This article explores the lives and careers of two notable figures in the world of professional wrestling: Frank Williams and Steven Franklin Williams, also known as "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.
Frank Williams: The Jobber of the Week
Frank Williams, the pride and joy of Columbus, Ohio, is remembered as a largely uncelebrated wrestler who spent years working as a preliminary wrestler. Let's delve into his career and the moments that defined him.
Williams fits the description of a preliminary wrestler: he rarely won matches, possessed a physique that resembled an overweight, middle-aged uncle, wore ill-fitting tights, mismatched boots, and sported an optional 70s porn star mustache.
Frank had been a fairly forgettable jobber for years, having laid down for many WWF greats from Ernie Ladd to Hulk Hogan himself. Hell,in April of 1976 he even fought Ric Flair in Madison Square Garden.
Williams had been a fairly forgettable jobber for years, having laid down for many WWF greats. In 1984, he appeared on Piper’s Pit, where Roddy Piper suggested he should take up a new career making pizzas. Furious, Williams slapped the mic out of Piper’s hand, leading to a talk show beatdown.
Read also: Cricket Legend: Frank Tyson
Despite this brush with greatness, Frank’s career just kind of sputtered along. On weekly shows like the WWF’s Championship Wrestling, he continued to be on his back more than most female porn stars of that era.
Sadly in 1991,the one thing Frank Williams never lacked in the ring would be his demise in real life: he would pass away due to heart problems. He was gone, but his legacy of mediocrity would live on.
Hulk Hogan, one of the many wrestlers Frank Williams faced.
"Dr. Death" Steve Williams: Collegiate Star to Wrestling Legend
Steven Franklin Williams (May 14, 1960 - December 29, 2009), best known as "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, was an American collegiate and professional wrestler and collegiate football player. He achieved success both as a singles wrestler and in tag team competition, particularly in Japan.
Early Life and Collegiate Career
Steven Franklin Williams was born and raised in Lakewood, Colorado. He attended Lakewood High School, graduating in 1978. Williams graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981 where he played football and also competed as an amateur wrestler, where he was a four time All American, finishing 6th as a freshman, 5th as a sophomore, 3rd as a junior and 2nd as a senior.
Read also: Career Highlights of Frank Martin
He lost in the finals of an NCAA tournament his senior year to future 2x Olympic gold medalist Bruce Baumgartner. Already interested in professional wrestling, Williams had a ready-made nickname that dated back to an incident in junior high wherein he had to wrestle in a hockey goalie's mask due to shattering his nose and was jokingly labeled "Dr.
Williams started every game in 1982 for the Oklahoma Sooners at right guard. He was named to the UPI All-Big Eight first team and played in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl. He was also a member of the Sooners 1980 Orange Bowl and 1981 Sun Bowl squads. Williams was selected by the New Jersey Generals in the 1983 USFL Territorial Draft on January 3, 1983.
He signed with the Generals on January 31, just prior to the opening of training camp. Williams was converted to a defensive tackle in training camp. After being activated for week #10 vs. the Birmingham Stallions on May 9, Williams was the starting nose tackle for the Generals in a 22-7 loss at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The game was telecast live on ESPN.
Professional Wrestling Career
Williams, trained for professional wrestling by Bill Watts and Buddy Landel, started wrestling in 1982 in Watts' Mid-South Wrestling. In 1985, he formed a team with Ted DiBiase and feuded with Eddie Gilbert and The Nightmare. In 1986, Mid-South was renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation and Williams went on to win the UWF Heavyweight Championship from Big Bubba Rogers.
When Jim Crockett Promotions bought the UWF in late 1987, he was one of the few UWF wrestlers to receive an initial push in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Williams became involved with Jimmy Garvin's war with Kevin Sullivan's Varsity Club in 1988, often teaming with Jimmy and Ron Garvin or Ron Simmons in various matches, including a Triple Cage "Tower of Doom" match at The Great American Bash in 1988.
Read also: Overview of the Frank Tyson Investigation
Williams, however, turned heel and joined the Varsity Club in late 1988. He and Sullivan won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship at Starrcade. In May 1989, Williams and Rotunda were stripped of the title, and the Varsity Club disbanded. Not long after, Williams turned face again and had a short feud with Rotunda over who was responsible for the Varsity Club's breakup, before entering a feud with Lex Luger for the NWA United States Championship.
Williams was scheduled to face Luger for the title at WrestleWar '90 on February 25, 1990. When Sting, who was scheduled to face Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, suffered a legitimate knee injury, Luger turned face and was moved from the US title match to the World Title match in Sting's place.
Following a one-time appearance for New Japan Pro Wrestling on February 10, 1990, at their Super Fight In Tokyo Dome card where he defeated Salman Hashimikov, he then went to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990 where he found success with Terry Gordy in a tag-team called The Miracle Violence Connection, which they formed prior in 1987 in Jim Crockett Promotions, winning the world tag team titles together on March 6 by beating Stan Hansen and Genichiro Tenryu.
