| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stephen DiSalvo (1949-04-07)April 7, 1949 (age 76)[1] Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.[2] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Billy Jack Strong[1] Indian Warrior[1] Mighty Yankee[1] Minotaur[1] Sadistic Steve[1] Steve DiSalvo[1] Steve Strong[1] Strangler DiSalvo[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (132 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Los Angeles, California |
| Trained by | Billy Anderson[2] Red Bastien[1] Ross Hart[2] Bruce Hart[2] |
| Debut | 1985 |
| Retired | 2001 |
Stephen DiSalvo (born April 7, 1949) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler.
DiSalvo broke into professional wrestling in the mid-1980s following a career inpowerlifting. He was initially trained byBilly Anderson andRed Bastien.[3]
Wrestling as Steve Strong in the 1980s, he was a performer inMontreal-basedInternational Wrestling. He was managed byEddy Creatchman.
DiSalvo previously had made a one-off appearance for theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987, wrestling twice on a house show event in Quebec (losing to Tito Santana via countout and defeating Outback Jack later in the night).[4]
Moving on toStampede Wrestling, he was known as "Strangler" Steve DiSalvo. Here, he feuded withPhil LaFleur over who had the better physique. DiSalvo smashed a trophy over LaFleur's head on TV, leading to several matches between the two. DiSalvo also helpedDon Muraco win the Stampede North American Title fromMahkan Singh.
DiSalvo moved on to theWorld Wrestling Council (WWC) promotion in Puerto Rico in 1989, where he again was known as "Sadistic" Steve Strong but this time with a satanic gimmick. He had brawls withAbdullah the Butcher,TNT, and Invader #1. He also won theWWC World Tag Team Championship teaming withJason the Terrible. He also feuded with "El Acrobata de Puerto Rico"Carlos Colon. He won theWWC Universal Heavyweight Championship in a Texas Death match by defeating Colon on May 27, 1989. He had a successful reign of 133 days until Colon defeated him at The Aniversario 1989 in a Barbed Wire match in October 7. The feud ended when DiSalvo lost against Colon in a Retirement match for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship on November 23, 1989.
On February 13, 1990, he received a tryout match with the WWF at aWWF Superstars taping losing toThe Red Rooster. He next made an appearance on a March 18 house show in Calgary, Alberta, defeatingBuddy Rose. The following month, he competed on a joint house show tour with the WWF and Arena Wrestling Alliance, tagging withMano Yanez on three events againstThe Pitbulls.[5]
Two weeks later, DiSalvo received a tryout match forWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) on April 23, 1990.[6] He was signed to the company later that year and given the gimmick of "The Minotaur". DiSalvo made his first televised appearance on the January 5, 1991 episode ofWCW Saturday Night, defeatingMan Mountain Bailey. He began a house show series against The Juicer and was undefeated, and later faced The Junkyard Dog.[7]
DiSalvo also appeared in theAmerican Wrestling Association, where he wrestled as Billy Jack Strong. He became Steve DiSalvo again and drifted around the independent circuit before retiring in 2001.