Marcus Steele (Blaizey CAW)

Marcus Steele (born January 2, 1974) is an American professional wrestler. Well known for his stints in wrestling promotions around the world, Steele is best known for his time in the WWE under the name Marcus Anthony.

## **== Career: ==**

### **Early Life**

Steele was born in Harlem, New York in the late 1970's, the son of a nurse and an EMT. He began wrestling at the age of 21 as a way to raise some extra money, and soon began wrestling as a full time job.

### **Independent Career (2002-2007)**

Steele began as an opening act in several promotions making just enough to get by for several years, before joining a tag team called the Wildcats in 2002, teaming with Alan Judge. Judge and Steele would go on to win several tag team championships in the United States, including the NWA tag team championships. The team would last until 2007, when Marcus signed a contract with WWE, and Judge announced that he was retiring from wrestling, despite his young age, in order to care for his newborn son.

### **WWE (2007-2009, 2011-2014)**

Steele debuted on WWE Smackdown on January 3, 2008, in a winning effort against Jamie Noble. He operated under a heel gimmick with the name Marcus Anthony at this time. He would then enter a feud with Matt Hardy, leading to an eventual blow-off match with Hardy for the United States championship, which Anthony lost. Hardy would go on to be traded to ECW in the draft the following week. Following this match, Anthony would not be seen on television for several weeks. Eventually Appearing again on Smackdown, Anthony began a run of losses, losing to Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, CM Punk, Edge, and others over a course of several months.

In September, Steele would get his first win in more than 4 months, beating Chavo Guerrero. It was at this time that Steele began wrestling using the "Harlem Hero" nickname, going by his real name and acting as a babyface. The gimmick would become popular quickly, and Steele would once again challenge for the United States Championship, this time against Shelton Benjamin, winning with the Steele Star Splash. Steele would hold the title until February of 2009, losing the title at No Way Out back to Shelton Benjamin in a Triple Threat match that also included The Brian Kendrick. Steele would invoke his rematch clause on the next episode of Smackdown in a Hardcore match, losing after Benjamin hit Paydirt onto a steel chair.

Following his title loss, Steele would spend several months spinning his gears, winning some matches and losing others, without any real story line to drive him. Due to frustration with this booking, Steele requested his release in July of 2009.

#### Return to WWE:

Steele returned to WWE on September 19, 2011, running in to stop Mark Henry, who was attacking Jerry "The King" Lawler. Steele successfully stopped the attack, but ate a World's strongest Slam for his troubles. This set up a feud between the two that led to a Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Hell in a Cell. Randy Orton was added to the match at the last minute. Henry would successfully retain the championship after pinning Orton, though he would take an RKO and a Steele Star Splash in the aftermath.

This led to a kayfabe friendship between Steele and Orton. The two would team together several times in the following weeks, and Steele was Orton's first pick for the team when Orton was named Survivor Series captain. Steele would be the second to last eliminated in the match, falling to a combination Disaster kick/Wasteland from Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett, who would be the two survivors for their team. The next night on Raw, Steele would tag with Orton against Rhodes and Barrett. Steele ended up taking the after a distraction from Rhodes and a Wasteland from Barrett. After the match, Orton would RKO Steele, ending their association.

Steele would next compete in the 2012 Royal Rumble, lasting nearly 12 minutes before being eliminated. He would then start a several week long winning streak, beating Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, and Goldust in successive episodes of Smackdown. When it was announced that Justin Gabriel had gotten a concussion and would be unable to challenge for the United States Championship at Elimination Chamber, Steele was announced as his replacement. Steele would defeat Jack Swagger at Elimination Chamber for the title, and in his rematch the next night. Steele would then start a feud with Christian, taking issue with Christian's "one more match" catchphrase and saying that people that had never had titles should be given the opportunities. Steele would defeat Christian at Wrestlemania, successfully defending the US Title.

Steele successfully defended the title for much of the next year, eventually losing it to Antonio Cesaro at Hell in a Cell. The next night, Steele asked for his automatic rematch clause and faced Cesaro again. During this match, Steele landed wrong after a Very European Uppercut, tearing his ACL and putting him on the shelf for up to nine months.

Marcus returned to the ring on WWE Main Event soon after Summerslam 2013, losing to Big E Langston. Steele would have several matches on Main Event over the next several months, beating Curtis Axel and Heath Slater but losing to Langston again and Justin Gabriel. Steele would finally return to WWE TV in December, starting a mini feud with Ryback that ended with Steele losing clean to the Meathook clothesline. Steele asked for his release later that night, and it was granted on January 2, 2014, his 40th birthday.

### **Return to Independent Scene**

Steele would return to the independent scene in mid-April of 2014, competing for several promotions including Pro Wrestling Guerilla, the NWA, and ROH. Steele would feud with Jay Lethal in ROH, pinning him on the last show before Global Wars but then falling short in a 5 way match at the PPV that also included Silas Young, Matt Taven, and Tomasso Ciampa. Lethal would get another shot at Lethal at Best in the World 2014, winning with the SSS after Truth Martinez's interference on Jay's behalf backfired. Lethal would hold the belt until Best in the World 2015, where he would lose the belt back to Lethal in a "Winner Takes All" three way match for the Television and World Championships, a match that Jay Lethal was also involved in.

Steele would travel to Japan for the first time in late 2014 and much of 2015, travelling to various Japanese promotions and competing. Notables matches during this tour include a series of three shows in which he faced Shinsuke Nakamura, and a match against Michael Elgin.

At the Battle of Los Angeles 2015, Steele competed for the first time in the tournament, successfully getting to the semi-finals. He competed again in 2016, this time losing in the first round to Will Ospreay.

### **Adirondack Wrestling Empire (2017-''present''):**

After taking a break from wrestling for most of 2017 to rest and recover from nagging injuries, Steele announced on Twitter that he had signed an exclusive contract with Adirondack Wrestling Empire, and would be competing on their first show in a tournament for the AWE Imperial Championship.

Steele won his first match in the tournament, beating Lince Dorado with the *Steele Star Splash*. Steele would then go on to lose to Justin Fray in the quarter-finals, getting eliminated from the tournament. Steele attacked Fray out of frustrating after the match, debuting a new submission finisher and turning heel for the first time since 2008.

## **==  In-Wrestling: ==**

#### **Finishing Moves**

* Steel Star Splash (High angle frog splash)

#### Signature Moves:

* Spinning Heel Kick
* Butterfly DDT
* Diving Crossbody
* Springboard Clothesline
* Inverted headlock Facebuster, sometimes into a crossface choke or off the top rope

## == Accomplishments: ==

2 x WWE United States Championship

1 x ROH Television Championship

2 x NWA Tag Team Championship (as Wildcats with Alan Judge)

## == Trivia: ==

* Steele is based on a CAW I first downloaded in WWE 2k17. The name and looks came from this download, but the background and newer version of his attire are my own.