Bill Goldberg

William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler, actor, and former professional football defensive tackle. Goldberg achieved fame in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during the late 1990s, propelled by a promoted undefeated streak exceeding 170 matches that established him as a dominant force, leading to his capture of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 1998. Transitioning to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2003 and the WWE Universal Championship on two occasions in 2017 and 2020, solidifying his status as a multi-time world champion across promotions. Beyond wrestling, Goldberg pursued acting roles in films including Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) and The Longest Yard (2005), while his football career included stints with the Atlanta Falcons and other NFL teams after playing college ball at the University of Georgia. Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018, Goldberg's career is defined by his explosive in-ring style featuring the spear and jackhammer, though his limited matches and part-time status later in WWE drew mixed reception among fans and critics.

William Scott Goldberg was born on December 27, 1966, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Jewish parents Ethel and Jed Goldberg. His mother, Ethel, worked as a classical violinist, while his father, Jed—a Harvard University graduate—practiced as an obstetrician and gynecologist who delivered nearly 10,000 babies over his career. The family maintained an observant Jewish household, with Goldberg undergoing a bar mitzvah at Temple Israel in Tulsa. His parents later divorced, and Jed Goldberg died on July 24, 2005, at age 81.

As the youngest child in the family, Goldberg grew up in Tulsa's local sports environment, which fostered his early physical development and interest in contact sports and strength training. His Jewish heritage, emphasized by family background including Russian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish ancestry, influenced his personal identity amid an upbringing that encouraged athletic pursuits from a young age.

Of Russian Jewish descent through both parents, Goldberg has emphasized pride in his heritage, explaining his decision to adopt his birth surname as a ring name stemmed from a desire to represent a strong Jewish figure in sports entertainment.