament and defended his United States title against Bret Hart in a first round tournament match and went on to lose the match, after interference from Sid Vicious which gave Goldberg his second official loss in WCW in the process. Goldberg continued his rivalry with Vicious, and defeated him in an "I Quit" match at Mayhem 1999.
Shortly thereafter, Goldberg joined forces with Hart, teaming with him to defeat Creative Control for the WCW World Tag Team Championship on December 7. One week later, they lost the titles to The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash). At Starrcade 1999, Goldberg challenged Hart for the WCW World Championship. In the course of the match, which was won by Hart, Goldberg delivered a stiff kick to Hart's head, legitimately concussing him and tearing a muscle in his neck. This injury, combined with the various injuries Hart had suffered in the course of his lengthy career and the additional blows to the head he absorbed before being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, forced Hart into retirement several weeks later. Despite that, Goldberg lost the match to Hart, but with the match shrouded in controversy Hart vacated the title the next night on Nitro, saying he didn't want to win that way and granting Goldberg a rematch. Goldberg was defeated again due to outside interference from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who began to beat on Goldberg with baseball bats. 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. After the match, Hall, Nash, Hart, and Jeff Jarrett announced the reformation of the nWo, and gave Goldberg a new target for a feud. However, it would not last long.
After taking time off to recuperate, Goldberg returned to WCW on May 29, 2000 interfering in a Nitro match between Kevin Nash and the team of Tank Abbott and Rick Steiner. At The Great American Bash 2000, Goldberg betrayed Nash during Nash's World Title match against Jeff Jarrett and turned heel for the first time in his career by aligning himself with the New Blood faction. This didn't 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 2000, but with help from Scott Steiner. Goldberg thought that he deserved to be the #1 contender to the world title, and faced World Champion Booker T for the title and won the match, but didn't regain the title since Booker T didn't submit. He participated in a triple threat #1 contender's match against Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner at New Blood Rising, which Nash won. Goldberg turned face again after Bret Hart attacked him on an edition of Nitro and then he and Scott Steiner began a feud with each other, culminating in a no disqualification match at Fall Brawl 2000, which Goldberg lost.
He began a new undefeated streak in October 2000, with Vince Russo threatening to "fire" him if he lost. He defeated KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark) at Halloween Havoc 2000 in a handicap elimination match to begin his undefeated streak. He started a feud with "The Total Package" Lex Luger, who claimed to be the first wrestler to end both Goldberg's streak and career. This culminated in a match at Mayhem 2000, which Goldberg won. They continued their rivalry and battled in a rematch at Starrcade 2000, which if Goldberg lost, he had to retire. Goldberg won the match, but after the match, he was attacked by Luger's partner Buff Bagwell. Goldberg began feuding with both Luger and Bagwell, who called themselves Totally Buff. His streak was broken at Sin when Goldberg, teaming with his Power Plant trainer, Dwayne Bruce, lost to Totally Buff in a tag team no disqualification match after a plant maced him, enabling Totally Buff to pin him. The angle was intended to enable Goldberg to have shoulder surgery, but WCW was sold to the WWF in March 2001, with Goldberg 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, and 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.
In the course of his WCW career, Goldberg had six official singles defeats: three to Bret Hart, one to Kevin Nash, one to Scott Steiner, and one to Booker T.
At Royal Rumble 2004, Goldberg participated in the Royal Rumble match, entering at #30, so he could get a chance to regain his world title at WrestleMania. However, during the match, he began a feud with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar who interfered in the match and hit Goldberg with the F-5 and causing him to be eliminated by Kurt Angle. Goldberg gained revenge by attending No Way Out 2004 the following month and costing Lesnar his WWE Championship by interfering in a match between Lesnar and the challenger to the title, Eddie Guerrero. This led to a match between the two being scheduled for WrestleMania XX. A match between the two had been highly anticipated due to their similar physique and their undefeated streaks. Goldberg was not seen on WWE television for several weeks before the event, as he had already worked the maximum number of dates (bar one, his WrestleMania appearance) stipulated by his contract and would have had to have been paid a supplementary salary in order to make extra appearances. This may have hurt the build to the WrestleMania match, with the last episode of SmackDown! before WrestleMania featuring a confrontation between Lesnar and Steve Austin, the guest referee of the match, instead of Goldberg.
The Goldberg vs. Lesnar match is notable for a large majority of the crowd becoming aware that this was to be both men's last match in the WWE; it became known shortly before the match that Lesnar was pursuing an NFL career. As a result, the audience 'turned' on them by booing and shouting derogatory chants at both participants; although, Lesnar was more a target of the fans' disdain possibly because he was the intended heel in the match (Austin was the only one to receive any cheers during that match). Both men showed frustration in their performance, and amid the resounding boos, ringside commentator Jim Ross acknowledged their plans to leave the company. Goldberg won the match cleanly but was attacked by Austin post-match. Then a week later, his WWE contract expired and was not renewed, thus ending Goldberg's WWE career.
In February 2006, several media outlets reported that Goldberg was in negotiations with the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling; possibly in response to these rumors, semi-retired wrestler Warrior commented on his website that he would be interested in wrestling Goldberg in TNA should TNA approach him with such an offer. In a series of interviews conducted in June 2006, Goldberg stated that he was mildly interested in working for TNA, particularly since his friend Sting had joined the promotion by then, but had several reservations; he was holding out for a contract similar to the magnitude of Sting's. Goldberg's name has been brought up frequently in TNA during angles and during backstage discussions and rumors. Goldberg's name was first mentioned at Lockdown 2006, as Goldberg became the target of a rumor of him joining Sting's warriors to wage war against Jarrett's army as a result of Steiner being brought in. His name was also brought up as a candidate for the consultant of Christian Cage, along with Brock Lesnar's, but it was later revealed to be Scott Steiner. Goldberg was upset about this, as was Brock Lesnar, as neither of them was informed of their names being on the list (since it was Brock Lesnar himself who informed Goldberg of the list). Another rumor had surfaced about Goldberg being the fifth member of Team Angle for the Lethal Lockdown match at Lockdown 2007, but it was revealed that Jeff Jarrett was that man.
He was scheduled to appear at WrestleFanFest Malice in the Palace on October 19 2007 but did not attend.
On August 22, 2008, Goldberg announced on the Fight Network Radio that he has been training for three weeks to make his long awaited professional wrestling return, but has hinted that his return would not involve WWE or TNA.
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.
Goldberg became a color commentator for the EliteXC Mixed martial arts 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.
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."
Goldberg is also the Vice President of Public Relations for WAMMA, (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts), an organization intended to provide universal rankings for fighters and organize cross-promotional title fights and defenses. 
The former Street Fighter Kimbo Slice has publicly referred to himself as the 'Original Black Goldberg' on at least one occasion.
On April 10 2005, Goldberg married Wanda Ferraton, a stunt double whom he met while filming Santa's Slay, as stated in this movie's audio commentary. They have a son together, Gage A.J. Goldberg, who was born on May 10 2006.
Goldberg is an animal welfare advocate and an ASPCA spokesman, and has addressed the United States Congress in order to raise awareness of illegal animal fighting.
Goldberg co-owns and operates the " Extreme Power Gym" Muay Thai & Amateur boxing training facility in Oceanside, California.
Goldberg owns over 25 vintage cars.He is a real-life friend of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, Kevin Nash, Sting and The Rock. He owns an avocado ranch & works on it regularly.
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