Wrestling has a fascinating history of fast-tracking certain wrestlers to popularity. At times, it truly only takes one big performance or clip to go viral before you start seeing a wrestler featured in promotions all around the country, or even the world. Take professional wrestling’s premiere Taco Bell enthusiast: Alex Zayne for example. What started with Zayne hitting a Running 630 over the top rope during GCW’s 2019 Backyard Wrestling event, has lead to an astounding domino effect, where Zayne is now competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling; a far cry from a Backyard Wrestling show.
However, that’s not to say it’s a one-size-fits-all when it comes to taking off following a moment of vitality. There are some who would go viral, and suddenly stop appearing on shows altogether after a time. Faces like The Oswald Project, who had begun to pick up steam prior to the pandemic locking down live events for a spell. Or even someone like Marko Stunt, who managed to break through to international television, yet seemingly vanished once he returned to the Independent Wrestling scene.
Through all the various personalities that have come and gone in wrestling, there is one such anomaly in all this that leaves me especially fascinated. Someone who showed out for one of the top Independent Wrestling companies today, hosted a show of his own, and seemingly vanished. This is the anomaly of Early Morning Guy Steele.
Much like everyone else familiar with the man, my introduction to Early Morning Guy Steele was The Clusterfuck Match during 2022’s GCW Collective in Dallas, Texas. On the surface, Early Morning Guy Steele looks like a total oddball of a wrestler. He’s a humble oil rig driller, seemingly trotting out to wrestle in his work shirt, Carhartt overalls, and safety gloves & goggles. Perhaps he resembles Edgar from Men in Black more than the traditional professional wrestler with his stiff, strained mug and rugged attire. But everything changes when you see this mystery man break out back-to-back Canadian Destroyers, and a 450 Splash. Once again, much like everyone else, I was left both captivated, and curious with this flashy mystery man.
This performance in the Clusterfuck, and the fan reception both proved well enough to land Steele another slot on GCW’s Downward Spiral the following month. Steele would take part in a Scramble Match, featuring the likes of Marcus Mathers, Titus Alexander and the King of the Scramble: Jimmy Lloyd. Here, Guy would bust out an impressive Diving Canadian Destroyer on Jimmy before later finishing Mathers off with a Twisting Neckbreaker for his first GCW victory. Two months later, he’d land himself a spot in GCW’s seemingly defunct West Coast based sister promotion: LA Fights. It was on LA Fight’s Volume 5 show where Steele would make quick work of Lazarus; finishing him with a Double Stomp from the top rope. With three appearances in a four month span, you’d assume that Early Morning Guy Steele was a shoe in for that coveted GCW regular roster member spot; a spot that so many wrestlers strive for. But the months rolled on, and there was no sign of Steele on any other shows. Just as quickly as Early Morning Guy Steele left his mark, he would seemingly vanish.
That is until WrestleMania Week the following year. With WrestleMania coming to Los Angeles and Early Morning Guy Steele being based out of the West Coast, he would run his own show, showcasing his unique brand of Pro Wrestling. The event would be aptly titled “Early Morning Guy Steele’s Early Morning Show.” While the show itself is not available for viewing at the moment, everything I’ve seen and read about this event in writing this article has only roused my curiosity even further.
I remember walking in and just seeing that giant fucked up oil monster sidekick just perched atop a podium. It was unnerving…
Being backstage was surreal because you had…the very best wrestlers in the world cramped into a tiny patio behind this studio. And it was a fairly cold night in LA so people were huddled around space heaters trying to lap up the warmth. You’d walk around and it’d be Speedball Mike Bailey, Joey Janela, John Morrison, BUSSY, Jack Cartwheel & Manders all huddled up trying to warm themselves. Also Hal Rudnick from Screen Junkies was there for some reason. It was just absurd…
I hosted a freestyle rap battle between fans and somehow, that was only the second most embarrassing freestyle rap moment that I had in a wrestling ring last year.
One of my favorite visuals is a broken door covered in buffalo sauce fingerprints. There was a hot wing eating competition as part of the main event Battle Bog and, with it being wrestling, people of course were sent careening through the door bridge covered in hot wings. Something about the sight (or, more accurately, the smell) of Frank’s Red Hot on a broken piece of plunder will stick with me for the rest of my days…
All things considered, probably the greatest night of my life.
– Jordan Castle, Ring Announcer & Commentator
It was a massive amount of fun, a really good mix of comedians, wrestlers, and wrestling comedians.
Our match was the culmination of our “Howdy’s Hat” saga, which started on AEW Dark, continued on Being The Elite, and ended with the match against the Hat Boiz!
Also it kinda felt like a fever dream, since it was a really really late show, in an already insanely packed weekend.
The crowd got the weirdness and goofy matches everyone out together, which is always a blessing!
– “The Human Tackboard” Leroy Patterson
In a recap of events as written by SoCal Uncensored, ticket holders would find out where the Early Morning Show would be located just two days ahead of the show date. Once inside the venue, attendees would settle into their seats and be treated to free hats, courtesy of The Hat Boiz, who would be competing on the show. The event that followed would feature some phenomenal wrestling talents; including the likes of Johnny Early Morning (AEW’s Johnny TV), Gringo Loco, Joey Janela, and Speedball Mike Bailey to name a few. The event also featured a wizard, a zombified Abraham Lincoln, a rap battle, and hot wing eating as part of the first and only ever Battle Bog Match. Again, while the recording of show is not available anywhere for purchase or viewing, the story of events has left me bewildered and hopeful for an official release all the same.
Following the Early Morning Show is where the story of Early Morning Guy Steele comes to a close for the time being. He wasn’t featured on any Independent Wrestling shows following last year’s WrestleMania Week, and he wasn’t booked on this year’s. Nowadays, you can find Steele on Twitter, shitposting here and there. But I can’t help but wonder when or if we’ll see wrestling’s favorite oil driller step back inside the ring again. Or maybe, just maybe, the man behind the Morning has been wrestling around the country all this time, and we’ve yet to realize it.
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