During that year, Williams was dividing his time between All Japan and New Japan, meaning he was holding the AJPW tag belt on the New Japan rings, something rare for the time. After a few more matches for New Japan, Williams firmed with All Japan in January 1991 and became exclusively loyal to them.
On February 29, 1992, at SuperBrawl II, then WCW Executive Vice President Kip Frey announced that he was negotiating to bring Williams and Gordy back to World Championship Wrestling. On March 9, the duo defeated three enhancement teams at a television taping for The Main Event in Anderson, SC in contests that would not air until May. At Clash of the Champions XIX on June 16, the duo defeated the Australian representatives Larry O'Day & Jeff O'Day in the opening round of the NWA Tournament.
As a bonus for the Clash, it was announced by new WCW Executive Vice President Bill Watts that the quarter-finals would begin later that night; as a result in a non-title match Williams and Gordy defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers. While waiting for the next round to begin following the Clash, the duo would face and defeat Marcus Bagwell and Tom Zenk in house show matches.
At Beach Blast, Williams and Gordy again faced The Steiner Brothers, this time going to a thirty-minute draw. On July 5, 1992, at a house show at the Omni in Atlanta, GA, Williams and Gordy won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from The Steiner Brothers Shortly afterwards at The Great American Bash, the final two rounds of the NWA Tag-Team Championship Tournament were run.
Gordy and Williams defeated Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff in the semi-finals, and then beat Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in the tournament final. Steve Williams and Terry Gordy then began feuding with the Dangerous Alliance, defeating Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson in house show matches. On the September 26 edition of the Main Event, the duo sustained their first televised defeat when they were beaten by The Steiner Brothers in a non-title matchup.
On the October 3 edition of WCW Saturday Night, they were then upset by Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham and lost both titles. Williams and Gordy received a rematch at Halloween Havoc 92 but Gordy quit the company and was replaced by Steve Austin and they were only able to wrestle Rhodes and Windham to a time limit draw. On December 12, Williams teamed with Big Van Vader in an unsuccessful challenge to Windham & Rhodes in Columbus, OH.
On December 28 he participated in the Battle Bowl event at Starrcade and teamed with Sting to defeat Eric Watts and Jushin Liger. At the start of the event it was announced that he would be substituting for an injured Rick Rude to challenge Ron Simmons for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, but lost by disqualification.
Williams made his debut for Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation in September 1990. In February 1990, Williams began to work for All Japan Pro Wrestling with Terry Gordy, initially as part of The Miracle Violence Connection team, while still wrestling for New Japan at the same time. Williams became the last wrestler to defeat André The Giant, which took place June 5, 1992.
André in the early 90s was ill with acromegaly, and during one of Williams's Tag Team Championship victories with Terry Gordy, André shook Williams's hand as a way to pass the torch. Both of them prior had been close friends prior in Mid-South Wrestling. After André's death in February 1993, Williams began winning many matches against AJPW native main-eventers in singles such as defeating Akira Taue (April 1993), Kenta Kobashi (September 1993) and Jun Akiyama (April 1994).
Over time Williams gradually got traction and fanfare from the Japanese audience. Baba booked him to be a main eventer for the company. After, Williams became one of the most successful foreign athletes in Japanese wrestling history, especially in reference to the 90s and early 2000s. On July 28, 1994, he defeated top AJPW star Mitsuharu Misawa for the AJPW Triple Crown Championship, holding it for three months before dropping it to Toshiaki Kawada.
Williams became a mainstay gaijin on AJPW television along with Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, Johnny Ace and Gary Albright. On August 31, 1997, Williams won the World Tag Team Championship titles with Gary Albright. Williams' last TV appearance for his first All Japan run was on the June 28, 1998 edition of AJPW TV.
That run was brought to an end during one of his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). After defeating Axl Rotten in approximately 2 minutes, Williams had an impromptu ECW World Heavyweight Championship match, but lost after being pinned by then-champion Raven. In May 1998, Williams was signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) prior to the "Brawl for All" competition, which was set up in legitimate fights.
WWF took interest in signing him due to his success in All Japan. Before entering the Brawl for All and signing a contract, he had only one in-ring match with the WWF, which was against 2 Cold Scorpio on a WWF Shotgun taping dark match (April 28, 1998). On the July 20 edition of Raw is War, Williams entered the Brawl for All tournament, making his first WWF television appearance with many expecting him to win.
However, after beating Pierre Carl Ouellet in the first round, he faced Bart Gunn in the second round. Gunn took Williams down, tearing his quad, then knocked Williams out. Williams missed several months following the injury. Upon healing in January 1999, Williams worked dark matches on Heat/Shotgun/Raw is War tapings, mainly against Bob Holly (then still a part of the J.O.B. Squad) to open up the tapings.
