| George Steele |
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George "The Animal" Steele (born '''William James Myers''' on April 16 , 1937 in Detroit, Michigan ), is an American former Professional Wrestler whose career lasted from the 1967 until 1989 and would make occasional wrestling appearances into the 1990s and 2000s . CAREER After gaining a bachelor of science degree from and Amateur Wrestling Coach at Madison Heights High School in Madison Heights, Michigan . There he would eventually become a member of the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame. http://www.mhsfca.com/hall.of.fame.html Looking to supplement his income, he got into the world of Detroit-area professional wrestling, but in order to protect his privacy, he wrestled under a mask using the name The Student. http://www.pwhf.org/halloffamers/bios/steele.asp Scouted by World Wide Wrestling Federation champion Bruno Sammartino , he began working in Pittsburgh in 1967 on the popular Studio Wrestling TV show broadcast on WIIC-TV Channel 11. There he dropped the mask, but still looking to hide his real name, adopted the name '''George Steele.''' Using the last name Steele was suggested by the popular Jumping Johnny DeFazio . The name Steele was derived from Pittsburgh's nickname of the "Steel City" and the first name George was suggested by another wrestler.http://ps2.ign.com/articles/099/099663p1.html Working well with Sammartino, he was invited for a full run in the WWF. He told WWF TV commentator Ray Morgan that he was the nephew of Ray Steele ( Kayfabe ) and had an extensive amateur background. He sold the story by using an array of armlocks on opponents, weakening them for his finisher, the Flying Hammerlock (Steele would lift his opponents off the mat by a hammerlocked arm). He also revealed his teaching background to interviewers that made his in-ring Neanderthal image all the more incongruous. He wrestled Sammartino to an hour-long draw at Madison Square Garden but lost the rematch. He was then relegated to a feud with Chief Jay Strongbow, and lost to Edouard Carpentier at the Garden before taking a brief hiatus to reinvent his wildman character. Now George "The Animal" Steele's Gimmick was fully established. A true Crazy Heel , he acted like a wild man in the ring, tearing up the turnbuckle with his teeth and using the stuffing as a weapon as well as sticking out his green tongue (an effect accomplished by eating green Clorets Breath Mints ).http://www.mhsfca.com/hall.of.fame.html The Animal had a stooped posture and a hairless head, but a thick mat of fur on his back; wrestling broadcasters often speculated that The Animal was indeed "the missing link". At best The Animal could occasionally manage to utter a word or two during interviews with one them usually being "Duh-da-dahh". However, Steele eventually became one of the more beloved wrestlers of the early "WrestleMania" era of the mid-1980s. He turned face during an edition of '' Saturday Night's Main Event '' aired on May 10 , 1985 when his partners in a six-man match, Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik , abandoned him to their opponents, Ricky Steamboat and the U.S. Express ( Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda ), leading to Steele being taken under the wing of the Express' manager, Capt. Lou Albano . His most famous feud was in 1986 against "Macho Man" Randy Savage , after Steele developed a crush on Savage's valet, Miss Elizabeth . The feud was meant to last only a couple of months (and end with Steele being disappointed), but it proved so popular with fans that it continued well into 1987 . In 1988 , Steele began carrying a hand Puppet named "Mine" to the ring. In 1994 , Steele made his professional acting debut as Swedish wrestler-turned-actor, Tor Johnson , in Tim Burton 's '' Ed Wood ''. The casting was particularly appropriate because for many years Steele was often mistaken for Johnson. He tells a story where in New York, a store was selling the popular Tor Johnson mask as a George Steele mask, as George was having a popular run in wrestling at the time. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109707/ In 1999 during the WWF's "Attitude Era", George Steele returned as part of The Oddities . In January 10, 2000, George Steele appeared on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro as one of three legends Jeff Jarrett had to face that night. {Link without Title} PERSONAL LIFE Myers has Crohn's Disease and Dyslexia http://www.georgetheanimalsteele.com/dyslexia.phphttp://www.wwfchamps.com/bios.php?pn=2&news=0&systype=389. Jim is a religious man. He attends the First Baptist Church Merritt Island, and currently lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida with his wife Pat. http://www.georgetheanimalsteele.com/home.php WRESTLING FACTS
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