| Miracle Violence Connection | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Steve Williams Terry Gordy |
| Name(s) | Miracle Violence Connection Satsujin Gyorai Super Dangerous Duo |
| Billed heights | Steve Williams: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Terry Gordy: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Combined billed weight | 583 lb (264 kg) |
| Debut | July 9, 1987 |
| Disbanded | August 12, 1987 July 29, 1993 (Full-Time) October 26, 1996 |
TheMiracle Violence Connection were aprofessional wrestlingtag team consisting of"Dr. Death" Steve Williams andTerry "Bam Bam" Gordy.
The team originally formed on July 9, 1987, inJim Crockett Promotions, defeatingDick Murdoch andEddie Gilbert. They would wrestle six times together, all against Gilbert and Murdoch, winning every match but the last one, which Gilbert and Murdoch won, before disbanding.[1] Gordy went toAll Japan Pro Wrestling while Williams stayed for the transition fromBill Watts's oldUWF into JCP, before moving toNew Japan Pro Wrestling and then jumping to All Japan himself in 1990.
The team reunited inAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in February 1990 and quickly became a top tag team for the next several years under the name the Miracle Violence Connection. The two quickly found success when they defeatedGenichiro Tenryu andStan Hansen to win theWorld Tag Team Championship on March 6, 1990.[2] Williams and Gordy would make one successful title defense against Hansen andDan Spivey[3] before losing the titles toJumbo Tsuruta andthe Great Kabuki on July 19, 1990.[2] In the fall of 1990, the Miracle Violence Connection entered theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League and would win the tournament by finishing in first with 19 Points.[4] By winning the tournament, they also won the vacated World Tag Team Championship.[2]
The team would hold the titles for four months, making two successful title defenses againstMitsuharu Misawa andToshiaki Kawada and Jumbo Tsuruta andAkira Taue.[3] The Connection's second title reign ended on April 18, 1991, at theNippon Budokan to Stan Hansen and Dan Spivey.[2] A few months later on July 6, Williams and Gordy rebounded by regaining the titles for the third time.[2] The title reign would not last, three weeks later on July 24, they lost the titles to Misawa and Kawada.[2]
Williams and Gordy entered their second Tag League in the fall of 1991 and would proceed to win the tournament for the second time by finishing in first with 21 Points.[5] Along with the Tag Tournament the Miracle Violence Connection also won the vacated World Tag Team Titles for a fourth time.[2] Four months later on March 4, 1992, they lost the titles to Jumbo Tsuruta and Akira Taue.[2] For the remainder of 1992, Williams and Gordy attempted to regain the titles but failed to including a rematch with Tsuruta and Taue on October 7.[6] The two also entered the 1992 World's Strongest Tag League but finished in second place with 17 points.[7]
On January 30, 1993, the Miracle Violence Connection won their fifth and final World Tag Team Title by defeating Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada.[2] After holding the titles for 4 Months, Williams and Gordy would lose the titles to the newly formedHoly Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue).[2] After failing to win the titles on July 26,[6] Williams and Gordy would team one last time on July 29, 1993, defeatingJohnny Ace andKendall Windham.[8] After the match, Gordy left All Japan breaking the Miracle Violence Connection up.[8]
On February 29, 1992, atSuperBrawl II, then-WCW Executive Vice PresidentKip Frey announced that he was negotiating to bring Williams and Gordy back to World Championship Wrestling. On March 9, the duo defeated three enhancement teams at a television taping forThe Main Event in Anderson, South Carolina in contests that would not air until May. On the April 18 edition ofWCW Saturday Night it was announced that Williams and Gordy would be part of the upcoming tournament for the vacantNWA Tag-Team Championship that summer.
AtClash of the Champions XIX on June 16, the duo defeated the Australian representativesLarry O'Day andJeff O'Day in the opening round of the NWA Tournament. As a bonus for the Clash, it was announced by new WCW Executive Vice PresidentBill Watts that the quarter-finals would begin later that night; as a result in a non-title match Williams and Gordy defeatedWCW World Tag Team Champions theSteiner Brothers. While waiting for the next round to begin following the Clash, the duo would face and defeatMarcus Bagwell andTom Zenk in house show matches. AtBeach Blast 92 Williams and Gordy again faced the Steiner Brothers, this time going to a 30 minute draw. On July 5, 1992, at a house show at theOmni in Atlanta, Georgia, Williams and Gordy won theWCW World Tag Team Championship from the Steiner Brothers.[9][8] Shortly afterwards atThe Great American Bash 92 the final two rounds of the NWA Tag-Team Championship Tournament were run. Gordy and Williams defeatedRicky Steamboat andNikita Koloff in the semi-finals, and then beatDustin Rhodes andBarry Windham in the tournament final.[8] Their NWA title win, however, went unrecognized by the NWA.
Steve Williams and Terry Gordy then began feuding with the Dangerous Alliance, defeatingBobby Eaton andArn Anderson in house show matches. On the September 26th edition of the Main Event, the duo sustained their first televised defeat when they were beaten by The Steiner Brothers in a non-title matchup. On the October 3rd edition of WCW Saturday Night they were then upset by Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham and lost both titles.[8] This would mark the end of Terry Gordy's run in WCW; after the tandem returned to All-Japan in October 1992 for a lengthy series of matches only Steve Williams would make future appearances for WCW. Williams received a rematch atHalloween Havoc and choseSteve Austin as his partner, but were only able to wrestle Rhodes and Windham to a time limit draw. "Dr. Death" returned to the American promotion on December 12, 1992, and teamed withBig Van Vader in an unsuccessful challenge to Windham & Rhodes in Columbus, OH. On December 28 he participated in the Battle Bowl event atStarrcade and teamed withSting to defeatEric Watts andJushin Liger. At the start of the event it was announced that he would be substituting for an injuredRick Rude to challenge Ron Simmons for theWCW World Heavyweight Championship, but lost by disqualification. He left WCW shortly thereafter.[10]
During their relatively brief stay in WCW, theirfeud with the Steiner Brothers was also seen as a major feud by Japanese fans even though the two teams never faced each other in Japan.[8] Despite advances by New Japan, Gordy and Williams, out of loyalty toGiant Baba, refused to compete for the rival promotion.[8] In October 1992, Gordy left WCW, beforeHalloween Havoc, while Williams left in December, afterStarrcade.[8]
Williams and Gordy briefly reunited inExtreme Championship Wrestling in late-1996, facingthe Eliminators atWhen Worlds Collide andHigh Incident.[8]
Terry Gordy died on July 16, 2001, due to a heart attack. He was 40 years old.[11]
In 2004, Williams was diagnosed with throat cancer; he would eventually get surgery and was declared cancer-free for five years until 2009 when his cancer returned. He eventually died on December 29, 2009.[12] He was 49 years old.
