Steve Lawler | |
---|---|
Birth name | Steve Gower |
Born | Buford, Georgia, United States [1] | January 24, 1965
Died | September 2, 2021 Florida | (aged 56)
Website | Official website |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Steve Lawler Liberty McCall The Flame Adrian Steele The Brawler |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Billed weight | 256 lb (116 kg) |
Billed from | "Anywhere he wants to be!" Atlanta, Georgia |
Trained by | Ricky Lawless Glenn Holbrook |
Debut | 1984 |
Steve Gower (January 24, 1965 – September 2, 2021), better known by his ring name Steve "The Brawler" Lawler, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. He was a mainstay of regional and independent promotions in the Southern United States since the early 1980s, especially in Georgia and the Carolinas, having wrestled for Deep South Wrestling, Southern Championship Wrestling, Georgia All-Star Wrestling, North Georgia Wrestling Association, Peach State Wrestling and Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. In later years, he appeared with other NWA veterans for the revived Georgia Championship Wrestling.
A noted tag team specialist, he was a member of the original Bad Company with John Michaels and The Nightmare, a popular "heel" group in the mid-to late 1980s, as well as successful runs with Dennis Gale, Dino Minelli, Bulldog Raines and younger brother Terry Lawler. One of the first students ever trained by Glenn Holbrook, Gower became a trainer himself and served as an instructor for the Masked Superstar's wrestling school and the Global Wrestling Federation's training facility. Among his students include Buff Bagwell, Disco Inferno, Murder One, and Terry Lawler.