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7. Steve Williams
A four time All American in amateur wrestling, Dr Death was one of the most successful foreign wrestlers in Japanese wresting history and among Mitsuharu Misawa's greatest rivals.
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Famous for his legit toughness and durability, he had a stellar career on AJPW where he most notably won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 1994 and the World Tag Team Championship 8 times. He is the second most decorated Tag Team Champion in AJPW history (only Toshiaki Kawada surpasses him with 9 reigns). Steve Williams & Terry Gordy are also the second most decorated AJPW Tag Team, with 5 reigns as champions (Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue come first with 6 reigns).
Dr Death also wrestled with great success for WCW where he held the WCW and NWA Tag Team Championships four times overall, as well as for IWA, NWA and UWF where he also won individual and Tag Team championships.
In 1985, while performing for Mid-South Wrestling, he won the Most Improved Wrestler of the Year award from both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer in a rare achievement. As if that alone was not impressive enough, Steve Williams & Terry Gordy received the 1992 Tag Team of the Year award again from both magazines!
Moreover, the June 7, 1996 AJPW match of Steve Williams & Johnny Ace vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama was named Match of the Year by Wrestling Observer.
Unfortunately, his first WWF run was a disaster. He joined the company in July 1997, got injured during the WWF Brawl for All tournament and was released almost immediately, nixing a feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship that was planed for him after the tournament. He then returned in 1999, fighting only 3 matches before leaving again for his beloved AJPW.
In December 2009 Williams died from throat cancer, after a five years battle, at 49 years of age.
His almost non-existent WWF career seems like the only downside to his WWE HOF induction, which will most likely be decided sooner or later.
Information sources: Ten Bell Salute, Wikipedia
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