Turned Pro: 1973
Trained By: "Superstar" Billy Graham & Mac McFarland
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Height: 6'0"
Wrestling Weight: 220 pounds
Territories Worked In: Arizona, Calgary & Oklahoma
Toughest Opponent: "Cowboy" Bob Yuma
Best Match: Versus "Cowboy" Bob Yuma
Favorite Move: Sunset Flip, Bodyslam and Choke Hold.
Titles Held: North American Championship (Canada)
The words "rugged" and "tough" must have been added to the English language just to describe Hercules Stevenson. Fans in Arizona know that his matches were some of the most brutal and violent matches ever.
Stevenson made his mark in Arizona from 1975 through 1985. In that time, his feud he had a feud with "Cowboy" Bob Yuma that was nothing short of legendary. It was hardcore before such a word was commonplace in the wrestling industry.
Yuma often recounts how he and Hercules used to do extreme damage to each other's person. The story of Yuma throwing Hercules off a balcony headfirst is the stuff that wrestling folklore is made of. Hercules got even by taking a lit cigarette that a fan had thrown at him and putting it out in the "Cowboy's" eye.
That wasn't the only time that Hercules Stevenson used a fans object for his own gain. The fans loved to taunt Stevenson by calling him "chicken" if he would bail out of the ring when the going got too rough. One night, just as Hercules was about to bail, the "chicken" chant started. A fan brought a live chicken into the ring and hit Stevenson with it. This sent the brutal grappler into a rage. He then bit the head off the chicken and tore it into several pieces. The out-of-control Hercules then proceeded to spit the chicken's head out into the crowd, sending it a good five rows back.
People wonder if there was something wrong with this grapplers mental health, "Cowboy" Bob Yuma thinks he has the answer. He said, "I may be responsible. In one match I rammed Hercules' head into the ringpost a record 39 times. He kept coming, but something may have gotten scrambled up there.
No matter what the reason, Hercules Stevenson is another reason that Arizona wrestling was as hot as the desert sun in August.
These days, Hercules has left the wrestling wars and is making his mark on the world in another way, as a professional artist.
