04/21/2023
George “The Animal” Steele! was born on this day 86 years ago!
One of the hairiest and scariest wrestlers of all time, he was born, raised and educated in Michigan. He took a teaching position out of college.
He began wrestling professionally to supplement his income and made his debut in 1967.
His first national success came wrestling in the WWWF in the 70’s facing the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Victor Rivera and Chief Jay Strongbow.
His flying hammerlock, a move where he lifted his opponent in the air by the arm he had hammerlocked, was feared throughout the profession.
While he spoke fluently in his interviews in the 1970s, in the 1980s he became the neanderthal that he would remain for the rest of his career. In 1986 he was abandoned by Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik during a match and was rescued by Captain Lou Albano. Steele had become a babyface.
He fell in love with Ms Elizabeth setting off a massive feud with Randy Savage that culminated in a match between the two at Wrestlemania 2.
He continued to work in the sport of wrestling late into his life as a wrestler and as a road agent for the WWF. His late runs included; 1998 as part of the Oddities in the WWF, 2000 WCW Nitro as an opponent of Jeff Jarrett, and 2008 TNA as a groomsman at Jay Lethal’s wedding.
Steele passed in 2017 at the age of 79 from kidney failure.
