Health Update On Steve 'Mongo' McMichael

The Pro Football Hall of Famer and former WCW United States Champion was hospitalised last week.

by Andrew Pollard
Steve mongo mcmichael
wwe.com

Having been hospitalised last week due to a urinary tract infection, the family of Steve 'Mongo' McMichael have provided a health update on the Pro Football Hall of Famer and former WCW United States Champion.

Posted on X by Jarrett Payton - the son of Mongo's Chicago Bears teammate Walter Payton - McMichael has undergone a blood transfusion and has MRSA.

Back in April 2021, McMichael announced he'd been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

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A hugely successful and popular football player, Mongo is best known for his time with the Chicago Bears from 1981 to 1993, with the Bears winning Super Bowl XX in 1986. A defensive tackle, the Texan also had brief spells with the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, and made an appearance for the then-WWF at WrestleMania XI, being ringside as Lawrence Taylor took on Bam Bam Bigelow in the 'Mania main event.

Steve McMichael would join WCW later in 1995, becoming a part of the broadcast team for the premiere of WCW Nitro. Mongo would soon take up an in-ring career, making his wrestling debut at The Great American Bash '96, where he turned on partner Kevin Greene to join the Four Horsemen.

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McMichael would experience championship success during his time with WCW, defeating Jeff Jarrett for the United States Title at Clash of the Champions XXXV in August '97. Mongo would hold that belt for a month, dropping it to Curt Hennig on a September episode of Nitro. McMichael wrestled his last match in March 1999, teaming with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in a WCW house show win over Hennig, Barry Windham, and Wrath.

The thoughts and well wishes of all of us at WhatCulture Wrestling go out to Steve McMichael and his family at this time.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.