George Steele

Photo credit: World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Real name: William James Myers
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 288 lbs.
Date of birth: April 16, 1937
Date of death: February 17, 2017
From: Detroit, MI
Pro debut: 1967
Trained by: Bert Rubi
Finishing move: Flying Hammerlock

Biography

– Myers was an accomplished athlete at high school level and would go on to Michigan State University to play football, but almost immediately succumbed to knee injuries
– After earning his degree, Myers became a teacher in Madison Heights, Michigan and also worked as a coach for the school wrestling and football teams
– Myers got into wrestling in order to supplement his income. He began his career under a mask as ‘The Student’, managed by Gary Hart
– Myers adopted the ‘George Steele’ moniker upon his debut in Pennsylvania’s Studio Wrestling, a WWWF affiliated show
– In May 1968, Steele began working full-time for WWWF
– In the summer of 1974, Steele worked a tour with All Japan
– In 1979, Steele returned to Japan, this time with New Japan
– On May 3, 1980, Steele & Frankie Laine defeated Randy Scott & John Bonello to win the NWA Detroit Tag Team Titles
– On July 8, Steele defeated Luis Martinez to win the Canadian Heavyweight Title, but lost it to Hartford Love two weeks later
– In 1983, Steele regularly scored DQ or countout victories over WWF Champion Bob Backlund
– In 1988, Steele was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and was forced to step back from his ring-work, becoming a road agent
– Steele was released by WWF in 1990 due to budget cuts
– Steele was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995
– After his Crohn’s Disease went into remission, Steele returned to the ring at independent events. He made his first appearances in July 1997
– In 1998, Steele made a return to WWF as a member of The Oddities. This was a largely non-wrestling role, but he did compete three times in late 1998 and early 1999
– Steele defeated Jeff Jarrett in a short Bunkhouse Brawl Match on the January 10, 2000 episode of WCW Nitro
– Steele wrestled his last match on July 29, 2001, defeating Angel Armoni at an AAW event in Wisconsin
– Steele appeared at TNA Slammiversary 2008 as one of Jay Lethal’s groomsmen for his ‘marriage’ to So Cal Val
– Steele made a surprise appearance on the ‘Old School RAW’ special in November 2010, interrupting a match between Kofi Kingston & David Otunga to eat one of the turnbuckles
– Steele died of kidney failure on February 16, 2017