The moment I saw The Animal trending on Twitter, I knew George "The Animal" Steele had died.
Indeed, Steele passed away yesterday of renal failure at the age of 79.
He wasn't the only wrestler nicknamed Animal (i.e. Dave Bautista & Road Warrior Animal), but Steel was The Animal. Bald head, hirsute body, green tongue & incomprehensible language (although not at first). No one else thought of turning turnbuckle stuffing into cuisine.
Born William Myers in Detroit, he took up pro wrestling in the late 1960's to supplement his teacher's salary. It wasn't long before Steele was one of the top villains in the WWE (then known as the WWWF) feuding with champions Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund throughout the 1970's and early 1980's.
But then something unexpected happened. Steele became a beloved fan favorite and a pop culture icon. During the Hulk Hogan era, Steele still had the bald head, green tongue, incomprehensible language and turnbuckle stuffing was still his favorite meal. But he had fallen in love with Miss Elizabeth. Today, it would have probably been presented as something sinister, but there was a genuine innocence and sweetness about his affection and it resonated with people and it led to a memorable feud with Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Steele invariably came out on the losing end, but he won the hearts of the fans. Eventually, Steele would play a crucial role in Savage's loss of the WWF Intercontinental Title to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at WrestleMania at the Silverdome in Steele's backyard. That was 30 years ago, but I remember it like it was 30 minutes ago. Now all three of them are gone and he outlived them both. R.I.P.
No one could eat a ring's turn buckle like George!
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