OT: George "The Animal" Steele has passed away

[Deus Irae]

R.I.P.

William James Myers, better known by his name in the WWE ring, George "The Animal" Steele, has died, WWE announced Friday morning. He was 79.

The wrestling company issued a statement after Hulk Hogan tweeted out, "George 'the Animal' Steel, RIP my brother, only love, only grateful." No other details about his cause of death have been released.

WWE star George 'The Animal' Steele dies at 79


Life, and my childhood, takes another hit. God Bless, Mr. Myers.

 

[supafly]

I will be eating a turnbuckle in his honor, tonight.

Great memories as a kid. RIP.

 

[RobertWeathers]

You know you are getting old when the wrestlers from your childhood are passing away.

 

[captain stone]

I loved watching him eat the turnbuckles. He was so hairy - except on his head - that whenever he ate them and had worked up a sweat, the stuffing from them would cling to him. He also would toss the stuffing everywhere.
I couldn't find any youtube videos of him from the 1970s (only from the 1980s),
but he was at his peak in the '70s, and was especially vicious then. I saw him vs
Bruno Sammartino at the old Boston Garden on more than one occasion, and while those matches didn't last very long (he simply didn't have the athletic stamina to engage in half-hour+ matches), they were exciting while they did last, and usually blood was involved.

 

[oldrover]

That was must see TV Saturday night as a kid... Stan the Man Stasiak and his furious heart punch, Chief Jay Strongbow, Haystacks Calhoun, Andre the Giant... and George The Animal Steele.

Thanks for the memories, George. May the Lord rest and keep your immortal soul.

 

[anditsgood]

RIP

 

[farn]

You know you are getting old when the wrestlers from your childhood are passing away.

Sadly, the wrestlers of our youth are not living as long as George, unfortunately. This is quite old considering (which is sad).

RIP. I can't believe his "true love" Elizabeth preceded him...

 

[tuckeverlasting]

That was must see TV Saturday night as a kid... Stan the Man Stasiak and his furious heart punch, Chief Jay Strongbow, Haystacks Calhoun, Andre the Giant... and George The Animal Steele.

Thanks for the memories, George. May the Lord rest and keep your immortal soul.

dont forget gorilla monsoon and my favorite bobo brazil with the cocobutt.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Sadly, the wrestlers of our youth are not living as long as George, unfortunately. This is quite old considering (which is sad).

RIP. I can't believe his "true love" Elizabeth preceded him...

No kidding. With the roids and repeated head trauma guys like The Rock and Steve Austin were smart to get out before 40.

re: The lovely Elizabeth.

 

[Jackson 2]

God bless a great American (I think.) Turn buckles everywhere can now rest easy.

 

[RayClay]

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

[The Gr8est]

George Steele was one of my favorites ever. I was big into wrestling as a youth, and I remember when Steele hit the scene and I actually saw him live in Portland, ME before he even made his debut on television.

For some reason I can still remember the television commercial for the match, I don't remember who he wrestled against, but the television ad called him "George Steele, known as the Destroyer".

He hadn't evolved into his animal persona yet, and there was nothing memorable about the match, only that I had never seen him before.

On a side note, I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about him years ago, and they were apparently friends, so it seems his wrestling persona was far different that he was in real life. Now you would certainly expect that but it seems Steele was actually quite intelligent.

 

[Julius]

The man had a Masters degree and was a teacher.

True renaissance man.

 

[The Gr8est]

dont forget gorilla monsoon and my favorite bobo brazil with the cocobutt.

Gr8 names from the past. One match I went to I had the guts to go to the villain's corner and ask for an autograph.

I still have Killer Kowalski's autograph as a result.

 

[RayClay]

dont forget gorilla monsoon and my favorite bobo brazil with the cocobutt.

I saw Bobo Brazil fight four midgets. That's entertainment.

 

[captain stone]

Gr8 names from the past. One match I went to I had the guts to go to the villain's corner and ask for an autograph.

I still have Killer Kowalski's autograph as a result.

Walter Killer Kowalski - one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and another Renaissance Man. His wrestling school (in NH, I believe) produced among others Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) and Chyna.

 

[fightingirish595]

You are embarrassing yourself days. Just stop. Your digging yourself into a deeper hole. Talking out of your ass deus

 

[FourierSeries]

He lived a lot longer than most wrestlers.

 

[neali]

dont forget gorilla monsoon and my favorite bobo brazil with the cocobutt.

Bruno Sammartino and Chief Jay Strongbow as well.

 

[ralmat55]

I remember my dad taking me to my first wrestling card. We had ringside seats. The main event was "The Polish Hammer" Ivan Putski vs. Spiros Arian who had just recently turned on his tag team partner Chief Jay Strongbow in rather vicious fashion.

I don't remember the match much but my dad and I were very familiar with the venue, so we got backstage where I saw Ivan and Spiros laughing it up together after their match.

My other memory was Dorchester 'a own Pete Doherty was in the card. When he entered the ring, he pointed to his head and proclaimed "it takes brains" to which I responded, "yea a lack of them" loud enough to make people around me laugh. Pete didn't seem happy.

From one hairy man to another, RIP Mr. Animal. I feel like eating a turnbuckle in your honor.