Early career (1984–1986) A native of
Buford, Georgia, Steve Gower was a lifelong fan of professional wrestling and had wanted to become a wrestler as early as 13 years old. As a teenager, he entered and won several
toughman contests in
Dothan, Alabama. In 1984, a local wrestler out of Macon offered to train him as a professional wrestler, however, Gower later claimed that the veteran wrestler "took my money" and "taught me everything to do wrong." It was after his initial match in
Griffin, Georgia, which he later referred to as "a complete disaster", that he was approached by Glenn Holbrook in the dressing room after the show. Seeing potential in the 19-year-old, he invited Gower to train with him. He spent every day for the next 15 weeks working out with Holbrook before he went on the road. Gower briefly toured Florida, where he wrestled on television as "Adrian Steele", and where he was first given the name Steve "The Brawler" Lawler. Gower would also fill in for
masked wrestlers, most notably
The Flame. He soon formed a tag team with "Cowboy" Dennis Gale and traveled to
various NWA territories and "outlaw" promotions in the South and East Coast. He later claimed that many opponents would refuse to wrestle them, or not show up at all, because of their
stiff wrestling style. Charlie Smith, a popular Georgia wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s, once told him he was "the only man he'd ever known who would go to jail for the business." Meeting with
Buddy Landell in Atlanta during the mid-1980s, Landell offered to bring him in to WCW, but Gower declined, not willing to be under contract to the organization.
Deep South Wrestling (1986–1988) In 1986, Gower began wrestling for
Jody Hamilton's
Deep South Wrestling where he feuded with
Crazy Luke Graham over the promotion's "brass knuckles" championship. Though a fan favorite while wrestling against Graham, he
turned "heel" shortly after defeating him for the title. The trio also battled
"Wildfire" Tommy Rich,
Johnny Rich, and
Ricky Morton in the spring of 1988, their matches later being aired on the nationally syndicated program "Pro Wrestling This Week." One of his matches against Tommy Rich was later featured on "Blood Battles of the South" highlighting the former
NWA World Heavyweight Champion's "bloodiest grudge matches."
Southern Championship Wrestling (1988–1990) While working for Hamilton, Gower also started competing in
Southern Championship Wrestling and began competing there full-time following the close of DSW. During his time in the promotion, he formed a popular tag team with Dino Minelli known as "Thunder and Lightning"
Disco Inferno, Murder One and his younger brother, Terry Lawler. Bagwell, wrestling under the name "The Fabulous Fabian", defeated Gower for the GASW (North Georgia) Television Championship in his first professional match. On September 15, 1991, Gower faced his former student a second time at an interpromotional show in
Marietta, Georgia between the Global Wrestling Federation, where Bagwell was now wrestling as "The Handsome Stranger", and Georgia All-Star Wrestling which he lost to Bagwell via disqualification. Gower continued his long-running feud against Tommy Rich in GASW, helped by manager Dave Prazak, where the two had several wild brawls. Prazak later claimed that during one of their encounters, in which Rich put Prazak in a
piledriver, "both he and Steve Lawler were roaring drunk for that match." They would eventually meet in a "lights out" match at
Douglasville, Georgia with the loser being forced to retire. Gower himself later said the greatest matches he ever had were against Rich calling them "some of the bloodiest, they were some of the hardest, and I have a lot of respect for Rich to this day." and the North Georgia Wrestling Association (1992–97). Shortly before the latter promotion's close, he and Bubba Humphries won the NGWA Tag Team Championship from Kenny and John Arden and held them for less than a month before dropping the belts back to the Ardens in
Rome on April 19, 1996. He also wrestled and lost to Kenny Arden in a singles match on May 18, 1996. A year later, Gower won the NGWA Heavyweight Championship and remained champion until the promotion's close at the end of the year. He also spent some time in the North American Wrestling Alliance and appeared at its supercard "The Crime in College Park" where he faced his old ally, "The Nightmare" Ted Allen on February 12, 1999.
Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (2000–2001) In 2000, he joined Dusty Rhodes' short-lived
Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. He was one of its few major stars not affiliated with either
Extreme Championship Wrestling or
World Championship Wrestling. He appeared as "Desperado" Liberty McCall on "Halloween Horror Slam 1", its first television taping, against Jason Holton though negative fan reaction caused the promotion to change it back to his old "Brawler" ring name. The match was one of several on "Best of Dusty Rhodes - Living The American Dream" released by
RF Video on VHS. He met Rhodes again three months later, this time with partner
Scott Hall, in a tag team match in
Dothan, Alabama with
Larry Zbyszko which they lost. He was also on the losing end of a 6-man tag team match with
Ron Studd and
Barry Windham at TCW's "Woodstock Show", on December 7, 2001, when they were disqualified in their match to Dusty Rhodes,
Bob Armstrong and Larry Zbyzsko.
Semi-retirement (2001–2004) Gower eventually left pro wrestling to work for a building supply company, and later with a major motorcycle distributor, Greg and Lori Becker's Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson, though he continued to make occasional appearances on the Georgia "indy circuit" for a number of years. He also made a brief appearance for NAWA Ring Champions. On April 17, 2004, he was scheduled to wrestle Tommy Rich but instead tricked the younger Seth Cruise into taking his place. He returned for two more appearances defeating
Johnny Grunge on May 15 and, at its "Spring Stampede" supercard, his brother Terry Lawler in a Rome Street Fight on May 29, 2004. All three shows were held at Dillard's Music Park in
Rome, Georgia.
Return to the Georgia "indy circuit" (2008–2009) After an absence of several years, Gower came out of retirement losing over thirty pounds to get in shape for his return. By 2008, he was wrestling for both NAWA Ring Champions, for which he served as
booker at times, and Southern Extreme Championship Wrestling. On January 6, 2008, at SECW's "
Bill Dromo Appreciation Night" in Carrollton, he wrestled in a 6-man tag team match with Chick Donovan and
Bulldog Raines against Bob Armstrong, Tommy Rich, and Buff Bagwell, losing when his team was disqualified. On February 7, a tag team match with Bulldog Raines against Tommy Rich and Jimmy Powell in Rome for NAWA Ring Champions ended in a double-disqualification. He and Raines lost a match in SECW against
Bull Buchanan and Buff Bagwell three days later. The two split up after their most recent loss and were on opposing sides the following week when he and his new partner, The Super Destroyer, beat Bull Buchanan and Bulldog Raines via disqualification. In SECW, Gower later challenged Raines for the SECW Heavyweight Championship. The two were back together again in NAWA Ring Champions days later to wrestle Tommy Rich and Kenny Arden in Rome, but fought each other at NAWA's next show on March 13, another tag team match, pitting Steve & Terry Lawler against Bulldog Raines & the Nightmare. Both Lawler and Raines were still being managed by Jackie Rosedale. Two weeks later he wrestled Tommy Rich in a "bounty" match in Carrollton. On May 3, 2008, Gower was yet again among the Southern legends, such as Tommy Rich, Dennis Condrey and The Nightmare, invited to participate in
AWA World-1 South's "Southern Clash" supercard in
Cordele, Georgia. Though the majority took part on the "AWA Legends vs. Georgia Legends" main event, he wrestled The Nightmare, in a "special attraction match." The event also included the AWA's Larry Zbyszko and
Jake Milliman & Frankie DeFalco, as well as younger independent wrestlers
Ricky Landell,
Kirby Mack, Chasyn Rance, Brian Logan, Ron Niemi, and
The Heartbreak Express (Sean and Phil Davis).
