38 Wrestlers Who Died In 2025
22. Steve McMichael (23 April)
On 23 April, it was reported that Steve 'Mongo' McMichael had sadly lost his fight against ALS on the day he was moved into hospice care. He was 67 years old.
Born on 17 October, 1957 in Houston, Texas, 'Mongo' was a natural sportsman in high school, excelling in six different sports, but it was American football that caught his eye, and he wound up on the payrolls of the New England Patriots, the Green Bay Packers, and, most famously, the Chicago Bears. His twelve-year stint with the Chicagoan squad positioned him as a two-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro, while he also won the Super Bowl in 1985.
McMichael switched the gridiron for the grappling ring after having first appeared as a ringside second for Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania 11, though it was in WCW where his in-ring career began. Spending three years as an active competitor for the group brought a solitary reign as United States Heavyweight Champion, as well as a spot in the revived Four Horsemen. He drifted through the mid-card until he departed pro wrestling for good in 1999, making just a single one-night return for TNA at their Bound for Glory event in 2008: there, his refereeing was called into question as he officiated the evening's Monsters' Ball encounter.