Backstage at the Lawrenceville Loyal Order of Moose hall on Saturday night, George "The Animal" Steele held forth about professional wrestling's golden age.
He was surrounded by old-timers and new blood, many who weren't alive when he made his debut as a hairy-backed "heel" in Pittsburgh in 1967, on his way to wrestling the great Bruno Sammartino to a draw in Madison Square Garden a few years later.
The dressing room was filled with his old wrestling colleagues. Tony "The Battman" Marino, Ken "Lord Zoltan" Jugan and Frank Durso were among those eager to shoot the breeze with the 74-year-old rasslin' legend.
Outside the dressing room, Jonny Axx and the Blood Beast from the Legion of the Apocalypse limbered up for their first-round match with "baby faces" La Lucha and Ric Rumsky, who were stretching in other corners. Many of their colleagues in the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance listened attentively as their elders exchanged tales of earlier days in the squared circle.
For years, the "Animal," who famously feuded with "Macho Man" Randy Savage in the World Wrestling Federation, stayed in character as an inarticulate, grunting brute who chewed turn-buckles and licked opponents with his green tongue. Saturday night, he was so articulate it was clear he could have recited the works of Cicero from memory had he chosen to do so.
Although christened William James Myers, the Detroit native used a nom de plume and a mask for years to hide the fact that he was a wrestling and football coach in suburban Detroit.
Because his school salary wasn't enough to cover the expenses of his growing family, he wrestled after-hours and on weekends as a masked pendant who called himself "The Student." He assumed the school board of Madison Heights, Mich., wouldn't tolerate an employee whose idea of moonlighting involved flying hammerlocks and suplex slams.
One day, Mr. Sammartino, a heavyweight champ and Pittsburgh native, caught Mr. Myers' act in Detroit and invited him to this region to work. Once here, his colleagues insisted he lose the mask because hundreds of miles separated him from his old school district.
Mr. Myers gave up the mask, but he wasn't ready to go by his real name. At the KSWA FanFest on Saturday, Mr. Myers partially credited wrestler-turned-politician "Jumping" Johnny DeFazio with picking his stage name.
"Jumping Johnny said I should call myself Jim Steele," Mr. Myers told the capacity crowd that packed the Moose. "Steele" was a sly reference to Pittsburgh's identity at the time as a steel town.
Mr. Myers told the audience he wasn't totally comfortable using his first name back then, opting instead to call himself George Steele. That story is slightly at odds with other interviews he has given in which he said Steele was an homage to his "uncle," a famous Michigan wrestling coach named Ray Steele. "The Animal" was later added to his name because of his penchant for biting his opponents.
Whatever the case, it was a thrill to hang out with him and his colleagues. As one of two special guest ring announcers recruited by "Trapper" Tom Leturgey, who normally does the honors, I got to see the impressive niche the Keystone alliance has carved for itself in Pittsburgh during its 11 years. Its family-oriented shows are less profane and sex-obsessed than the stuff the World Wrestling Entertainment is peddling these days, but it is just as funny.
Local singer Melody Joy sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" while even the shifty wrestler named Mayor Mystery stood for attention. My job was to announce the grudge match between KSWA's biggest villain, Dr. Devastation, and a fan favorite, The Drunken Luchadore.
Lou Martin, whose real name is Lou Zygmuncik, wrestles as Dr. Devastation and also organizes KSWA with Shawn "The Enforcer" Blanchard, a rival wrestler. With dozens of wrestlers and talented hype men, they put together what has to be one of the purest and most entertaining examples of Americana in Pittsburgh.
Because ticket prices are low, whole families can enjoy a night out booing Lou Martin, who, incidentally, stole the heavyweight title from Mitch Napier in an underhanded sneak attack late in the show.
By proclamation of Pittsburgh City Council, last Saturday was dubbed Dominic DeNucci Day in the city in honor of the local 'rassler who helped put studio wrestling on the map. George Steele grunted his approval.
First Published: December 6, 2011, 5:00 a.m.
