Trivia

His trademark of ripping apart ring turnbuckles and throwing the stuffing in his opponent's face started during a match with Chief Jay Strongbow in the late 1960s. According to WWE Raw magazine, Steele recalled that the match was not going well when he looked at the turnbuckle and got an idea.

His lisp (another one of his trademarks) was the result of a childhood football accident, in which he nearly lost his tongue.

When not wrestling, was a coach and physical education teacher at his alma mater in suburban Detroit. During the school year, he wrestled at various arena shows across Michigan.

His green tongue was the result of eating green Clorets chewing gum before his matches.

On January 10, 2000, Steele made his one and only appearance on WCW Television when he defeated Jeff Jarrett in a "bunkhouse brawl" with help from Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit.

Published author.

WWE Hall of Famer.

First wrestled as "The Student," a masked wrestler. A wrestling promoter in Pittsburgh, PA, gave Steele his most famous wrestling name, while fans nicknamed him "the Animal" for his naturally hairy body.

Retired from full-time wrestling in 1989 after suffering from Crohn's disease. He continued as a road agent and made occasional wrestling appearances.

His role in Ed Wood (1994) was that of another famous, and very similar professional wrestler, Tor Johnson (known in the ring as "The Super Swedish Angel"). Unlike his own wrestling character, he was able to speak for this role.

Despite his size, he is very fast and agile. For his role as Tor Johnson' in Ed Wood (1994), he was fitted with heavy shoes to slow him down and recreate Johnson's lumbering walk.

Former professional wrestler

After years of wrestling as a "heel," Steele turned good in the fall of 1985, wherein during a six-man tag-team match, his partners Khosrow Vaziri (Iron Sheik) and Josip Peruzovic (Nikolai Volkoff) turned against him. Fans took pity on Steele, who turned his character from a wild beast into a feral neanderthal-type who uttered one- and two-word sentences and evoked sympathy.

In 1988 carried a hand-puppet called "Mine" to the ring, which he frequently used during his matches.

Played defensive tackle at Michigan State in the late 1950s.

During his professional wrestling days, his colleagues regarded him as one of the strongest men in the ring.

For his role as Tor Johnson in Ed Wood (1994), he worked with a dialog coach for three weeks to recreate Johnson's Swedish accent.

His most famous WWF feud was with Randy Savage in 1986 and 1987. The feud, which centered on Steele's huge crush on Savage's beautiful manager, Miss Elizabeth (Elizabeth Hulette), was originally intended to last three months. However, the "Beauty and the Beast" feud was such a hit it was extended through all of 1986 and into 1987. At one point Steele teamed with Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat (Richard Blood), Hulk Hogan and former enemy Bruno Sammartino--whom Steele nearly defeated for the WWF title in a memorable 1970 steel cage match--in tag team matches against Savage and a partner (usually "Adorable" Adrian Adonis).

Inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005.

Dislocated the shoulder of an opponent while executing his submission move.

His trademark in the ring was biting off turnbuckles.

Mentioned in "Seinfeld" (1989) {The Bizarro Jerry (#8.3)}.