Williams was involved in a brief angle where he was managed by Jim Ross in early 1999 before Williams was released. During his time with Ross, he would attack people with suplexes, debuting on the February 22, 1999 edition of Raw is War. He wore a kabuki mask and threw Bart Gunn off a stage during a match of his.
On the March 1 episode of Raw, Jim Ross announced that Bart Gunn would fight Butterbean at WrestleMania XV, and Gunn and Ross argued over the Brawl For All in a worked shoot. During the segment, Williams attacked Gunn with the backdrop driver, revealing himself to be the masked man. After, Williams was involved in two storylines as a babyface, one where he was pursuing the WWF Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly, and another where he sought to get even with Tiger Ali Singh for making fun of Ross on live television.
On the March 15, 1999 edition of Sunday Night Heat, Tiger Ali Singh paid a fan (Ed Ferrara) to impersonate Jim Ross, who had a bout with Bell's palsy at the time. Out of anger, Williams attacked Ferrara with a backdrop driver and Singh with his signature "Dr. Bomb" slam, and Ross would proceed to conduct a promo before Vince McMahon sent Big Show out to clear the ring. Williams would stare at Big Show, but would later leave the ring with Ross.
On the March 21, 1999 edition of Sunday Night Heat, Williams defeated The Hardy Boys in a handicap match. He next appeared on the March 22 edition of Raw is War, where he and WWF Hardcore Champion, Hardcore Holly, brawled in a fraternity house in Albany, New York. At WresleMania XV on the HSN version of WWF Free For All, Williams cut a backstage promo on Bart Gunn, saying how "Bart deserved what he got" after Bart lost to Butterbean.
The day after on March 29 Raw episode, Williams and Hardcore Holly fought in a hardcore match, which Williams lost because Al Snow interfered. On the April 5 Raw episode, Williams attacked both Snow and Holly with suplexes in the ring. In Williams' autobiography, as well as in his RF Video shoot interview in 2001, these midcard storylines were meant as a way to build his character up on television before entering a main event feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, which in Williams's contract was promised to be a 6-month feud.
Williams was released in mid-April for needing further time to rehab his injury and for refusing to work for FMW, a Japanese promotion with which the WWF had talent exchanges. According to a radio interview from November 1999, Williams was originally planned to have some of Triple H's storylines before his release.
Most notably, the segment on the October 4, 1999 episode of Raw is War when Triple H attacked Jim Ross was the moment when Williams was going to start his feud with Austin. Because the angle was originally planned for Williams, this storyline was supposed to be how he would become a heel, as Ross was going to manage him as a babyface until that point later in the year. Williams stated in his book that his main event push was going to start after the debut of WWF Smackdown!
In November 1999, Williams healed from his hamstring injury and appeared briefly in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) again, with Oklahoma (who in an ironic twist happened to be Ed Ferrara) as his manager in a feud with Vampiro. As a result of this feud, he wrestled against Jerry Only from the Misfits on the November 29 edition of WCW Monday Nitro in a steel cage match.
On December 2 on Thunder in Topeka, KS, Williams rebounded to defeat Silver King, Villano IV and Villano V in a three on one match. On the following Nitro in Milwaukee, WI, Williams teamed with Oklahoma to defeat Vampiro and Jerry Only. On December 13, 1999, he then faced Sid Vicious in New Orleans, LA, but was pinned.
Williams went back to AJPW and had a second full-time run from 2000 to 2003. In the early 2000s, Williams was a babyface with an antihero edge, portraying an AJPW loyalist keeping the legacy of the Baba family name alive, as well as a comeback story upon his injury in the Brawl For All. Williams made his return on January 2, 2000, winning the New Year's Battle Royal on AJPW TV.
In the following weeks, Williams defeated Mike Barton to start up a revenge angle and teased a program with Big Van Vader. In a match they kept slapping each other acting as if they were setting up a future angle, but both of them swerved the audience and excitedly high-fived to reveal themselves as tag-team partners. Together they held a tag-team title reign when they captured the World Tag Team Championship titles from Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama in February 2000.
In the summer of 2000, Williams had an unsuccessful feud against Toshiaki Kawada throughout AJPW TV episodes, which Williams lost, the angle being that Williams sought to get even with Kawada for defeating him for the Triple Crown Championship in 19...
Triple H, whose storylines were originally planned for Steve Williams.
Illness and Death
In 2004, Williams was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent successful surgery the following year. He continued to wrestle on the independent circuit until his cancer returned in 2009, dying that year at the age of 49.
Williams grew up in Lakewood, where he also was living with his mother at the time of his death. Williams attended Lakewood High School, graduating in 1978.
He was the youngest of four children born to Gerald (died 1985) and Dottie Williams (died 2016).