Bill Goldberg

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Biography

William Scott Goldberg is a former professional wrestler best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He is famous for holding the record for the largest undefeated winning streak in professional wrestling. The official count is listed as 173 wins and one loss, although some have disputed the legitimacy of that total. Goldberg is also famed for his catch phrase, "Who's Next?" Goldberg is recognized by WWE as a two-time world champion: a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time World Heavyweight Champion, with both reigns represented by the Big Gold Belt. He was the first of three men to hold the Big Gold Belt in both WCW and in WWE, later followed by Chris Benoit and Booker T. He is also recognized by WWE as a two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion (with Bret Hart). Before he was a professional wrestler, Goldberg was a football player. After retiring from wrestling, he began working as a commentator for the mixed martial arts promotion EliteXC until its closure. He is currently hosting the television show Garage Mahal on the DIY Network.

Movies

WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001. Production ceased shortly after WCW was purchased by the WWF. The debut of Nitro began the Monday Night Wars, a ratings battle between the WWF and WCW that lasted for almost six years and saw each company resort to cutthroat tactics to try to compete with the competition. In mid-1996, Nitro began to draw better ratings than Raw based on the strength of the nWo storyline, an anarchist wrestling stable that wanted to take over WCW. Nitro continued to beat Raw for 84 consecutive weeks, forcing WWE owner Vince McMahon to change the way he did business. As the nWo storyline grew stagnant, fan interest in the storyline waned, and Raw began to edge out Nitro in the ratings. The turning point for the organizations came during the January 4, 1999 broadcast of Nitro, during which lead commentator Tony Schiavone gave away the results of matches for that night's Raw broadcast. As Raw was taped and Nitro was live, Bischoff believed that knowing the outcome would dissuade viewers from watching the program. Excited by the prospect of seeing perennial WWF underdog Mick Foley win the WWF Championship, a large number of Nitro viewers changed channels to watch Raw, switching back to Nitro after Foley won the title. From that week forward, Raw beat Nitro in the ratings by a significant amount, and WCW was never able to regain the success it once had.

More info
WCW Monday Nitro
1995