September 6, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Steve Williams cancer worsens, history of Olympians in pro wrestling
Steve Williams had a reputation in the 80s of being one of the physically toughest men ever in pro wrestling. His background included being an honorable mention All-American as a football player and a four-time place-winner at the NCAA heavyweight tournament during a very strong era for heavyweights.
As a pro wrestler, he became a headliner in Mid South Wrestling, parlaying his college sports stardom into the idea that in a business of tough guys, he was the real deal. After the company folded, he became an even bigger star with All Japan Pro Wrestling.
Between wrestling a match the night after taking more than 100 stitches in his eye on an afternoon show in his Mid-South days, or even this year, doing a shoot match just shy of 44 years old against K-1 star Alexey Ignashov, while secretly suffering from throat cancer, there is no question of his guts. While he lost his last and most real high profile match on 3/14 in Nagoya in just 22 seconds, almost nobody except for his close friends, were aware of his predicament.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.