George “The Animal” Steele Coming To Grand Rapids
The bald head, the green tongue, the hairy body and the inability to formulate a complete sentence or understand that turnbuckles should not be eaten, that's George "The Animal" Steele. If you watched professional wrestling in the 1970's or 80's, then chances are you're familiar with him.
Steele enjoyed success as a crazy heel in the ring, a wild man who showed no regard for the rules of the great sport while causing problems for opponents like Bruno Sammartino. Later in his career, he became a fan favorite after being abandoned by tag team partners Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik. Manager Captain Lou Albano took "The Animal" under his wing. He would go on to have a memorable feud with Randy "Macho Man" Savage centered around his crush on Savage's valet, Miss Elizabeth.
"The Animal" never won a championship in WWE, but his contributions were recognized by the company when they inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 1995.
What fans may not know is that George "The Animal" Steele, or William James Myers if you know him outside of wrestling, was born in Detroit, MIchigan in 1937. While he portrayed himself as a dumb, wild beast in the ring, outside of the ring he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University and Master's degree from Central Michigan University, became a teacher and high school football coach in Madison Heights, Michigan, and raised a family.
He tells his life story in his new book, Animal (Triumph Books) and will embark on a national book-signing tour that begins June 8th in Orlando, Florida. The tour will make four stops in Michigan including Grand Rapids on July 19th at 7pm at Barnes & Noble on 28th Street.
Here are the four Michigan dates on the book tour...
July 15th, Barnes & Noble, Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor
July 18th, Barnes & Noble, South Main Street, Royal Oak
July 19th, Barnes & Noble, 28th Street, Grand Rapids
July 20th, Barnes & Noble, John R. Road, Troy
ALL NEXT WEEK LISTEN TO SHAFFEE FROM 3 TO 7pm FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN TICKETS TO WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW JUNE 17th AT VAN ANDEL ARENA!
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