| Debra Marshall | |
|---|---|
 Debra in 1999 | |
| Birth name | Debra Gale Marshall |
| Born | (1960-03-02)March 2, 1960 (age 65)[1] Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.[2] |
| Alma mater | Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute University of Alabama (MS) |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Debra Debra McMichael Queen Debra |
| Billed height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)[3] |
| Billed from | Tuscaloosa, Alabama[3] |
| Debut | 1996 |
| Retired | 2002 |
Debra Gale Marshall (formerlyMcMichael andWilliams; born March 2, 1960)[1] is an American retiredprofessional wrestling valet,professional wrestler, and actress. She is best known for her time withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1995 and 1998 asQueen Debra[4] and with theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) between 1998 and 2002 as simplyDebra.
Marshall began her career in professional wrestling in 1995, accompanying her husbandSteve "Mongo" McMichael to the ring in WCW. She joined the WWF in 1998, where she managed thetag team ofJeff Jarrett andOwen Hart until Hart's in-ring death in May 1999. Later that year, she won theWWF Women's Championship fromSable in anevening gown match. She later appeared on-screen with her second husbandStone Cold Steve Austin until 2002, when the duo left the company.
Raised inTuscaloosa, Alabama, Marshall became atrack-runner,cheerleader, andHomecoming Queen inhigh school before attending theLee Strasberg Theatre Institute inNew York City.[4] She then became aflight attendant. Before her involvement in wrestling, she competed and won the title of 1987 Mrs. Illinois America in Elgin, Illinois[5] and went on to compete in the Mrs. America pageant that same year in Las Vegas, Nevada. She later competed and won in the 1992 Mrs. Texas USA pageant held in Houston, Texas[6] and went on to compete in the National Mrs. USA pageant. Marshall also attended theUniversity of Alabama.
Marshall first appeared inWCW in late-1995 and early-1996, making occasional unnamed appearances as anaudience plant, and as part of a group ofvalets for the team ofHulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. In April 1996, she began appearing regularly as a valet for her husband,Steve "Mongo" McMichael as he transitioned from commentator to wrestler. Based on her real-life participation in beauty pageants,[7][8] Debra took on the role of a beauty-pageant queen character, giving herself the nickname "The Queen of WCW" and often making remarks about other wrestlers and valets inkayfabe interviews.
AtThe Great American Bash 1996,Steve McMichael and his partnerKevin Greene competed against two of theFour Horsemen (Ric Flair andArn Anderson).[9] Flair won the match after Mongo and Debra turned on Greene by hitting him with a steel briefcase, joining the 4 Horsemen.[10] She managed the stable withMiss Elizabeth andWoman. The briefcase later became one of Debra's signatureobjects.[11] AtBash at the Beach in July 1997, Debraturned on Mongo during hisWCW United States Heavyweight Championship match againstJeff Jarrett by handing Jarrett the steel briefcase, which he then used to knock Mongo out and thus to win the match.[12] Next, Debra briefly managedGoldberg andAlex Wright.[13] On the November 24, 1997 edition ofNitro, Wright fired Debra after she accidentally distracted him, causing a loss toPrince Iaukea. After her divorce from McMichael, Debra left WCW.[7]
In October 1998, Marshall rejoined Jarrett in the WWF.[11] At the beginning of her WWF career, known as Debra McMichael and later simply as Debra, she played the part of a shrewd businesswoman, wearingbusiness suits.[3][7] She also played the part of Jarrett's girlfriend.[14] In late 1998, Jarrett began afeud withGoldust that culminated in December atRock Bottom: In Your House in a "Striptease match".[15] During the match, Debra hit Goldust over the head with Jarrett's trademarkguitar, enabling Jarrett to win.[15]WWF CommissionerShawn Michaels, however, disqualified Jarrett, and Debra had to strip due to the match's stipulations.[15] As she stripped,The Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) and Jarrett covered her up.[15] Debra, however, began utilizing a new strategy during matches, distracting Jarrett's opponents by unbuttoning her blouse.[7][14] She would willingly take off her blouse to show the crowd her "puppies", a nickname originally bestowed upon her chest by wrestlerRoad Dogg and later utilized by commentatorJerry Lawler.[16]
