Steven Franklin Williams (May 14, 1960 – December 29, 2009), best known under the ring name "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, was an American collegiate and professional wrestler and collegiate football player. He was known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and is a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion, having won both the Herb Abrams and Bill Watts versions of the UWF World Heavyweight Championship and the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.
In addition to his success as a singles professional wrestler, Williams achieved notoriety in Japan in tag team competition, winning the World Tag Team Championship eight times with notable gaijin tag team partners Terry Gordy, Gary Albright and Vader. His tag team success continued in North America, winning tag team titles in the Mid-South (UWF), WCW, and the NWA as well as winning the World's Strongest Tag Determination League twice with Gordy and Mike Rotunda.
In 2004, Williams was diagnosed with throat cancer, and underwent successful surgery the following year. He continued to wrestle on the independent circuit until his cancer returned in 2009, dying that year at the age of 49. Williams was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the Legacy Wing.
Early life Steven Franklin Williams was born and raised in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado on May 14, 1960. He was the youngest of four children born to Gerald (died 1985) and Dottie Williams (died 2016). He grew up in Lakewood, where he also was living with his mother at the time of his death. Williams attended Lakewood High School, graduating in 1978. He was on the track & field team, played football, and wrestled all four years.
Williams graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981 where he played football and also competed as an amateur wrestler, where he was a four time All American, finishing 6th as a freshman, 5th as a sophomore, 3rd as a junior and 2nd as a senior. He lost in the finals of an NCAA tournament his senior year to future 2x Olympic gold medalist Bruce Baumgartner. Already interested in professional wrestling, Williams had a ready-made nickname that dated back to an incident in junior high wherein he had to wrestle in a hockey goalie's mask due to shattering his nose and was jokingly labeled "Dr. Death" by one of his school's coaches and his sister.
Football career
College Williams started every game in 1982 for the Oklahoma Sooners at right guard. He was named to the UPI All-Big Eight first team and played in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl. He was also a member of the Sooners 1980 Orange Bowl and 1981 Sun Bowl squads. Williams played both guard positions while at OU.
Professional Williams was selected by the New Jersey Generals in the 1983 USFL Territorial Draft on January 3, 1983. He signed with the Generals on January 31, just prior to the opening of training camp. Williams was converted to a defensive tackle in training camp. During camp, Williams suffered a bruised knee and was placed on injured reserve for the first six games of the Generals 1983 season.
After being activated for week #10 vs. the Birmingham Stallions on May 9, Williams was the starting nose tackle for the Generals in a 22–7 loss at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The game was telecast live on ESPN. Williams started at nose tackle the following week on May 16, in a 31–24 loss to the Michigan Panthers at the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI – a game also shown on ESPN.
Professional wrestling career
Mid-South Wrestling / Universal Wrestling Federation (1982–1987)
Williams trained as a professional wrestler under Bill Watts and Buddy Landel, started wrestling in 1982 in Watts' Mid-South Wrestling. In 1985, he formed a 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 Championship from Big Bubba Rogers.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1986–1990) From 1986 to 1990, Williams performed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling (1987–1990)
In April 1987, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) bought the UWF in late 1987. Williams began wrestling regularly for JCP in July 1987. Williams became involved in Jimmy Garvin's war with Kevin Sullivan's Varsity Club in 1988, often teaming with Jimmy and Ron Garvin or Ron Simmons in various matches, including a triple cage "Tower of Doom" match at The Great American Bash in 1988.
Williams turned heel and joined the Varsity Club in late 1988. He and Sullivan won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship at Starrcade '88: True Gritt. They feuded with the Road Warriors, and he and Mike Rotunda won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in the process. In May 1989, Williams and Rotunda were stripped of the title, and the Varsity Club disbanded.
Not long after, Williams turned face again and had a short feud with Rotunda over who was responsible for the Varsity Club's breakup, before entering a feud with Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship. Williams was scheduled to face Luger for the title at WrestleWar '90: Wild Thing on February 25, 1990. When Sting, who was scheduled to face Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, suffered a legitimate knee injury, Luger turned face and was moved from the United States Heavyweight Championship title match to the World Heavyweight Championship match in Sting's place. He then departed the company.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1990–1998)
Following a one-time appearance for New Japan Pro Wrestling on February 10, 1990, at their Super Fight In Tokyo Dome card where he defeated Salman Hashimikov, Williams went to All Japan Pro Wrestling in February 1990, Williams began to work for All Japan Pro Wrestling with Terry Gordy, initially as part of The Miracle Violence Connection team, while still wrestling for New Japan at the same time. They established themselves on the card and had matches against the likes of Giant Baba, Stan Hansen, Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu and André The Giant. They won the world tag team titles together on March 6 by beating Hansen and Genichiro Tenryu. During that year, Williams was dividing his time between All Japan and New Japan, meaning he was holding the AJPW tag belt on the New Japan rings, something rare for the time. After a few more matches for New Japan, Williams firmed with All Japan in January 1991 and became exclusively loyal to them.
