Steve Cox

Biography

Steve Cox is a retired professional wrestler from the United States, best known for his time in various regional promotions during the 1980s and 1990s, including the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), and Japan’s UWF International. Originally from Portsmouth, Virginia, Cox was a standout football player at the University of Tulsa, where he served as team captain before transitioning into professional wrestling. He began his wrestling career in 1987, appearing on major Mid-South supercards held at the Superdome in New Orleans, where he faced competitors such as Super Ninja, Gary Young, and Terry Taylor. Cox’s most notable run came in 1988, when he was introduced as the protégé of Michael P.S. Hayes in World Class Championship Wrestling. The two quickly became a tag team and entered into a heated rivalry with the Samoan Swat Team, capturing — and losing — the WCCW Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions. This period included appearances at major events such as Cotton Bowl Extravaganza and SuperClash III. In 1991, Cox joined the Global Wrestling Federation, teaming with Stan Lane in the GWF World Tag Team Title Tournament, and later facing Lane in the North American Championship Tournament. That same year, he traveled to Japan to compete for UWF International, where he faced prominent names such as Nobuhiko Takada and Kiyoshi Tamura in hard-hitting shoot-style matches. Throughout the mid-1990s, Cox continued wrestling on the independent circuit, including appearances for Power Zone Wrestling Alliance and the Dallas-based CWA. One of his more unusual matches came in 1996, when he took part in the now-infamous "Bodyguards vs. Bandits" match — a team bout that used football-style scoring rather than traditional pinfalls. Steve Cox officially retired from active competition in the late 1990s but made occasional appearances at special events, including the Ricky Morton Tag Team Invitational in 2006. While his career was relatively short compared to some of his peers, Cox made a lasting impression on the American regional wrestling scene during a pivotal era of growth and change for the industry.