The strategy helped Jarrett and partner Hart defeatThe Big Boss Man andKen Shamrock to becomeWorld Tag Team Champions in January 1999.[17] In the same month, she also attempted to cause distraction in a tag match between Jarrett and Hart against Road Dogg andBilly Gunn, but was attacked byChyna, who was also at ringside. In February, Debra feuded with female professional wrestlerIvory, making her in-ring debut in a mixed tag match onMonday Night Raw, which ended in a no contest. Immediately after the bell rang, she attacked Ivory and hit her with Jarrett's guitar.[18] The same month, Jarrett and Hart retained the tag title in a tag match against Ivory's associatesMark Henry andD'Lo Brown atSt. Valentine's Day Massacre with Debra's assistance.[19] In March, the team lost their tag title to the team ofKane andX-Pac.[20] She also competed in her first singles match, against Ivory but lost via disqualification afterJacqueline andTerri Runnels attacked Ivory during the match.[21] As Debra continued to manage Jarrett and Hart, a potential storyline developed where Hart and Debra would have an affair, but the creative team or Owen himself more likely vetoed the idea before it played out on-screen.[14] A team name was also in the works—Debra favoring "Talent and Attitude" (T&A)—but Hart died in May 1999 atOver the Edge.[11] Later in the event, Debra and Jarrett lost a mixed tag team match againstNicole Bass andVal Venis. Debra and Jarrett were interviewed moments after Hart's fall from the rafters atKemper Arena, where Debra was noticeably shaken and fighting back tears of concern for her friend and was unable to stay in herpersona.[22]
On May 2, 1999, Debra was scheduled to take onSable in a 'Nightgown' match, but was made to compete againstNicole Bass, against whom she lost.[21] On May 10, 1999, Debra won theWWF Women's Championship from Sable in anevening gown match.[23] Usually, in an Evening Gown match, the woman who forcibly removes her opponent's dress wins.[24] Because Sable removed Debra's dress, she therefore should have been the winner.[24] Commissioner Shawn Michaels, however, ruled that he considered the woman who hadlost her dress the winner, crowning Debra the new Women's Champion.[24] She held the Women's title for a month and eventually lost it to Ivory on June 14, due to interference fromNicole Bass.[25]
AtSummerSlam in 1999 Jarrett faced D'Lo Brown.[26] During the match, Debra and Brown's former tag-team partner Mark Henry interfered on Jarrett's behalf, allowing him to win both theEuropean Championship and theIntercontinental Championship.[26] The following night, Jarrett awarded Henry the European title and gave Debra an assistant,Miss Kitty.[27] Following an attack by Jarrett after losing a mixed tag match againstStephanie McMahon and Test,[21] on September 26, Debra turned on Jarrett atUnforgiven and hit him over the head with a guitar in the middle of his match against Chyna for the Intercontinental Championship.[28] Chyna pinned Jarrett, but refereeTom Prichard overturned the decision due to Debra's involvement.[28] On the following episode ofRAW, Debra participated in an intergender tag match with Chyna against the team of Jarrett and Prichard, in a winning effort.[21]
In November 1999, Debra participated in an eight-women Sudden Death match atSurvivor Series where she teamed withThe Fabulous Moolah,Mae Young, andTori in a winning effort against Ivory, Jacqueline,Luna Vachon and Terri Runnels[29] which also served as her last appearance as an in-ring performer, despite being trained at the time to compete. Debra subsequently stayed off television while her husbandStone Cold Steve Austin recovered from neck surgery.[11] She reappeared in April 2000, acting as a guest ring announcer atBacklash for the opening match.[11][30] In the fall of that year she played the role ofLieutenant Commissioner, the assistant of CommissionerMick Foley.[3][11]
Debra resigned as Lieutenant Commissioner on the March 5, 2001 episode ofRaw to pursue managing again, while it was revealed on-screen that she was the wife of Stone Cold.Vince McMahon subsequently gave her the duty of managingThe Rock, who at the time was feuding with Stone Cold.[31] During the feud, she appeared on an episode of RAW and slapped Vince McMahon. Although she was advertised to be involved in theWrestlemania 17 main event match between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, she was later pulled due to both competitors lobbying not to have her out at ringside.[32] After Wrestlemania, she returned on an episode of RAW, questioning Vince McMahon for his role in Stone Cold's villainous persona, and subsequently slapping him after he insulted her. During an episode of Smackdown, she appeared in a backstage segment and slappedThe Undertaker, who was feuding with Austin at the time. By the second half of 2001, Debra accompanied Austin, as he defected to the Alliance, with arunning gag about her famous chocolate chip cookies being repulsive (although Debra herself remained oblivious to this). On an episode of RAW, Debra was subject to a bucket of milk accidentally falling on her, which was a miscommunication byStacy Keibler andShawn Stasiak who meant to play the prank onKurt Angle. The following week, Debra beat up Keibler with a tray of cookies in a backstage segment.[33]In August, during an episode ofSmackdown!, Debra also clocked Stone Cold in frustration with a cookie tray in the middle of the ring.[33] The next week onRAW, she accompanied her husband to the ring for a match againstMatt Hardy, and was involved in a physical altercation withLita during the match.[33]