Georgia Wrestling Promotions incident (2008) In early 2008, Gower was among a number of wrestlers booked to wrestle an event in
Woodstock, Georgia for Georgia Wrestling Promotions. The card advertised Gower and Terry Lawler to face Hot Like Lava (Cru Jones & Shawn Banks) in the main event and was to include a 20-man Battle Royal, with the final two men facing each other to determine the new GWP Champion on June 1, and appearances from Tommy Rich, Masked Superstar, and former students Buff Bagwell and Murder One. The event experienced a number of problems both prior to and during the show. The promotion's owner, Roger Cantrell, had been hospitalized due to
cellulitis related to his
diabetes around this time and contracted
pneumonia during his stay. He was later diagnosed with
kidney failure and put on
dialysis. Despite his poor health, and disregarding advice that he cancel the event, Cantrell provided the card for the upcoming show in Woodstock direct from his bed at
Northside Cherokee Hospital. Gower, upset by the experience, posted a message criticizing the promotion on his website shortly after what would be its final show;
Later years (2010–2021) On June 1, 2010, Gower was a guest on the
internet radio program "The Dave & Danger Show" with Dave Wills and Mark Danger during which he discussed his training and early career, friendships with many Southern wrestlers (including road stories with Tommy Rich), and promoted an upcoming benefit show, "Legends of Wrestling", to raise money for
Breast Cancer Network of Strength. He was particularly critical of the modern wrestling industry, such as the use of the
six-sided "octagon"-like ring used by
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, the breaking of "
kayfabe", and the shift away from "traditional" wrestling to
sports entertainment. He also spoke out against efforts by the Georgia Wrestling Commission to regulate pro wrestling in his home state and expressed interest in holding a special wrestling show to recognize Georgia's legendary wrestling personalities. Gower was also present at an event for Purks International Championship Wrestling a week later, where Terry Lawler was wrestling in a 6-man tag team match, although Gower did not take part in the show. On February 12, 2011, Gower reunited with his old Bad Company tag team partner, Jon Michaels, at
A Nightmare To Remember, to take on
Joel Deaton and Mr. Atlanta
Villa Rica Street Fight in the main event. A
memorial show for "The Nightmare" Ted Allen, Bad Company was accompanied by Allen's old partner The Nightmare II of the Masked Nightmares. During the summer of 2011, Gower appeared with other Georgia legends for
Georgia Championship Wrestling which had been recently revived by promoter Grady Odom. On its June 30 show in
Phenix City, he appeared alongside Abdullah the Butcher, Joel Deaton, Ricky Morton, and Bob & Brad Armstrong, where he wrestled
Vordell Walker. He was scheduled to meet Walker two months later at GCW's "Invasion" supercard in
Macon, Georgia but this was later changed to a tag team match between him and Billy Black against Tony Atlas and Tommy Rich. The four wrestled for 12 minutes until referee Keith Steinborn saw Black hit Atlas with his cowbell causing their disqualification. In July 2012, Gower appeared on the Wrestle Rock event taking place in Covington Georgia. The event which featured Rock & Roll Express' Robert Gibson, cage matches, street fights, a live band and women's matches. Gower tagged with local personality Bam Bam against Lee Brock and Chris Nelms in a steel cage street fight match.
The Brawler's Last Ride Tour (2012–2013) The Brawler's retirement kicked off in late 2012 and was set to run up to the third annual Nightmare to Remember event taking place in
Villa Rica, Georgia on February 16, 2013, in which Steve Lawler would wrestle in his final match. On Christmas night 2012, Lawler and younger brother Terry wrestled for Georgia All-Star Wrestling as part of Steve's retirement tour against local team "The Best of the Best". On February 2, 2013, Lawler tagged again with brother Terry at PCW in
Porterdale, Georgia against "Worst Case Scenario". Later in the evening on February 2 while set to compete at NSCW in
Covington, Georgia, Steve Lawler was presented with an award for three decades of service in the wrestling business. The Lawler brothers and Bam Bam faced Alex Brock, Chris Nelms & Demarko Knight in a 6-man match. On February 16, 2013 at the 3rd annual Nightmare to Remember event, Lawler along with Grizzly Boone and manager John Michaels (all members of the original Bad Company) took part in and won his official retirement match against the Pretty Young Things (Fredrick & James) with manager Phil Hefner. ==Death==