"Dr. Death" Steve Williams graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981 after a stellar football career that saw him named an All-American. He also competed as an amateur wrestler losing in the finals of an NCAA tournament to future Olympic medalist Bruce Baumgartner.

Already interested in professional wrestling, Williams had a ready-made nickname which dated back to an incident in Junior High where he had to wrestle in a hockey goalie's mask and was jokingly labeled "Dr. Death" by one of his school's coaches with the name apparently sticking.

Williams was trained for professional wrestling by Bill Watts and started wrestling in 1982 in Watt's Mid-South Wrestling. In 1985, he formed a successful team with Ted DiBiase and feuded with Eddie Gilbert and The Nightmare. In 1986, Mid-South was renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation and Williams went on to win the UWF Heavyweight Title from Big Bubba Rogers. When Jim Crockett Promotions bought the UWF in late 1987, he was one of the few UWF wrestlers to receive an initial push in the NWA.

Williams helped Jimmy Garvin in his feud with Kevin Sullivan's Varsity Club and then joined them in late 1988 to team with Mike Rotunda. They feuded with the Road Warriors and won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in the process.

In May 1989, they were stripped of the titles and the Varsity Club disbanded. Williams went to All Japan Pro Wrestling where he formed a tag team with Terry Gordy called the "Miracle Violence Connection". They dominated the tag team scene there through 1993 with a brief stop in WCW where they won the WCW World Tag Team Titles and feuded with the Steiner brothers.

In 1998, Williams was signed by the WWF. They were about to have the "Brawl For All" which was set up in "shoot fights" to see who the real tough guys were. Williams was expected to roll through the competition but after beating Pierre Carl Ouellet in the first round, he was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Bart Gunn. Following the event, the WWF did a brief angle where he was managed by Jim Ross before granting Williams his release.

In 1999, Williams appeared briefly in WCW again with Oklahoma as his manager in a feud with Vampiro. He went back to All Japan in 2002 and wrestled a couple of matches for WWE in 2003 against Lance Storm. In late 2003, he was a major face in Major League Wrestling and also wrestled for NWA Mid-Atlantic where he won their title.

In 2004, Williams had surgery on his throat to battle throat cancer. He was declared cancer free in 2005. On March 25, 2006, Williams returned to the ring for a WWE Smackdown house show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He currently helps train WWE developmental wrestlers.

Championships and accomplishments

All Japan Pro Wrestling
AJPW Triple Crown World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (8 times) - with Terry Gordy (5), Gary Albright (1), and Johnny Ace (1)
 
International Wrestling Association of Japan
IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ryo Miyake
 
National Wrestling Alliance 
NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Gordy
NWA United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kevin Sullivan
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time) - with Mike Rotunda

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him # 78 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
PWI ranked him # 16 with of the best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Terry Gordy.
PWI ranked him # 20 of the best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Ted DiBiase.
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year award in 1985.
PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1992 with Terry Gordy.
 
United States Wrestling Association
USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 
Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts)|Mid-South Wrestling
Mid-South Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ted DiBiase
UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
UWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ted DiBiase
Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)
UWF SportsChannel Television Championship (1 time)
 
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Terry Gordy
 
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Rookie of the Year in 1982
Most Improved Wrestler in 1985
Tag Team of the Year in 1992 with Terry Gordy
Match of the Year in 1996 with Johnny Ace against Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama