September 6, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Steve Williams cancer worsens, history of Olympians in pro wrestling

Steve Williams had a reputation in the 80s of being one of the physically toughest men ever in pro wrestling. His background included being an honorable mention All-American as a football player and a four-time place-winner at the NCAA heavyweight tournament during a very strong era for heavyweights.

As a pro wrestler, he became a headliner in Mid South Wrestling, parlaying his college sports stardom into the idea that in a business of tough guys, he was the real deal. After the company folded, he became an even bigger star with All Japan Pro Wrestling.

Between wrestling a match the night after taking more than 100 stitches in his eye on an afternoon show in his Mid-South days, or even this year, doing a shoot match just shy of 44 years old against K-1 star Alexey Ignashov, while secretly suffering from throat cancer, there is no question of his guts. While he lost his last and most real high profile match on 3/14 in Nagoya in just 22 seconds, almost nobody except for his close friends, were aware of his predicament. 

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