Top 10 Wrestlers With Amateur Backgrounds In WWE History
5. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams
Steve Williams was a dual-sport athlete who competed as an elite-tier football player and wrestler throughout his four-year high school spell. Labelled “Dr. Death” by one of his coaches after being forced to wrestling in a hockey goalie’s mask during one of his matches, it was here that Williams inherited his long-standing nickname.
In college, he enjoyed a glittering All-American football career without compromising his immense wrestling success. A four-time wrestling All-American, Dr. Death finished 6th, 5th, and 3rd in his first three national championships appearances. He came drastically close to winning the NCAA Championship in his senior year, but narrowly lost-out to future Olympic gold medalist Bruce Baumgartner.
Williams already had a healthy interest in pro-wrestling throughout college, and started wrestling for Bill Watts and Buddy Landel in 1982, a year after graduating. Dr. Death famously went unbeaten for a whole decade from 1987 to 1997, and while his WWE career was little more than a slew of missed opportunities, Williams was widely regarded as one of the toughest men in wrestling. He was a huge success for All-Japan Pro-Wrestling in-particular, and while he lacked the promo skills to headline a major American promotion, Steve Williams deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time greats.