With a nickname like Doctor Death, one must certainly be an intimidating figure. And Steve Williams was precisely that, both in a wrestling ring and on the gridiron -- but a guy who was well-liked by all when not in his Dr. Death persona. Following a successful football career at the University of Oklahoma, Williams played one season in the United States Football League before making the jump to professional wrestling.
Williams began his career in Mid-South Wrestling (eventually re-named the Universal Wrestling Federation), where he was a two-time Tag Team Champion alongside Ted DiBiase, before going on to win the UWF Heavyweight Championship in 1987. He worked for WCW in the late 1980s and early 1990s, where he was a four-time tag team champion, but Dr. Death really came into his own in All Japan Pro Wrestling between 1990-98 -- one of the biggest boom periods in Japanese wrestling. One of the top gaijins, or Japanese word for foreigner, Williams won the AJPW World Tag Team Championships eight times, and pinned the legendary Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Championship, the top title in AJPW.
Dr. Death was signed by WWE in May 1998, and he was primed to become a big star. That was, until...
The "Brawl For All" Essentially Killed Dr. Death's WWE Career Before It Began
In July 1998, WWE thought it would be a good idea to hold a shoot-style fighting tournament called the "Brawl For All," which turned into one of the worst ideas in wrestling history. After having one dark match, Dr. Death Steve Williams was set to make his WWE television debut during the Brawl For All, which WWE higher-ups expected Williams to win because he was a legit tough guy. He got by Pierre Carl Ouellet in the first round before running into the unexpected buzzsaw that was former midcard tag team wrestler Bart Gunn in the second round.
Early in the fight, Gunn took Williams down, and Dr. Death suffered a torn hamstring. He was knocked out by Gunn shortly thereafter, effectively killing his WWE career before it began. Gunn went on to win the tournament, while Williams would miss several months with the hamstring injury. In addition, his quick loss against a guy who was barely featured on television was certainly not a good look for Williams in the eyes of the fans or WWE management.
Dr. Death's Lingering Hamstring Injury Stifled Another Big Push
Williams initially healed from the hamstring injury in January 1999, and began having dark matches before reappearing on television. He would first show up in late February under a mask to throw Bart Gunn off the stage on Monday Night Raw. The following week, Jim Ross announced that Bart Gunn would be facing boxer Butterbean at WrestleMania XV, leading to an argument between Ross and Gunn. Williams would come out to the aid of his fellow Oklahoman and attack Gunn.
Williams would continue the midcard storyline of being J.R.'s protector, while also making a run at the WWE Hardcore Championship. In his autobiography, WIlliams claimed these midcard storylines were supposed to heat him up for a main event run against Stone Cold Steve Austin. He was eventually released in mid-April 1999 for needing more time to rehab his hamstring, and refusing to work for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, a Japanese promotion that did talent exchanges with the WWE.
In an interview on The Wrestling Guys Radio Show in November 1999, Williams said he was originally planned to have some of Triple H's storylines prior to his release, specifically the October 4, 1999 episode of Raw where Triple H attacked Jim Ross. That was supposed to be Williams turning heel on his manager/mentor and going on to a main event program with Stone Cold. But alas, Triple H was the one who went on to superstardom.
Dr. Death Is One Of The Biggest 'What Ifs?' In WWE History
If Triple H's push in the Fall of 1999 was indeed supposed to go to Williams, his injury certainly changed the course of WWE history forever. While there's no doubt Triple H would've eventually broken through to the main event, Williams most definitely would've been a great foil to Steve Austin throughout the Attitude Era. He proved in his time in AJPW that he could be a top heel and have great (and long) matches with different opponents. Following his release, Williams went back to WCW and AJPW before being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2004. He would be declared cancer free in 2005 and would continue wrestling on the indies, until, unfortunately, the cancer returned in 2009. He continued to wrestle until the death of his friend and AJPW rival Misawa, and he decided to hang up the boots after 27 years. Dr. Death Steve Williams passed away on December 29, 2009, and while he still had an outstanding career, he will always go down as one of the biggest "What ifs?" in WWE history.
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