Williams became the last wrestler to defeat André The Giant, which took place June 5, 1992. André in the early 90s was ill with acromegaly, and during one of Williams's Tag Team Championship victories with Terry Gordy, André shook Williams's hand as a way to pass the torch. Both of them prior had been close friends prior in Mid-South Wrestling. After André's death in February 1993, Williams began winning many matches against AJPW native main-eventers in singles such as defeating Akira Taue (April 1993), Kenta Kobashi (September 1993) and Jun Akiyama (April 1994). Williams would go on to defeat Kobashi twice again in 1994.
Over time Williams gradually got traction and fanfare from the Japanese audience. Baba booked him to be a main eventer for the company. After, Williams became one of the most successful foreign athletes in Japanese wrestling history, especially in reference to the 90s and early 2000s. On July 28, 1994, he defeated top AJPW star Mitsuharu Misawa for the AJPW Triple Crown Championship, holding it for three months before dropping it to Toshiaki Kawada. Williams became a mainstay gaijin on AJPW television along with Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, Johnny Ace and Gary Albright. He would either team with them or fight them in singles from 1994 to 1998 in a variety of feuds during a wrestling boom in Japan, comparable to that of WWF's Attitude Era.
On August 31, 1997, Williams won the World Tag Team Championship titles with Gary Albright. Williams' last TV appearance for his first All Japan run was on the June 28, 1998 edition of AJPW TV. He and Wolf Hawkfield defeated Masao Inoue and Takao Omori before Williams went to the WWF, giving a symbolic farewell to Giant Baba and the Japanese audience after the match.
Universal Wrestling Federation (1990–1991, 1994) Williams made his debut for Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation in September 1990. Williams defeated Bam Bam Bigelow in the tournament finals for the UWF SportsChannel Television Championship at Beach Brawl. After winning, Williams went to Japan and vacated the title.
Williams returned for a one-night appearance in 1994 at UWF Blackjack Brawl where he was award the UWF World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Sid Vicious by disqualification.
World Championship Wrestling (1992)
On February 29, 1992, at SuperBrawl II, then WCW Executive Vice President Kip Frey announced that he was negotiating to bring Williams and Terry Gordy back to World Championship Wrestling. On March 9, the duo defeated three enhancement teams at a television taping for The Main Event in Anderson, South Carolina in contests that would not air until May. On the April 18 edition of WCW Saturday Night, it was announced that Williams and Gordy would be part of the upcoming tournament for the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship that summer.
At Clash of the Champions XIX on June 16, the duo defeated the Australian representatives Larry O'Day and Jeff O'Day in the opening round of the NWA Tournament. As a bonus for the Clash, it was announced by new WCW Executive Vice President Bill Watts that the quarter-finals would begin later that night; as a result in a non-title match Williams and Gordy defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions the Steiner Brothers. While waiting for the next round to begin following the Clash, the duo would face and defeat Marcus Bagwell and Tom Zenk in house show matches. At Beach Blast, Williams and Gordy again faced the Steiner Brothers, this time going to a thirty-minute draw. On July 5, 1992, at a house show at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, Williams and Gordy won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from the Steiner Brothers Shortly afterwards at The Great American Bash, the final two rounds of the NWA Tag-Team Championship Tournament were run. Gordy and Williams defeated Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff in the semi-finals, and then beat Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in the tournament final. Their NWA title win, however, went unrecognized by the NWA.
Steve Williams and Terry Gordy then began feuding with the Dangerous Alliance, defeating Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson in house show matches. On the September 26 edition of The Main Event, the duo sustained their first televised defeat when they were beaten by the Steiner Brothers in a non-title matchup. On the October 3 edition of WCW Saturday Night, they were then upset by Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham and lost both titles. Williams and Gordy received a rematch at Halloween Havoc 92 but Gordy quit the company and was replaced by Steve Austin and they were only able to wrestle Rhodes and Windham to a time limit draw. On December 12, Williams teamed with Big Van Vader in an unsuccessful challenge to Windham and Rhodes in Columbus, Ohio. On December 28, he participated in the Battle Bowl event at Starrcade '92: Battlebowl – The Lethal Lottery II and teamed with Sting to defeat Eric Watts and Jushin Liger. At the start of the event it was announced that he would be substituting for an injured Rick Rude to challenge Ron Simmons for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, but lost by disqualification. He left WCW shortly thereafter.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996–1997)