WWE Hall Of Famer George "The Animal" Steele Passes Away
RIP to one of the most memorable performers WWE has ever seen.
WWE Hall of Famer George "The Animal" Steele has reportedly passed away at the age of 79.
Wrestling agent Eric Simms announced on Facebook yesterday that Steele had entered hospice care, and the outlook was bleak. Bob Backlund followed up with a similar update the same day, with Simms and Hulk Hogan both Tweeting news of Steele's passing today:-
Debuting for WWE in 1969, Steele gained infamy for oddball demeanour as the green-tongued "Animal," and would regularly tear turnbuckles with his teeth, torment female valets, and carry a stuffed animal named "Mine" to the ring.
His most famous feud came against Randy Savage, who defeated him at WrestleMania 2. Steele gained a measure of revenge by aiding Ricky Steamboat to victory over Savage the following year, however, and stayed with WWE until 1990.
Steele was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995, returned to the company as part of The Oddities in 1998. He wrestled well into the 2000s but primarily on smaller stages, with his last WWE appearance coming on an episode of Raw in November 2010.
A minor pop culture crossover star, Steele appeared in Tim Burton's Ed Wood in 1994, and had been struggling with "serious health challenges" since May 2016.