Steve McMichael

Stephen Douglas "Steve" McMichael (born October 17, 1957) is a former American college and professional football player as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), a former commentator and then professional wrestler for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and former head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Continental Indoor Football League. McMichael played college football for the University of Texas and was an All-American. He played for the New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers, winning Super Bowl XX with the Bears. During his pro wrestling career, McMichael became a member of a version of the legendary Four Horsemen stable, and held the WCW United States Title. He made a failed run for mayor of Romeoville, Illinois in 2013.

College football career

Born in Houston, Texas, McMichael attended the University of Texas, where he played for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1976 to 1979. As a senior in 1979, he was a consensus first-team All-American.

Professional football career

McMichael was drafted out of Texas in 1980 by the New England Patriots. He was acquired by the Chicago Bears as a free agent in 1981. He became one of their starting defensive tackles and help lead them to a Super Bowl win in 1985. He had a streak of 101 games started until 1990, when his playing time was reduced. He led the Bears with 11¹⁄₂ sacks in 1988. He had 108 tackles in 1989. McMichael was named to the NFC's Pro Bowl teams for the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

McMichael gained notability in a 1991 game against the New York Jets. With the Bears down 13-6 with 1:54 remaining, McMichael forced a Blair Thomas fumble and recovered it at the New York 36. Quarterback Jim Harbaugh then threw a game-tying touchdown to Neal Anderson with :18 left in the game. The Bears went on to win in overtime when Harbaugh scored on a 1-yard TD run.^[1] Bears coach Mike Ditka said in 2005 that McMichael was the toughest player he had ever coached.^[2] He played with the Green Bay Packers in 1994 before retiring.

Professional wrestling

World Wrestling Federation (1995)

After the end of his NFL career, he appeared at ringside in the WWF for Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI on April 2, 1995 in Hartford, Connecticut. Taylor was wrestling Bam Bam Bigelow and there were several football players at ringside to keep wrestlers from interfering in the match. During a previous episode Monday Night Raw, McMichael provided guest commentary with Vince McMahon and would later brawl with Kama Mustafa, one of Bigelow's comrades. The fight was all over the arena floor and almost into the stands, knocking over the broadcast table, soon being broken up by personnel. Taylor ended up winning the later match.

World Championship Wrestling (1995–1999)

In 1995, McMichael was hired by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). On September 4, 1995, he made his debut with the company as the pro-babyface color commentator on the premiere of WCW Monday Nitro, with Bobby Heenan fulfilling his typical pro-heel commentator role alongside lead broadcaster Eric Bischoff. McMichael would root for the popular wrestlers during matches, would bicker with Heenan on a regular basis, and brought his dog Pepe with him to the broadcast booth. In April 1996, Ric Flair started hitting on his wife Debra, who would sit at ringside during WCW Monday Nitro. McMichael challenged Flair and Arn Anderson to a match with his partner Kevin Greene. He trained with Randy Savage (he was actually trained by Terry Taylor at the WCW Power Plant), while Flair and Arn got Heenan to be their coach for the match.

The match took place at The Great American Bash on June 16, 1996. During the match, Debra and Greene's wife were chased to the back by Woman and Miss Elizabeth, who were Flair's valets. Debra came back with Woman and Elizabeth, and she had a briefcase full of money and a Four Horsemen t-shirt. McMichael accepted it and hit Greene in the head with the briefcase. McMichael's first singles match was against Joe Gomez at Bash at the Beach on July 7, 1996. McMichael won with his signature move, the Mongo Spike, which is a reference to his football career having never being able to spike the ball in a game because of never personally scoring.

He went on to feud with the Dungeon of Doom with the other Horsemen, and he had problems with Jeff Jarrett over the affections of Debra in late 1996 through early 1997. Woman would trash Debra, causing McMichael and Benoit to step in each time. The turning point in the McMichael-Jarrett feud was at SuperBrawl on February 23, 1997. McMichael wrestled Jarrett, and if Jarrett won, he was an official Horsemen. Debra interfered for Jarrett, so he would win. Then McMichael and Jarrett had to team, and they bickered at first but later became a solid tag team. McMichael wrestled two football players in 1997. He beat Reggie White at Slamboree on May 18, 1997 and lost to Kevin Greene at the Great American Bash on June 15, 1997, which saw McMichael slapped by Greene's mother at ringside.

