William James Myers (April 16, 1937 – February 16, 2017), better known by his ring name George "The Animal" Steele, was an American professional wrestler, school teacher, author, and actor.

[4] Gary Hart served as the Student's manager and had to explain to the announcers why his client could not apply any legitimate holds or maneuvers instead relying on only his undisciplined brute strength.

Myers allegedly asked Steele if he could use his name, that he liked it a lot and the future Hall of Fame coach told him no problem.

In Boston, being set up to face Sammartino for a long series in that city, he got one of the few clean wins over Victor Rivera, a top babyface, with the flying hammerlock submission, at a huge Fenway Park outdoor show.

He was then relegated to a feud with Chief Jay Strongbow, and lost to Edouard Carpentier at the Garden before taking a brief hiatus to reinvent his wildman character.

Steele became a true crazy heel, acting like a wild man in the ring, tearing up the turnbuckle with his teeth and using the stuffing as a weapon as well as sticking out his green tongue (an effect accomplished by eating green Clorets breath mints).

Throughout his career, Steele prided himself on being able to cut eloquent and effective promos and ranked his mic skills with the best in the business.

He turned face during Saturday Night's Main Event I when his partners in a six-man match, Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik, abandoned him to their opponents, Ricky Steamboat and the U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda), leading to Steele being taken under the wing of the Express' manager, Capt.

The feud was meant to last only a couple of months (and end with Steele being disappointed), but it proved so popular with fans that it continued well into 1987.

According to Steele, he suffered a knee injury at a house show prior to the event, which was the reason he didn't get in the ring.

Then on January 10, 2000, he appeared on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro as one of three legends Jeff Jarrett had to face that night.

[14] Eight years later, Steele made an appearance at TNA Wrestling's 2008 Slammiversary pay-per-view event as a groomsman in the wedding for "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and SoCal Val, along with Koko B. Ware, Kamala, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Steele made a surprise appearance on Monday Night Raw on November 15, 2010, during a match between Kofi Kingston and David Otunga.

In 1994, Steele made his professional acting debut as Swedish wrestler-turned-actor Tor Johnson in Tim Burton's Ed Wood.

[15] In 2008, Steele co-starred with Greg Valentine in a short film entitled Somethin Fishy, in which the two former wrestlers purchase a fishing camp.

He attended the First Baptist Church Merritt Island and lived in Cocoa Beach, Florida, with his wife Pat,[21] whom he married before he entered Michigan State in 1956.