Dr Death Steve Williams


Dr Death Steve Williams

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams (born May 14, 1960 in Lakewood, Colorado) is a professional wrestler and former collegiate American football and wrestling star at the University of Oklahoma.

Career

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981 after a stellar football career that saw him named an All-American. He also competed as an amateur wrestler losing in the finals of an NCAA tournament to future Olympic medalist Bruce Baumgartner.

Already interested in professional wrestling, Williams had a ready-made nickname which dated back to an incident in Junior High where he had to wrestle in a hockey goalie's mask and was jokingly labeled "Dr. Death" by one of his school's coaches with the name apparently sticking.

Williams was trained for professional wrestling by Bill Watts and started wrestling in 1982 in Watt's Mid-South Wrestling. In 1985, he formed a successful team with Ted DiBiase and feuded with Eddie Gilbert and The Nightmare. In 1986, Mid-South was renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation and Williams went on to win the UWF Heavyweight Title from Big Bubba Rogers. When Jim Crockett Promotions bought the UWF in late 1987, he was one of the few UWF wrestlers to receive an initial push in the NWA.

Williams helped Jimmy Garvin in his feud with Kevin Sullivan's Varsity Club and then joined them in late 1988 to team with Mike Rotunda. They feuded with the Road Warriors and won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in the process.

In May 1989, they were stripped of the titles and the Varsity Club disbanded. Williams went to All Japan Pro Wrestling where he formed a tag team with Terry Gordy called the "Miracle Violence Connection". They dominated the tag team scene there through 1993 with a brief stop in WCW where they won the WCW World Tag Team Titles and feuded with the Steiner brothers.

In 1998, Williams was signed by the WWF. They were about to have the "Brawl For All" which was set up in "shoot fights" to see who the real tough guys were. Williams was expected to roll through the competition but after beating Pierre Carl Ouellet in the first round, he was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Bart Gunn. Following the event, the WWF did a brief angle where he was managed by Jim Ross before granting Williams his release.

In 1999, Williams appeared briefly in WCW again with Oklahoma as his manager in a feud with Vampiro. He went back to All Japan in 2002 and wrestled a couple of matches for WWE in 2003 against Lance Storm. In late 2003, he was a major face in Major League Wrestling and also wrestled for NWA Mid-Atlantic where he won their title.

In 2004, Williams had surgery on his throat to battle throat cancer. He was declared cancer free in 2005. On March 25, 2006, Williams returned to the ring for a WWE Smackdown house show in Tulsa, Oklahoma.


Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves
Backdrop Driver (High angle belly to back suplex)
Doctor Bomb (Gutwrench powerbomb)
Oklahoma Stampede
Scoop powerslam drop
Shoulder block
Elevated powerbomb
Release German suplex

Managers
Jim Ross
Oklahoma
Kevin Sullivan
Skandor Akbar (Credit: Wikipedia)

 

Steve Williams official website

Profiles

Wrestling

Cancer

Books and Authors

 

Press Release

How Dr. Death Became Dr. Life

Shreveport, LA. - January 30, 2007

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams was given a second chance. In the prime of his life, Steve was diagnosed with T-4 throat cancer. With God by his side, Steve overcame all odds and survived this deadly disease. Now, Steve is committed to give his testimony to the people from the wrestling ring.

As an athlete, Steve has "done-it-all." In 1978, he graduated from Lakewood High (Colorado). He was a star athlete and recruited heavily by many major colleges and eventually accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. Steve is one of the very few legitimate wrestlers to make the transition from the amateur ranks to the professional wrestling ring. While at the University of Oklahoma, he was a two-time, Big Eight free-style wrestling champion. As a collegiate football player, he was also a two-time, Big Eight champion. Under legendary Coach Barry Switzer, he went to three major Orange Bowls, a Sun Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl. He also played professional football as a defensive nose guard for the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League (USFL).

In the ring, Steve is a "shooter" and because of his amateur wrestling background, he was generally regarded as one of the most dangerous "shooters" in the business. Because of this tough reputation, he earned the nick-name name "Dr Death" - which he had since high school. For the past twenty-plus years, he has worked for all the major wrestling promotions throughout the world including the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Steve has held numerous titles and received a plethora of accolades throughout his career including: Most Improved Wrestler (1985) and First Runner-Up, Tag-Team of the Year (w/ Ted Dibiase, 1985); he defeated the One Man Gang at the 21:43 mark in Houston (TX, 1986), to become the winner of the $50,000.00 Pro Wrestling Illustrated/UWF Challenge Cup Tournament; in 1991, with Terry Gordy, they became the first American tag-team to win All-Japan's Annual tag team tournament in consecutive years; and, in 2003, he won the NWA Heavyweight title from Terry Taylor in China. Steve is also an Asian wrestling icon, as the only American that has ever worked for two major companies at the same time in Japan - New Japan and All-Japan.

With Steve's faith in God, he continues to be a "champion" in all aspects of his life. This book will look at the career of professional wrestler "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. With an in-depth analysis of his faith, family, battle with cancer, and the sport of professional wrestling like never told before, combined with candid comments about certain wrestlers, steroids and drugs, and never-seen before wrestling photos from the US and Japan, "Dr. Life" Steve Williams presents and inspirational and powerful story that no football, amateur wrestling, professional wrestling fan, cancer patient or survivor, Christian, or any person can afford not to read.

Foreword by, Jim Ross
Special Foreword, Barry Switzer

You can check the book out and/or order an advanced copy at:
http://www.sportspublishingllc.com/book.cfm?id=893

Interview Contact: Steve Williams
Telephone: 318-458-1244
DOCOU76@aol.com
http://www.oklastamped.com