In 2002, Debra was involved in a major backstage brawl withStephanie McMahon after arguing over their respective husbands.[33] Debra appeared sporadically thereafter in backstage segments, notably slappingRic Flair in a backstage segment in April on an episode of RAW. She left the company in June 2002 after her last RAW appearance with Austin, fanning the flames of their well-publicized marital fallout.[34]
Following domestic abuse charges against Austin and arrest, Austin eventually returned to WWE in 2003. Debra, however, was never invited back. References of Debra were subsequently dropped from WWE programming and media altogether, although, in 2021, she was acknowledged by WWE.com in a list of female performers who made an impact outside the ring.[35]
Before becoming involved in wrestling, Marshall studied acting in Texas.[7] Her first acting jobs involved commercials and two music videos for country musicianGeorge Strait.[11] She also had a small role in the 1995 filmThe Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a police officer.[7] The producers originally offered her the lead in the film, but when the director's first choice changed her mind and accepted the role, Marshall was given the small role instead.[11]
On March 10, 2002, Marshall appeared on an episode ofThe Weakest Link alongside several other members of the WWE roster.[36] In addition, she has a role in the 2010 filmGathering of Heroes.[37]
Marshall's marriage toNational Football League alumnus and professional wrestlerSteve McMichael lasted thirteen years.[7] McMichael's mother, whom Marshall met on an airplane, set up their first meeting as a blind date.[11] Theydivorced on October 12, 1998.[1]
Debra met Steven Williams, known on-screen asStone Cold Steve Austin, in 1998; they moved in together in 2000.[2] On September 13 of that year, they married atThe Little White Wedding Chapel inLas Vegas, and she changed her name to Debra Williams.[1][2] On June 15, 2002, police responded to a call to the couple's residence inSan Antonio, Texas, and found Debra with bruises and a bloody nose.[38] On August 14, the authorities arrested Austin and charged him with misdemeanor assault.[39] He pleadedno contest on November 25 and received a year'sprobation, a $1,000fine, and an order to carry out eighty hours ofcommunity service.[39] Austin filed for divorce from Marshall on July 22, 2002, and the divorce was finalized on February 5, 2003.[40] Marshall later auctioned her wedding ring off oneBay for$27,100 and donated a portion of the proceeds to "Safe Place", an organization which assists the victims of domestic abuse.[41]
In June and July 2007, Marshall made several appearances to discuss theChris Benoit double-murder and suicide. She describedsteroids anddrugs as the cause of Austin hitting her in June 2002 and suggested links between such substances and the death of Benoit and his family.[42] She also alleged that Austin beat her three times.[42][43]
Marshall graduated cum laude from theUniversity of Alabama with an undergraduate interdisciplinary degree in 2013. In December 2017, she was awarded a Master of Science degree in criminal justice from the University of Alabama. While working on her master's of science degree, Marshall was awarded the University of Alabama College of Arts and Science's Mary Avis Todd Award for "outstanding work in community studies".[4][44]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Cop at Bud's Pizza | Cameo |
| 1999 | Beyond the Mat | Herself | Documentary |
| 2012 | Tengu: The Immortal Blade | Captain Lang | |
| 2018 | Gathering of Heroes: Legend of the Seven Swords | Reina |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Biography | Herself | Episode: "The Life and Death ofOwen Hart" |
| 1999 | Teen Choice Awards | Presenter | |
| 2002 | Mad TV | Herself | Episode 7.15 |
| 2002 | Weakest Link | Herself | Episode: "WWF Superstars Edition 2" |
| 2007 | Inside Edition | Herself |
Debra Marshall as Reina
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