Brian Damage
A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality, whatever the case may be…some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not so favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers.
Today we browse the gimmick of George ‘The Animal’ Steele
Jim Myers started out his wrestling career under a mask known as ‘The Student’ managed by ‘Playboy’ Gary Hart in the Detroit territory. Once he ventured outside of Detroit, he could wrestle without hiding his identity from fans who might recognize him as a real life teacher. When he wrestled in the Pittsburgh territory…a wrestler named ‘Jumpin’ Johnny DeFazio suggested the name Jim Steele (The last name Steele came as a homage to Pittsburgh being the Steel City.) Myers didn’t want to use any part of his real name and decided on the name George instead. That name came from a fellow high school football coach he coached against.
He was originally known as George ‘The Bruiser’ Steele, but felt that nickname was too generic and that many other wrestlers used it. He, himself decided on the nickname of ‘The Animal’ feeling it fit his look perfectly. Myers came up with eating the turnbuckles inside the ring as a way to show fans that he was indeed a wild animal. His trademark green tongue happened by complete accident. According to Myers, the green tongue was from him eating several breath mints called Clorets. He had been drinking heavily before a TV taping and wanted to hide the alcohol on his breath from the promoter. The Clorets turned his tongue green without him realizing it and got caught on camera. From that moment on…he continue to turn his tongue green before his matches.
In the 1980’s while competing for the World Wrestling Federation…Steele brought a stuffed doll to the ring with him. That all came about while traveling on the road with Hillbilly Jim. Hillbilly Jim used to carry around a toy called Earl the Dead Cat to keep him company. Steele noticed the cat one day and asked if he could use it as a part of his act. Hillbilly Jim allowed Steele to borrow the cat for a taped promo. Vince McMahon loved the promo so much he wanted to continue to use the cat as a part of his act. Steele explained the cat belonged to Hillbilly Jim and would rather come up with another gimmick to bring with him to the ring. Vince agreed and came up with a stuffed fur toy that could be marketed and sold to kids. It was Steele who came up with the name ‘Mine’ for the doll, as he thought about how kids would fight over a toy and say…”That’s mine!”
You can read other Gimmick Table entries here