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"Dr. Death" Steve Williams Loses Last Battle With Cancer

Posted: Dec 30th 2009 By: CMBurnham

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams, former UWF Champion and All-American at the University of Oklahoma, passed away overnight from his returned cancer symptons. He was 49 years old.

Williams had been an outstanding amateur wrestler, dating back to seventh grade, where he earned the nickname "Dr. Death" because he competed under a hockey goalie's mask, due to a facial injury. At the University of Oklahoma, Williams was an All-American in both wrestling and football. He advanced all the way to the NCAA finals, where he was pinned by future olympian Bruce Baumgartner. While competing in collegiate wrestling, he set a record for fastest pinfall by pinning his opponent, Perr Kaufman, in twenty seconds.

Williams briefly played for the New Jersey Generals in the USFL, but his heart lbaby ay in pro wrestling and he had begun training while still in college. He debuted in 1982 (although some sources indicate he wrestled his first match in 1979 while still in college). Williams would eventualy form a tag team with Ted DiBiase and the pair would hold the MSW Mid-South Tag Team Titles for over 5 months, winning them from the Rock-N-Roll Express and losing them to Al Perez & Wendell Cooley. The loss to Perez & Cooley was considered controversial as DiBiase was on a tour of Japan at the time that a mandatory title defence was ordered and Bob Sweetan substituted for DiBiase. This began Williams' first babyface turn of his career and, as popular fan favourites, they regained the Mid-South Tag Team Titles on December 26, 1985 from Eddie Gilbert & The Nightmare.

DiBiase & Williams were still tag team champions when MSW became the UWF and thus were inaugural tag team champions. A 3 1/2 month reign as tag team champions was ended when they were upset by The Sheepherders. But then Williams would achieve his first singles title by upending Big Bubba Rogers for the UWF Title on July 11, 1987. Unfortunately, Williams would be the last UWF Champion, as the federation was eventually bought out by Jim Crockett and absorbed into the NWA.

Part of Williams' legendary status was created during his MSW tenure. He competed against Brad Armstrong at a television taping and, after a mistimed charge into the corner, ended up with a deep laceration over his right eye. According to popular (but unconfirmed) story, Williams told the attending physician to stitch him because he had a match to wrestle that night. The wound required 108 stitches to close. He competed in the match, as scheduled.

Although Williams received something of an initial push during his early months in the NWA, his status as UWF Champion was never seen as equaling the NWA World Champion. Williams eventually grew frustrated, especially after his UWF Title was phased out. He got recruited by Jimmy Garvin in Garvin's war against Kevin Sullivan's Varsity Club in 1988, but later turned heel and joined the Club. He and Sullivan would win the NWA United States Tag Team Title, but more memorably, he captured his first World Title by teaming with Mike Rotundo and defeating the Road Warriors for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.

Growing unhappy in America, Williams set his sights overseas to Japan. He formed a tag team with Terry Gordy, a man who he had feuded bloodily with over the UWF Title. Together, the "Miracle Violence Connection" would dominate the tag team scene in Japan and, when they came to the United States, the duo won the WCW World Tag Team Championships from the Steiner Brothers. One week later, they defeated Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes in a tournament for the revived NWA World Tag Team Titles and would hold the belts together until September 1992, when they lost both sets to Windham & Rhodes. Williams received a WCW World Title shot at Starrcade 1992, substituting for an injured Rick Rude. He lost by DQ. Seeing no further opportunities for him in WCW, he returned to Japan.

The 1990s are considered to be the height of Williams' career. He wrestled for All-Japan Pro Wrestling, becoming a main eventer and one of the most decorated foreigners in Japanese wrestling. He also appeared periodically in America and, according to unconfirmed reports, was undefeated on American soil until 1997, when he lost a match to ECW World Champion Raven.

1998 saw Williams venture into the WWF where he was heavily favoured to win the "Brawl For All", which were legitimate shoot fights. He beat Pierre Carl Oullete in the first round, but was knocked out by Bart Gunn in the second, suffering a major injury in the process, and any hope of a push in the WWF ended with that. He stuck around briefly during an ill-fated attempt to turn Jim Ross heel, during which time he would attack wrestlers in the ring with suplexes, but that idea never panned out and he was eventually let go.

Williams ventured briefly back to WCW in 1999, where he was managed by Oklahoma and engaged in a fued with Vampiro. But Williams never thought the character of Oklahoma was a good idea, as he was a friend of Jim Ross, and after just a couple of months. He returned to Japan, but continued to appear sporadically in America over the next few years. He even returned to the WWE in 2003 and competed in a couple of matches against Lance Storm. He also was involved in the fledgling Major League Wrestling promotion and even competed on the first professional wrestling event to be held in China, winnin the NWA Mid-Atlantic Title there.

in 2004, Williams ventured into the area of MMA, something he had trained for as early as 1979. But he lost to his opponent in 22 seconds and decided against any further competition.

2004 also saw Williams begin the most significant battle of his career against throat cancer. He underwent surgery to remove his voice box, but was declared cancer-free in 2005. He was hired as a trainer at OVW in 2006 and was built into an angle to assist fellow Oklahoman Jake Hager (now Jack Swagger), even competing on the rare occasion as his tag team partner. He penned an autobiography during this time, entitled "How Dr. Death Became Dr. Life". It documented his professional wrestling career as well as his battle with cancer and his new-found religious faith.

The death of Japanese wrestling legend Mitsuharu Misawa prompted Williams to annouce his own retirement from the ring and his last match was held on August 15, 2009 in Colorado Springs, CO for ACW, a federation which had its origins in Oklahoma. It was ironic, as Williams was originally from Colorado and began his career in Oklahoma. He challenged and defeated Franco D'Angelo for the ACW Title, the last champiohship he would hold, won in the last match he would compete in on American soil. Williams made a speech to the crowd and vacated the belt after the event, but was greeted with an even greater surprise, as WrestlersRescue, the foundation organised by former wrestling valet Dawn Marie, had raised enough money through charity auctions and donations, that they could purchase Williams a hands-free device to allow him to speak. The emotion of that moment, combined with the knowledge that he had made his final in-ring appearance in the US, overwhelmed Williams and the crowd at that event.

The last five months of Williams' life were a mixture of celebration and hardship, as the cancer he had been declared free of for four years returned. This time, Williams' was not physically able to withstand the cancer treatments and chose to stop them sometime prior to Christmas. On December 30, 2009, Williams was put down for his final 3-count as cancer claimed his life.

Williams' legacy is one of a man who fought every moment and faced every battle head-on, never giving up until he knew the odds were completely overwhelming, then choosing to go out on his own terms, rather than have someone else make the decision for him. Through it all, Williams' faith in God and his love for the fans continued to make every moment worth it for him.

Steve Williams competed in over 50 documented matches in Oklahoma. The earliest occurred on May 30, 1982, when he defeated Billy Starr. The last, almost 26 years later to the day, when he defeated Havoc at an SWCW event on May 31, 2008.

Oklafan extends it condolensces to Williams' family and friends and at this time.

Tags: Steve Williams, MSW, Ted DiBiase, Rock-N-Roll Express, Al Perez, Wendell Cooley, Bob Sweetan, Eddie Gilbert, Nightmare, UWF, Sheepherders, Bubba Rogers, NWA, Brad Armstrong, Jimmy Garvin, Terry Gordy, Rick Steiner, WCW, Rick Rude, ECW, WWF, Jim Ross, WCW,