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Ray Steele


Dylan Waco

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Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd see Ray Steele nominated. He's been one of my boys over the years. I even got comps of him made. But he's a guy who would have a hard time making the cut. He's cut from the same cloth as Roach. Singh, Roberts and Rudge, and any combination of those workers usually delivers a good match, but he's fairly bland compared to most pro wrestlers that people love. Just take a look at his haircut. That pretty much sums Steele up. Most British wrestlers look like a guy you could bump into down at your local pub, but Ray looks like the kind of fella a girl would take home to her parents in an old black and white British flick, or a Ken Loach/Mike Leigh style satire.

 

I'm sure there were a lot more interesting heavyweights around in the 50s, 60s and 70s. The fortunate thing about Steele is that we have a decent sized sample of his entire career from his earliest matches to the end. There's a lot of Ray Steele out there.

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Steele reminds me of the tall, thin, soft-spoken pushover local vicar who gets pushed further and further as Bertie Wooster or someone gets under his nerves and he finally snaps and falls to unexpected but wildly competent (if righteously exasperated) fisticuffs. You know, in a good way. I thought he came off almost as well as Rudge in the two Rudge matches I saw.

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He stood out a lot to me when watching the WoS stuff. He's definitely not a guy you would every site as super charismatic, nor is he someone I can real write at length on. But there were a half a dozen or so times where I watched a match he was in because I wanted to see the other guy and came out saying "damn Ray Steele is really good." In particular I love the Rudge matches and would have a hard time disagreeing with the notion that he was Rudge's near equal which is high praise coming from me. I should probably nominate Singh too because he had a similar effect on me, though I'm honestly doubt I'll vote for either one of them. Still Steele was a pretty great grappler, and if we were doing a top 150 I couldn't imagine leaving him off my ballot.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 8 years later...

Recently I've decided to explore the work of this gentleman named Pat Roach. One of his most notable opponents is none other than Ray Steele himself, and I have to say, watching those matches I can't help but wonder whether Steele is actually the better wrestler.

Steele isn't particularly flashy at first, but that doesn't mean he lacks character. He plays a fair sportsman smartass, something akin to a Bret Hart (although I don't recall Bret showing quite as much flavour as Steele does in his in ring character work, but you get the gist of it). In spots like those where he gets the better of someone in an exchange and then offers them a handshake he performs them with an unironic smarminess you can't help but love.

What stands out to me about Steele is how much he differs from other WOS workers. Many Brits bring the intensity, but Steele really brings the fire(~!) and struggle to his matches. There's a dynamic and excitement in his matches you rarely see with other workers, and they exist because of an underlying key principle in his work. I'll digress for a bit to illustrate this. If you've ever watched MMA, you've probably heard of scrambling. It's essentially what happens in grappling after the execution of a takedown. Those of us who have trained some grappling art have had the privilege of being yelled at, and occasionally have yelled at others not to concede takedowns. The idea if simple - it's not over until it's over. Fight back as long as you can, you haven't actually lost until your opponent has secured the position. This is how Ray Steele works. If it's a Forearm smash contest, he's fighting back where others just sell and magically get back into control in nowhere transitions. If he's gotten thrown, he'll try to kick the guy from bottom and throw him off his feet that way. That doesn't mean he no-sells, but he struggles more in spots where most wrestlers find it easier to just wait out the end of a control segment. And from what I've seen so far, he does so with good timing and variety, to the point where you can't predict it even if you're watching one Ray Steele match after another like I am right now.

Additionally, Steele also stands out as a great bumper. Now, don't expect some Curt Hennig-esque act here. He takes basic bumps. But he takes then impactfully, and even more than that, violently. Also, Backslides! I love Backslides! Don't be a wanker, vote for Steele. Steele 2026.

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