Steve McMichael has ALS

[LSM]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-prem-chicago-bears-steve-mcmichael-als-20210423-okfosu3f7ffzpcn6d4lja62cw4-story.html

Quite a harrowing read that Mongo has been diagnosed with ALS and will likely be confined to wheelchair soon.

Never a great wrestler but boy what a character!

 

 

[Max Power]

Just seen this on Ian's twitter.

Horrible.

[Jazzy G]

Such a shame. 

[FLips]

Truly sad. Not how anyone would want to go, and it’s somewhat sadder to see it happen to such a larger than life person.

[air_raid]

Sad news. I mean, sure he wasn’t the BEST wrestler, but he was in the Horsemen at the time I was really getting into WCW and I loved the Horsemen so ended up cheering for him more often than not. He did some pretty good shouty promos and did some good “smash into men” stuff if you didn’t expect too many wrist locks from him. And he occasionally sold a briefcase shot like a cartoon. But he always seemed to be enjoying himself, and I enjoyed him a lot of the time too.

[Abe_Knuckleball_Schwartz]

That is so sad to read about and seeing those pictures are really upsetting.

Thoughts with Mongo and his family.

[Merzbow]

Such shitty news.

If you can deal with listening to Conrad you should go out of your way to listen to the old Ric Flair podcast with Mongo, he's hilarious and such a wild one.

(actually, I don't think Conrad is on this one much, if at all)

Edited April 23, 2021 by Merzbow

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Really sad to see. As a football player he was incredibly tough. The Bears defense he played on was absolute nails and the '85 team are in the top 5 NFL teams of all time, and he was an integral part. When you add in what he was like off the field you can understand why he was attracted to wrestling and why wrestlers liked him. 

[The King Of Swing]

Horrible news. 

Will always have a soft spot for his enthusiasm on commentary during Nitro's early days. 

[Michael_3165]

He was one of my guilty pleasures. A rather shit worker but so funny and you could tell he really was trying so hard to do well. Bless him, getting that disease is horrific. 

[Chili]

It's really shit seeing him in that state, man so many footballers end up in such a horrible state. 

Shit wrestler, really shit. Only worth his matches for the so bad is good element. Watching him back, his big 'YAHOOO BOYS' real sports voice in wrestling was a load of fun and some people in wrestling are not made out for it, but your glad they tried. I'm glad Mongo tried, because he seemed proper up for it. A really great natural charisma and the vibe of a real fucking nutter. Someone find that gif of him catching Eddie Guerrero, its ace. 

Oh and go and watch his pull apart with Kama on one of the Raw's before Wrestlemania 11. It's a PROPER looking pull apart. He and Kama must have had a gentleman's agreement to just fuck each other up and it's marvellous. 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Chili

[garynysmon]

I had to google what ALS was before figuring out its what the Americans call Motor Neurone Disease. But wow, I was so sad to read that he's suffering from such a horrendous condition.

Despite not having a clue what his nickname was all about, which sounded way too similar to an insult thrown liberally around school playgrounds back then, Mongo was and still is one of my biggest guilty pleasures in wrestling.

I still find myself, every few months, in a Youtube maze of watching random Steve McMichael squash matches yet always ending up throughly entertained.

I know its hardly en vogue to not be "busting your ass every night" nowadays, but Arn Anderson said in a shoot interview once that Mongo didn't enter the wrestling game until he was nigh on 40 and banged up after a gridiron career. He learnt enough to get by and have fun in the ring, but had no inclination to really put the mileage in. In reality though, who can blame him?

Hardly anyone around in WCW has a bad thing to say about him as a bloke, and seemed to be genuinely having fun.

It wasn't long ago that I wondered what he was up to, sadly that article was pretty clear.

Edited April 24, 2021 by garynysmon

[Snitsky's back acne]

I always think one of the true measures of someone as a human being is what other people say about them.

Mongo is one of those guys that, as a person, it seems nobody has a bad word to say about him. In the wrestling business in particular that says a lot.

 

[Hoptimus]

If you followed the life of Fernando Ricksen and transport that same kind of feelings onto the former horseman it's tragic stuff. Heart goes out to him.

[Egg Shen]

Followed that Mongo twitter account a month or so back and love the little clips they post.

Such a sad story though. I saw some news reports recently regarding Rob Burrows (Rugby League player) battle with MND and its just heartbreaking, i cant even bring myself the documentary they made about it.