By Brian Hoops
Photos Brian Kelley
Many wrestlers retire from wrestling, but almost all return to the ring at
some point. Ric Flair had an incredible send off at Wrestlemania XXIV,
wrestling his final match on the biggest and grandest stage of them all,
but Flair returned to wrestling less than 2 years later. Nick Bockwinkel
retired in 1987 but wrestled in 1992 and 1993 for special return matches.
The great Verne Gagne retired and came out of retirement numerous
times.
Chris Guy, who wrestles as “Sexy” Ace Steel, never actually retired, but
the pull of wrestling for one of the top independent promotions in the
country, was too much for Ace Steel to ignore. Steel has once again
returned to active wrestling as part of the “Foundation” in the National
Wrasslin League. Steel was happy, living a comfortable life in
Springfield, Missouri with his wife working a regular job.
Steel plans to continue with his full time life outside the ring, but as the
NWL has increased the number of their monthly wrestling events, the
call to the veteran Steel was made and his interest piqued. “They wanted
me to come in as a trainer, but I didn’t want to leave my life and pick up
and move again. I am not going to wrestle on every event, but I
definitely will be more active in the ring than I have been.”
Steel worked for Chris Gough, former owner of Metro Pro and current
director of wrestling operations for NWL at Metro Pro Wrestling before
Gough closed Metro Pro Wrestling to work for Major Baisden and the
NWL.
Steel attended a NWL show in Kansas City on July 8 and was so
impressed with the talent, the shows and NWL owner, Major Baisden;
he wrestled on the NWL show in Joplin, Missouri on August 4,
defeating Stevie Richards.
“Ace steel has such a tremendous reputation, both as a worker and as a
trainer. The years we worked together at Metro Pro hatched some of the
best moments we ever had. I was asking him for months to come back to
NWL, and when he told me he was ready, I knew it was going to lead to
great things again. He has joined Jeremy Wyatt and Michael Strider in
The Foundation, and they will be a trio that will be hard to overcome”,
Gough explained.
Steel grew up in Chicago and fell in love with professional wrestling. “I
grew up watching the AWA and as soon as I graduated high school, I
started training with Windy City Wrestling.”
Steel debuted for Windy City Wrestling in 1991 and wrestled in
independent promotions for most of the hey day of the wrestling wars in
the 90’s. In 1998, Steel became a wrestler and trainer for St. Paul
Championship Wrestling, which later became Steel Domain Wrestling.
Steel became friends with two other Chicago natives who were making a
name for themselves on the independent circuit; Colt Cabana and CM
Punk. Steel trained both Cabana and Punk.
“Ace Steel has worked for Steel Domain Wrestling and has incredible
respect in our locker room”, says Steel Domain owner Ed Hellior. “The
last time he was here, I watched him do a coaching session with a couple
of Ken and Shawn’s students. (Ken Anderson and Shawn Diavari). What
I noticed is it’s once thing to be a world class wrestler, but he his an
outstanding coach and teacher. There are a number of great wrestlers,
but it does not mean they can teach. Even Steven Regal (William Regal)
got wind of the session and commented on Ace. “
In 2003, Steel made his first appearance in Japan wrestling for NOAH.
“I couldn’t wait to be in a place where at times wrestling, the pure mat
wrestling techniques and training, were common and the norm,” Steel
told Slam Wrestling. “The Japanese have such a level of dedication and
to workout and train everyday, and get on a bus to the next town was the
best. I’ve been in the ring many times with (Mitsuharu) Misawa,
(Yoshinari) Ogawa, (Akira) Taue, KENTA (Kenta Kobayashi),
(Naomichi) Marafuji, (Yoshinobu) Kanemaru –– you name it. And each
time learning so much and to gain their respect is awesome. NOAH is
the top Japanese company.”
Steel briefly worked for TNA after its inception, forming a tag team with
Punk and also wrestling in the X Division. After his TNA contract
expired, Steel signed with Ring of Honor, forming a tag team with
Cabana and Punk called the Second City Saints. Steel also has wrestled
for WWE in the past. During a September 27, 2004 edition of Raw,
Steel wrestled as Scott Colton (real name of Colt Cabana), losing a
match to Eugene. As a repayment of the inside rib, Cabana wrestled as
Chris Guy, (Steel’s real name) on an April 10, 2006 episode of Raw.
Maybe Steel’s most memorable performance on Raw occurred on
January 8, 2007, when Steel portrayed Donald Trump in an inter gender
match against “Rosie O’Donnell“.
Steel later was signed to a
developmental contract with WWE and wrestled in both of the WWE
developmental territories at the time, Deep South Wrestling and Ohio
Valley Wrestling.
On December 5, 2008, Steel returned to ROH at the “Wrestling at the
Gateway” event, teaming with Necro Butcher against Jimmy Jacobs and
Delirious. Steel also appeared in the 10-man cage match at the “Caged
Collision” event on January 31, 2009.
Ace Steel once held onto Harley Race’s WLW Championship.
Steel recently turned 44 years old, making him a veteran presence and a
natural locker room leader. “I am really impressed by the guys in the
locker room. They are all really excited to be wrestling for the NWL.”
Jeremy Wyatt cryptically told NWL fans “Foundation” members
Michael Styder and Wyatt had an “Ace” up their sleeve weeks ago.
Steel debuted in Kansas City as a surprise opponent for Gil Rogers on
August 5 and affirmed his affiliation with the Foundation during an
interview later that evening.
Despite being a former Steel Domain Champion and Metro Pro
Champion, some of Steel’s greatest accomplishments have come from
the words of other wrestlers. “Having Regal (William) choose me to
work with him (on Harley Race events) is such an honor. Regal said he
chose me because he trusted me to do what needed to be done” Steel
explained. “Having Ricky Steamboat tell me ‘you made that match worth
watching’ is really special to me.”
For now, Steel is content to wrestle part time for NWL and also loves
training younger wrestlers.
Missouri Wrestling Revival 