In July 1997, Jarrett was kicked out of the Horsemen, and Debra soon left McMichael for Jarrett. McMichael got his revenge when he defeated Jarrett for his WCW United States Title at the Clash of the Champions on August 21, 1997. Just weeks earlier, Arn Anderson had been forced to retire due to an injury, and Curt Hennig took his place in the Horsemen. At Fall Brawl on September 14, 1997, Hennig turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo during the War Games match that the Horsemen were involved in. McMichael was handcuffed to the steel cage surrounding the ring along with Benoit, and neither man could defend Flair from the 5-on-1 assault from the nWo; the match ended after McMichael surrendered to stop the nWo from attacking Flair. The next night on Nitro, Hennig defeated McMichael for the United States Title, and Flair disbanded the Horsemen.

McMichael went after Debra's stable of wrestlers that included Jarrett, Eddie Guerrero and Alex Wright. Debra hired Bill Goldberg to get McMichael, and he became one of Goldberg's first victims in November 1997. Goldberg stole McMichael's Super Bowl ring and weeks later McMichael hit Goldberg with a pipe and reclaimed it. He briefly helped Benoit feud with Raven's Flock in January 1998 and then got into a feud with Davey Boy Smith, in which he broke his hand during a match at SuperBrawl in February. McMichael returned in June 1998 and had a feud with Stevie Ray and helped reform the Four Horsemen in October with Flair, Benoit, Dean Malenko and manager Arn Anderson. They feuded with the nWo, and in early 1999, McMichael left WCW.

After wrestling

McMichael co-hosts a Bear pre-game show with Jeff Dickerson on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. He was the head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Indoor Football League from 2007 until the team's final season in 2013.

On August 7, 2001, McMichael took a turn as the guest singer for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley Field for a game between the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies. After home plate umpire Ángel Hernández called Ron Coomer out at the plate on a controversial call, McMichael questioned Hernandez's call and said that he would be waiting for him after the game. Hernandez ejected McMichael after he sang, but McMichael had left Wrigley Field immediately after his performance and did not know until much later of the ejection.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008)

McMichael returned to professional wrestling for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's flagship pay-per-view, Bound For Glory, where he refereed the Monster's Ball Match. This match was notable for McMichael's extremely slow cadence for a three count.

Personal life

In 1985, McMichael married Debra Marshall. They divorced on October 12, 1998.^[3]

On August 3, 2007, McMichael appeared as a guest on the Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 and announced he is going to be a father with his wife, Misty. Their daughter Macy Dale McMichael was born at 4:12pm on January 22, 2008.^[4]

On July 17, 2010, McMichael was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[5]

On August 16, 2012, McMichael announced his intentions to run for mayor of Romeoville, Illinois.^[6] He lost the race to incumbent John Noak, garnering 39 percent of the vote.^[7]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Mongo Spike (Tombstone Piledriver)^[8]
• Signature moves
  • Backbreaker^[9]
  • Back body drop
  • Dropkick
  • Figure four leglock^[9]
  • Inverted atomic drop
  • Lariat
  • Sidewalk slam^[10]
  • Shoulder block^[11]
  • Shoulder neckbreaker^[9]
  • Spinebuster
  • Three-point stance into either a clotheline or a football tackle
• Entrance themes
  • "Unledded" (WCW) 1996–1998
  • "Coast" (WCW) 1996–1997 (used while part of the horsemen)
  • "Four Horsemen theme" (WCW) 1998–1999 (used while part of the horsemen)
  • "Red Remix" by Toxic (TNA)

Championships and accomplishments

American football

• National Football League
  • NFL Pro Bowler (1986, 1987)
  • Member of 1985 World Champion Chicago Bears
  • Member of the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame

Professional wrestling

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Worst Television Announcer (1996)

References

External links

• Home Page of the Chicago Slaughter Indoor Area Football Team
• Datos y curiosidades sobre Steve McMichael en espanol